Image:http://q.y.nu/edisni/11.html
This post is an Ode to Bruce Springsteen:
“I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help”
Yes, Boss, days on end I wish I could just say nothing at all. Monday through Friday we get up, go to work, do our little daily bullshit routines and try to pretend that there’s something worthwhile and meaningful about it all. But there’s not. Not, really, anyway. And this anti-philosophical, artless modern society we have here stifles the inner spark. How isn’t everyone bored with themselves? My guess is that they are, and that you can pick out the worst cases from a mile a way. Kids that shoot other kids and then commit suicide? Stifled spark. And you know who is probably REALLY bored with himself? Kanye West. I mean, I am sure bored by his antics. But really, it’s just the principle of over-acting – short men need to act bigger than life to be worthy of attention, girls who are dead inside have to pile on make-up and outfits in order to be a living doll, and people like Kanye have to act like they’re Super Interesting because they fear they are actually not relevant.
“You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark”
We’re all just dancing in the dark these days. Politicians are clueless and there aren’t a lot of heroes out there trying to shine a light and lead people into a better tomorrow. That sounds cheesy as hell, but who didn’t love superheroes as a kid? Who, as a dirty-nosed little 7-year-old, didn’t love to imagine that there would be a Batman or a Wonder Woman to rescue us when society became too corrupt? Nowadays, you get kicked out of school for hoping for a Wonder Woman. This is Gotham, alright, and we need a fire lit under our asses like never before. The way that you can tell it’s gotten so bad is that nagging feeling in your belly telling you that the system stinks and life is lifeless. We try to pretend it’s better than it is by drinking, playing, and dancing, all the while knowing that we’re doing so in utter darkness.
“Message keeps getting clearer
radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere”
The radio and TV are not providing subtle clues how rotten this world is right now – it’s overt. And I believe there is a very real link between the chaos of society and the self-loathing that is so rampant. Of course I want to change my clothes, my hair, my face – everything around me is telling me that what I am is not good enough, that I need to buy this dress and have this haircut in order to be pretty. Furthermore, the idea of pretty is the most important thing for a woman right now. The first question an actress is asked on the red carpet is “what are you wearing.” Our society is shallow, petty, and stupid – growing more so every day. Fuck pretty. Ask me what I think about abortion, not the 2015 Fall Fashion Report.
“I'm just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
baby I just know that there is”
Our world is becoming more of a dump – a bigger and bigger wasteland. Of course, none of us truly knows what’s going on anywhere because the corporate media is a joke. Bloggers and the internet have been the only saving graces of the past 20 years when it comes to news and information. Yet, the government stands poised to take the right of free information away from the American household. Then we truly won’t know what the fuck is happening in our own backyard.
“You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me”
But the weight can’t come off your shoulders. You are Atlas. You have to carry all the heavens everywhere you go. It must haunt your thoughts and shadow your steps. “We are the world,” they sang in the 80s, and they didn’t even fully grasp what they were telling you. You, Atlas, cannot let the weight drop. Besides, the laugh is on you either way. If you drop Heaven, and it breaks in front of you into so many glass shards, then you’re the one who ruined the one piece of beauty you were responsible for. But, if you carry it, and never refuse to acknowledge what you are holding, nor the delicacy of it, then you are still an asshole.
I am Atlas and the weight of my job, my relationship, my failed dreams is always on my shoulders. Or maybe I am Sisyphus, always trying to roll that weight up the hill, knowing if I stop for a moment, I will be crushed under the weight of it all. Atlas thinks Sisyphus has it easy because he just has to push the weight; the full extant of it isn’t bearing down on his shoulders. But Sisyphus thinks Atlas has it easier because he is conditioned to his burden – there will be no sudden crushing of his body, like what would happen to Sisyphus if he tried to relax for even a second.
“Stay on the streets of this town
and they'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action”
Oh, they’ll carve you, alright. They already have. You don’t even realize how many pieces of you have been cut out. When you were an innocent child, what dreams and magic surrounded you? What beliefs gave beauty to your existence and how often did you play? Did you take for granted someone was always looking out for you? Is there any reason why security, joy, and magic should not exist for an adult? I contend that more of these things for us as adults would result in a better society, and more happiness and self-acceptance. I’m starving, too, Boss. I’m starving to see more examples of human decency, and more people with depth of personal philosophy rather than breadth of judgements and inconsequential personal adornments.
“I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
come on now baby gimme just one look”
Yes, I want to write that damn book, but I’ve already burned 3 crappy attempts. And I need just one look – I need to be seen as someone who has thoughts and hopes, who suffers as much as you do, if not more. Dear god, I try so hard and fail just as hard, but am I to be thrown out with the bathwater? Look at me…see if you can really see me.
Can we not look at everyone we come across just once? Can we not extend the smallest amount of empathy to our fellow creatures? Or, are we unable to look at anything unless we see it on Facebook? Cannot we not look at anything because our heads are in a device…or should I say, a vice.
Stop assessing each person as what value they provide in any given situation and allow her to be valuable just because she exists in her own right. If the guy is a complete piece of shit, like Assad, go ahead and react accordingly. But do not react without looking, without thinking. Let that look provide you a complete picture and not an immediate dismissal.
