Mood Markers

These three songs and a stanza captured much of my mood over the past week. I wonder, what was your soul therapy?

• Winter in America by Gil Scot-Heron and Brian Jackson
  The full lyrics paint a picture of decline and fall. A harsh season has arrived early and, from all appearances, doesn't want to leave anytime soon.

  People know there's something wrong
  Feels just like winter
  It's winter in America
  Truth is there ain't nobody fighting
  Cause nobody knows what to save

  I used to mishear that last line as "cause nobody knows what to say" and was glad for the ambiguity: say versus save. Are these pieces of the same thing? Which is preferable: being tongue-tied or overwhelmed? Is it the sound of sirens or the sound of silence that is more disquieting in these time?
• Anger in the Nation by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth
  Well the title says it all doesn't it? I'm not normally a believer in ritual humiliation nor indeed the incantation of politics as theater, but I did find solace watching a few investment bank executives squirm under the questionning of US congressmen (notwithstanding the fact that said congressmen have been poor regulators). Thinking about the collateral damage that friends and family have already experienced made me appreciate the spectacle of these small discomforts and the promise of more to come. Of these small things are made comfort suites.
• All Your Goodies Are Gone by Parliament
  The languid rhythm of the track belies the message namely "Let hurt put you in the loser's seat". A essential soundtrack for anyone who deals with the stock market in the year 2008.
• Ezra Pound's Hugh Selwyn Mauberly is often cited as the great anti-war lament, I rather harken to his characterization of moneyed charlatans and the damage they do

  walked eye-deep in hell
  believing in old men's lies, then unbelieving
  came home, home to a lie,
  home to many deceits,
  home to old lies and new infamy;
  
  usury age-old and age-thick
  and liars in public places.

  Perhaps the silver lining of the current moment will be some good art. I certainly look forward to it.

Mood Markers, a playlist

Next: Heart of Darkness, a playlist


File under: music, quotes, culture, observation, decline, fall, anger, economics, USA, toli