Let's take a break from theology for a minute to talk about the poverty of modern culture. There are two aspects of this. The first is the selfishness that is pervasive and the attitude that says: "I'm doing this because I can... and I can do anything!" The second is the massive loss of true art in modern culture. Everything is so dumbed down, sanitized, and simplistic.
Check out this odd song. Both of my observations converge here. Not only are the ideas expressed in it way outside of normal popular music... this group actually uses old poetry principles like enjambment, unequal repetition, and onomatopoeia in the lyrics of their songs. Now if only they could get past the profanity in other songs we'd be set. Watch the subtle the transition of thought is as it slips from pride to narcissism... and from narcissism to arrogance... and then to tyranny!
I'll be happy to comment on my opinion of the views expressed by the author of "Handlebars", but for now I leave it to you, the reader, to analyze without further comment:
"Handlebars"
By The Flobots
I can ride my bike with no handlebars... No handlebars, no handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars... No handlebars, no handlebars
Look at me! Look at me!
Hands in the air like it's good to be
Alive, and I'm a famous rapper
Even when the paths're all crookedy.
I can show you how to do-si-do.
I can show you how to scratch a record.
I can take apart the remote control,
And I can almost put it back together.
I can tie a knot in a cherry stem.
I can tell you about Leif Ericson.
I know all the words to "De Colores",
And "I'm Proud to be an American"
Me and my friend saw a platypus.
Me and my friend made a comic book;
And guess how long it took.
I can do anything that I want cuz, look:
I can keep rhythm with no metronome... No metronome, no metronome
And I can see your face on the telephone... On the telephone, on the telephone
Look at me! Look at me!
Just called to say that it's good to be
Alive in such a small world
I'm all curled up with a book to read.
I can make money open up a thrift store.
I can make a living off a magazine.
I can design an engine sixty-four
Miles to a gallon of gasoline.
I can make new antibiotics.
I can make computers survive aquatic
Conditions. I know how to run a business,
And I can make you wanna buy a product.
Movers shakers and producers;
Me and my friends understand the future.
I see the strings that control the system.
I can do anything with no resistance.
'Cause I can lead a nation with a microphone... With a microphone, with a microphone
And I can split the atoms of a molecule... Of a molecule, of a molecule
Look at me! Look at me!
Driving and I won't stop!
And it feels so good to be
Alive and on top!
My reach is global.
My tower secure.
My cause is noble.
My power is pure.
I can hand out a million vaccinations
Or let'em all die from exasperation.
Have'em all healed of their lacerations
Or have'em all killed by assassination!
I can make anybody go to prison
Just because I don't like'em, and
I can do anything with no permission;
I have it all under my command.
Because I can guide a missile by satellite... By satellite! By satellite!
And I can hit a target through a telescope... Through a telescope! Through a telescope!
And I can end the planet in a holocaust! In a holocaust! In a holocaust!
In a holocaust!
In a holocaust!
In a holocaust!
I can ride my bike with no handlebars... No handlebars, no handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars... No handlebars, no handlebars
Thursday, March 12, 2009
What Rap and Hip-Hop Could Be
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3 comments:
I don't know how old you are, but I'm 30, and I still listen to the local rock stations in the Philly area. And, like you, I was subtly impressed by this particular song when it came across the radio (I've not heard the rest of the album.)
I think anything that stinks of rap, (and for the most part, rap is the musical equivalent of a fetid corpse), that most people over, say, the age of 45 will think you or I are silly for giving any music like this a chance. Who knows, they might be right.
But anyway, I noticed that these guys too were also a little more astute musically than most "rap" acts out there (that is, if they qualify as what is known to be rap know-a-days). I, as a musician, was impressed by the lack of synthesizers and loop based machinery used by many rap "artists" today. And so, the fact that they tried to blend a horn solo, distorted guitars, staccato violin, and live drums was sonically interesting enough for me.
However, regarding the lyrics, when the song started off with something about "handle-bars", I thought, "here's another stupid song about some over-privileged, under-achieving, white, suburbanite kid who thinks his life sucks, and wishes he were dead, etc." Yet, as I listened, I noticed the graduation in each verse towards a corrupted mind-set, namely corrupted by power.
Now, I have a stubborn habit of trying to figure the stance of the lyricist vs. just subjectively taking a song at its objective value, and what immediately popped out at me, was that he's singing about a simpleton reaching great heights of power and becoming corrupted by it, ie. George Bush, not that that is what I think of our former president, but what I assumed the singer was trying to convey. It seemed to fit the liberal template, so to speak, and I just assume most artists to be liberal anyway, but you know what they say about people who assume!
However, now hearing it through your ears I appreciate it a little more since now it doesn't seem to offend my conservative-leaning sensibilities as much. Although, if I were to let my political stance rule my artistic taste then just about everything in the secular world would be outside my comfort zone.
Anyway, just thought I'd tell you that your not alone in your appreciation of this unique, albeit bizarre song, and hope that more music geared towards the teenage/young adult crowd would have a little more depth to it then the usual fair of, "I hate my parents, and I want to die!"
Drew
I hate to burst your bubble, but The Flobots are about as liberal as they come. This song is exactly as your gut instinct has it: It's pretty much about Bush. This is a safe assumption since The Flobots performed at Obama's inauguration and their CD in England has a bonus track called “I.R.A.Q.: It Really is A Quagmire” (…the song is heard in a new light now isn’t it? :P)
According to the author, the song has a greater purpose beyond politics. It is about the free choices we have to do great evil and great good in the world. Well, sometimes artists don’t know what they are creating. In this case, the pattern of the song is not choice-driven. It is a slide. Both the good acts and the bad acts appear to come from a position of pride and power.
…and, in the end, it all falls apart. How true!
I do not have a problem with any of these things. They are his opinions. Good art challenges you and makes you think. Critics point out your flaws and being too political one way has a nasty habit of blinding people to reality. The truth is somewhere between Quagmire and Mission Accomplished. It always has been.
No matter where you come down politically (and I come down all over the place :P), it is useful to hear differing points of view that are well put together like this one. If you don’t want to listen to critics and you only want people around you who think and dress like you… well, maybe your further down in the verses of this song than you want to admit.
I have also noticed that this is one of those songs that will follow presidents for years to come. “I can lead a nation with a microphone…” Who is that? How about “My reach is global. My tower secure. My cause is noble. My power is pure.” Is that Bush? Obama? How about [insert random American’s name here] ?
"I have also noticed that this is one of those songs that will follow presidents for years to come. “I can lead a nation with a microphone…” Who is that? How about “My reach is global. My tower secure. My cause is noble. My power is pure.” Is that Bush? Obama? How about [insert random American’s name here] ?"
How true!
Drew
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