The Boss can sing us out to the finale:
“You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark”
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/brucespringsteen/dancinginthedark.html
“I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help”
Yes, Boss, days on end I wish I could just say nothing at all. Monday through Friday we get up, go to work, do our little daily bullshit routines and try to pretend that there’s something worthwhile and meaningful about it all. But there’s not. Not, really, anyway. And this anti-philosophical, artless modern society we have here stifles the inner spark. How isn’t everyone bored with themselves? My guess is that they are, and that you can pick out the worst cases from a mile a way. Kids that shoot other kids and then commit suicide? Stifled spark. And you know who is probably REALLY bored with himself? Kanye West. I mean, I am sure bored by his antics. But really, it’s just the principle of over-acting – short men need to act bigger than life to be worthy of attention, girls who are dead inside have to pile on make-up and outfits in order to be a living doll, and people like Kanye have to act like they’re Super Interesting because they fear they are actually not relevant.
“You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark”
We’re all just dancing in the dark these days. Politicians are clueless and there aren’t a lot of heroes out there trying to shine a light and lead people into a better tomorrow. That sounds cheesy as hell, but who didn’t love superheroes as a kid? Who, as a dirty-nosed little 7-year-old, didn’t love to imagine that there would be a Batman or a Wonder Woman to rescue us when society became too corrupt? Nowadays, you get kicked out of school for hoping for a Wonder Woman. This is Gotham, alright, and we need a fire lit under our asses like never before. The way that you can tell it’s gotten so bad is that nagging feeling in your belly telling you that the system stinks and life is lifeless. We try to pretend it’s better than it is by drinking, playing, and dancing, all the while knowing that we’re doing so in utter darkness.
“Message keeps getting clearer
radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere”
The radio and TV are not providing subtle clues how rotten this world is right now – it’s overt. And I believe there is a very real link between the chaos of society and the self-loathing that is so rampant. Of course I want to change my clothes, my hair, my face – everything around me is telling me that what I am is not good enough, that I need to buy this dress and have this haircut in order to be pretty. Furthermore, the idea of pretty is the most important thing for a woman right now. The first question an actress is asked on the red carpet is “what are you wearing.” Our society is shallow, petty, and stupid – growing more so every day. Fuck pretty. Ask me what I think about abortion, not the 2015 Fall Fashion Report.
“I'm just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
baby I just know that there is”
Our world is becoming more of a dump – a bigger and bigger wasteland. Of course, none of us truly knows what’s going on anywhere because the corporate media is a joke. Bloggers and the internet have been the only saving graces of the past 20 years when it comes to news and information. Yet, the government stands poised to take the right of free information away from the American household. Then we truly won’t know what the fuck is happening in our own backyard.
“You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me”
But the weight can’t come off your shoulders. You are Atlas. You have to carry all the heavens everywhere you go. It must haunt your thoughts and shadow your steps. “We are the world,” they sang in the 80s, and they didn’t even fully grasp what they were telling you. You, Atlas, cannot let the weight drop. Besides, the laugh is on you either way. If you drop Heaven, and it breaks in front of you into so many glass shards, then you’re the one who ruined the one piece of beauty you were responsible for. But, if you carry it, and never refuse to acknowledge what you are holding, nor the delicacy of it, then you are still an asshole.
I am Atlas and the weight of my job, my relationship, my failed dreams is always on my shoulders. Or maybe I am Sisyphus, always trying to roll that weight up the hill, knowing if I stop for a moment, I will be crushed under the weight of it all. Atlas thinks Sisyphus has it easy because he just has to push the weight; the full extant of it isn’t bearing down on his shoulders. But Sisyphus thinks Atlas has it easier because he is conditioned to his burden – there will be no sudden crushing of his body, like what would happen to Sisyphus if he tried to relax for even a second.
“Stay on the streets of this town
and they'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action”
Oh, they’ll carve you, alright. They already have. You don’t even realize how many pieces of you have been cut out. When you were an innocent child, what dreams and magic surrounded you? What beliefs gave beauty to your existence and how often did you play? Did you take for granted someone was always looking out for you? Is there any reason why security, joy, and magic should not exist for an adult? I contend that more of these things for us as adults would result in a better society, and more happiness and self-acceptance. I’m starving, too, Boss. I’m starving to see more examples of human decency, and more people with depth of personal philosophy rather than breadth of judgements and inconsequential personal adornments.
“I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
come on now baby gimme just one look”
Yes, I want to write that damn book, but I’ve already burned 3 crappy attempts. And I need just one look – I need to be seen as someone who has thoughts and hopes, who suffers as much as you do, if not more. Dear god, I try so hard and fail just as hard, but am I to be thrown out with the bathwater? Look at me…see if you can really see me.
Can we not look at everyone we come across just once? Can we not extend the smallest amount of empathy to our fellow creatures? Or, are we unable to look at anything unless we see it on Facebook? Cannot we not look at anything because our heads are in a device…or should I say, a vice.
Stop assessing each person as what value they provide in any given situation and allow her to be valuable just because she exists in her own right. If the guy is a complete piece of shit, like Assad, go ahead and react accordingly. But do not react without looking, without thinking. Let that look provide you a complete picture and not an immediate dismissal.
The Boss can sing us out to the finale:
“You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark”
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/brucespringsteen/dancinginthedark.html