God bless the Las Cruces Sun News for running only a regular sized and tasteful headline about the media event of yesterday. You know, the one that is blowing up all over the media and crowding out all the rest of the regular and essential news?
I’m already tired of hearing about it.
What the hell is going on with this day?
First Farrah and now Michael Jackson?
Wow.
Well, it’s a sad day, indeed.
This whole social networking thing, I’ve been reticent about it. Then on further examination, I acquiesced a bit.
But I have a reticent again.
As you may know, I’ve joined the folks who are using Twitter. Sure, yes, I tweet.
Banal stuff I tweet, I admit. But I enjoy the challenge of 140 characters. Plus it’s fun to see what other’s can cram into such a small space.
Often I read stuff on there makes me sigh and shake my head. Example: a local sports broadcaster takes to Twitter to describe the quality of his bowel movements. A regular man, seems to hit him daily about eleven a.m.
*sigh*
Then there’s some good stuff, too. Local SanFran author Christopher Moore has the best tweets of my follow list, bar none. Example: “Steve Jobs had liver transplant. Glad he finally acknowledged the value of cut and paste.”
So okay, there’s fun stuff out there, it’s not all bad. I rather enjoy tweeting, heck, as you know, I even recently participated in a twitter story writing contest. So I’m on board!
Only, this weekend, I might have hit a wall.
I follow Ann Curry on Twitter. She’s been Tweeting pretty hard about what’s going on in Iran. I personally have tried very hard to keep a distance from all that. It’s horrible, and my heart goes out to the victims and their families, but I have a neurotic worry gene (thanks, Mom) and if I let myself follow what’s happening, I will lose my grip.
So, yeah, I have been reading Ann’s tweets, even though I’m not sure this is the best way for the news to travel, I read them to keep up to speed, a little, on the progress.
That said, on Saturday, Ann tweeted quite a bit about the escalation of the protests in Iran. Scary stuff, here’s some examples:
“Credible source was eyewittness (sic) to pepper spraying of about 100 protestors #iranelection”
“Iran state tv claims explosion at tomb of revered Ayatollah Khomeini. Would incite anger against protesters. Is it true? #iranelection”
“More reports of police using tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands #iranelection”
Yikes. I was taking all of this in, feeling that familiar fear and dread…and then moved on to read more tweets on the same page by other twitter folks that I follow.
Here’s where my train derailed.
Along with scary stuff from Iran, here’s what else I found on the same page:
“just getting up, still drunk I think.” (from a local journalist for the SF Chronicle and a prolific author)
“Destroyed by dim sum and good friends.” (from the rather successful owner of a small business)
“I’m thinking of something like this for (my second house), so perhaps I’ll go to C&B and see how it looks in person. (furniture item, link redacted).” (from a blogger and editorial writer for one of Seattle’s independent newspapers).
So, look, I’m not following Buffy the Wonder Ditz on Twitter, I have thoughtfully chosen which tweets I see, but still, I was startled by the juxtaposition of the uses of Twitter.
Actually, The Good Man pointed it out as he read over my shoulder. I didn’t even see it. Perhaps I’m so twitterheaded it didn’t look strange.
I think Twitter can be used pretty well as a marketing tool. Heck, when I tweet a link to my blog, I can count on about 10 to 15 extra eyeballs that day. So that’s good, right? Blog traffic is really nice.
But is all this self-focused, self-absorbed social networking really meaningful? (asks the self-focused, self-absorbed blogger)
I don’t know, something changed for me on Saturday. I like Twitter, enjoy using it, but then think…what am I *doing*?!
I don’t have the answers, I’m really just talking it out here. But last week, I was kind of into Twitter and enjoying it. Now, I’m not so sure.
Anyhow…just some pondering for a Monday.
Way to go ABQjournal.
Rein = like on a horse, meaning to control or curtail. Reign = like a king.
I believe the Senate seeks to curb credit card practices, not rule over them like a sovereign nation.
Oy! Go APS, go!
