I was listening to Cake while working, and as always, it was a unique and worthwhile experience.
Western society has lost much of the ability to layer meaning and intention, leaving us with superficial garbage barely worth paying attention to. It’s not just music. It’s television, it’s music downloads vs. album art, it’s clothing you can’t wear twice in a given 30 day period. It’s low-carb soft drinks, or a whole wheat bun on a fast-food burger.
A specific Cake lyric made me stop and think. Excess isn’t rebellion, you’re drinking what they’re selling. Statements like that are deep. They have meaning in layers. As you think more about it, what appears to be a simplistic statement on the surface almost opens up to an entire universe of thought.
When did we lose it? Why? What, don’t we care? Is it just easier to sit in front of the tube and slowly degenerate into an overweight, smelly pile of goo than it is to make the damned effort to create something more meaningful?
Creation doesn’t mean art. Or music. Or writing. It means making something, even if it’s just a bit of time to question the universe around you. I want meaning back, layer upon layer of meaning, piled up in mangled, tangled stacks that leave me in awe.
It’s what I’m trying to do with my work, my music, my art, my writing and my actions.
Write this down:
“Don’t step on the nail because it hurts like stepping on a really big pin.”
Gold.