世界の向こう側の どんな惨劇も
モニター越しの悲劇 そんなこの世の終わり
Atrocities on the other side of the world
are just sad little tragedies through our screens,
such an end of the world
These words are lyrics from a PIERROT song called REBIRTH DAY and they perfectly sum up the bizarre feelings I had while watching America suffer due to the events of September 11th, 2001. I wasn’t in the United States when the attacks on the Twin Towers went down. At that time, I was teaching English in Japan. I didn’t even hear about the attacks until Joe Holley sent me an email. I remember turning on the TV and of course that first image of one flaming tower was striking but as soon as we learned a second plane had hit… well,
terror accomplished.
My first instinct was one of preservation. I’m from the east coast and my family were living in New England at the time, so I feared for their safety. I felt so helpless viewing it all from the opposite side of the globe. Once it became clear that the attacks were over and that my family was safe. There was an eerie calm.
I didn’t know how to feel and I wanted someone to tell me desperately.
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I just want to say that my wife’s family and all of our friends are safe and doing well in the aftermath of the disaster in Japan. We hope the best for those suffering in the wake of these events.
I wish this was the kind of world where I could drop everything I’m doing and hop on the first plane headed to Japan to offer my support, but the truth is, it’s not. Honestly, that would be selfish. The Red Cross doesn’t want novices putting themselves in jeopardy, eating into the resources of an already depleted nation. The best thing we can do for now is to give money to those charities that need it and pray. Even if you don’t believe in a “god” or “gods,” the positive energy added to our connective human consciousness couldn’t hurt.
Be safe, inutachi.
your humble singing hound,
-boo
Lemme be serious for a minute. So I’m in the car driving to work a couple months back and I’ve got Z100′s morning show on because I, like so many working stiffs before me, need things to be dumbed the fuck down on a Monday morning. Anyway, Miley Cyrus comes on the radio. The song is “Party in the USA.” It’s infinitely catchy and infinitely disposable. But that’s not why it’s important -which it clearly is.
I said I was going to be serious, and trust me I am. Just follow the bouncing ball/flaming skull harbinger of apocalypse.These are the lyrics to Party in the USA if you were to buy it on iTunes or acquire it in a similarly unclever way in which a fool and his money were parted:
The taxi man turns on the Radio and a Jay-Z song was on… and a Jay-Z song was on… and a Jay-Z song was ON.
The morning that I heard it on the radio, however, the lyrics were different.
The taxi man turns on the Radio and Z100′s on… and Z100′s on… and Z100′s ON.
Frankly, I wish I could say I was more surprised than I was but I’ve come to expect gross -emphasis on the ick- commercialism in popular music. Don’t let my jaded apathy dull the point though. This is terrifying stuff. When a song can be formatted to fit the listener’s needs, the world is indeed looking more and more like the shiny future of Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report where advertisements show you what you need based on who you are, where you are, and how you acquire things. Mind you this isn’t a live recording, this was tailor made for the station and mixed into the studio recording.
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