Screen shot from today’s online version.
EDIT: Twenty minutes later, the headline reads: “Senate passes credit card overhaul bill”
Several years ago, I used to date a musician. We’ll call those “the dark years.” He was the real deal, taught himself to play, had the “gift,” was making a living (such that it was) playing music.
We would often have debates. He was a true music guy. I, on the other hand, am a fan of words.
He often told me that it was the music that mattered. The words were just something that floated on top. It didn’t matter if they were there.
Obviously, this ticked me off.
Over time, I learned to appreciate more of the nuances to music. How a driving drumbeat could make an otherwise dull song into a moving tune. How one hamfisted musician could ruin a whole piece. How the sounds tell a story that the musician weaves together.
He never, however, learned to appreciate the words.
I used to say that even the cheesiest song in the world could offer up some value, some deeply meaningful bit of emotion or philosophy or declaration. I even gave examples. He would reluctantly agree that the words I’d quoted had meaning, but not in the context of a song.
I got to thinking about this again today while listening to my iPod. Thinking about how seemingly throwaway songs can actually yield something meaningful tucked away in the lyrics.
The song that got me going was The Spinners classic “Working My Way Back to You” (originally a Frankie Valli song).
The lyric that “gets me” is this:
“I used to love to make you cry/It made me feel like a man inside/
But if I’d been a man in reality/You’d still be here, baby, lovin me”
No doubt The Spinners knew how to lay down an amazing groove, but this pop-y hit song speaks of redemption. The guy had a great girl, he “ran around like I was free”, then was *shocked* when she got self-respect and left him. He realized he’d blown it BIG time.
Those words, that lyric I quoted, is a really great turn of phrase. It shows a depth of self-awareness rarely seen in top 40 hits.
Those words, to me, make the song. I listen to the funky beat line, but I *wait* for those lyrics. They make me feel something.
I’ve got plenty more examples. Watch me work!
Here we go, the most bubblegum of pop tunes, Britney Spears’, “Baby One More Time.” Not the most musically interesting song, but well produced.
Don’t think about the song, the bouncy music, just read:
“My loneliness is killing me/And I must confess/I still believe/
When I’m not with you lose my mind”
Once again, a song of “didn’t know what I got until it was gone.” Earlier the song talks about “I shouldn’t have let you go” and now the narrator is alone and missing the one they took for granted.
In reading the words, I can feel the regret. Who among us hasn’t left someone behind only to find themselves all alone and losing their mind a little bit about “what might have been?”
See what I’m saying? The words have meaning!
Ok, I went to Billboard’s Top 100. Number one song right now is “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas.
Pfew…this one might be tough. Not all songs have a redeeming lyric, but most do. Let me think on this….
To be fair, this song IS a lot about the sounds. About the tones that Will.i.am can put together so well.
But there is a message there…go with me on this.
“I like that boom boom pow/Them chickens jackin’ my style/They try copy my swagger/I’m on that next shit now”
Sure, it’s a brag, but it’s also true. Since the success of the Black Eyed Peas, there are a TON of imposters trying to work Will.i.am’s style. He’s reminding us that while people are mimicking the last thing he did, he’s onto the next thing. He’s a trendsetter, not a follower. He’s ahead of the curve and a not so subtle reminder to people to remember the original.
It makes me feel like he’s frustrated trying to be an original while everyone falls in behind trying to take what he made. As an artist, I completely get that.
Whew, ok, that one was tough. But I got there.
I could go on with examples all day. I guess that music matters to me so much, but everyone enjoys music for different reasons. I think that anyone who can write lyrics is, in their own way, a poet and a philosopher. The meaning shouldn’t be discounted just because a song is viewed as too pop or too cheesy or too whatever.
I think both the words and the music matter, but as a writer, I can zoom in on a well-turned bit of phrase and feel like I’m in the flow.
When an artist can make someone feel, feel something, anything, whatever emotion, then I believe they have succeeded.
The very heart of creating.
I rest my case.
