Friday, August 19, 2011

Sublimely Wonderful

This is, I think, the first video I've embedded in nearly 4000 posts. I'm not all that crazy about the video itself, but the music and lyrics are, well, wonderful.




4 Comments:

Anonymous jeff weddle said...

I agree. Down with optimism!

11:28 AM, August 24, 2011  
Blogger Milton Stanley said...

Thanks for visiting, Jeff. At the risk of sounding optimisitic, I'm always delighted to read your comments. Peace.

12:14 PM, August 24, 2011  
Anonymous jeff weddle said...

On further reflection, the song reminds me of James 2, "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"

9:44 PM, August 24, 2011  
Blogger Milton Stanley said...

That's a valid point, Jeff.

The song says a couple of things to me. In a specific sense, it reminds me how badly children suffer when their parents behave like children and allow their marriage to fall apart. In the U.S. there are now a couple of generations full of men and women wounded this way as children.

In a broader and more personal sense I'm reminded how our culture makes no allowances for emotional pain or mourning. Our boiler-plate greetings ("How are you?" "Fine.") are more than just the little rituals that smooth social interaction. They are the tip-end of a market-driven culture that demands we all be bubbly and happy all the time. Many people realize that such a standard is not attainable, and thus we have the explosion of depression and anti-depressive medications.

In an old movie from the 1940s Jimmy Stewart played a character whose mother or father died, and he wore a black armband on top of his grey suit for some period of time. I can think of no comparable acknowledgment of mourning in our culture today.

9:01 AM, August 27, 2011  

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