Sunday, November 13, 2016

The song for now










Okay, I am hoping this can be my last post on this bitter and dark election for now. But I have had this one final thought. Or it's not a thought. It's more like a conspiracy theory. Or, no, a vision. Wait, no, neither of those. It is a theme song.

The easy theme song to the election of Donald Trump is REM's It's the End of the World As We Know It, which is fun, but not entirely illuminating.

No, instead there is a song that was wildly successful in its time, but was also famous for its unintelligible lyrics and indecipherable meaning. But the night we were electing Donald Trump to the Presidency it leaped into my head. Like many great works of art it had a prescience, and in some ways it was biding its time for a quarter of a century until an event came that it could describe. I give you the lyrics. Take a look for yourself:






Load up on guns
Bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's overboard, self assured
Oh no I know, a dirty word


Hello, hello, hello, how low [x3]
Hello, hello, hello


With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an Albino
A mosquito, my libido, yeah


Hey, yay

I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift, I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end


Hello, hello, hello, how low [x3]
Hello, hello, hello


With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an Albino
A mosquito, my libido, yeah


Hey, yay

And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it was hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind


Hello, hello, hello, how low [x3]
Hello, hello, hello


With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an Albino
A mosquito, my libido


A denial, A denial, A denial, A denial, A denial
A denial, A denial, A denial, A denial





This is Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and if the lyrics still seem unclear let me illustrate with my interpretations:

That first stanza starts with rabid second amendment obsessions (load up on guns). Then it concerns Hilary Clinton and the puerile, rude attacks on her (the dirty word, not to mention her being "overboard and self assured").

Then the reference to our political system bottoming out in ugliness ("Hello. How low" a refrain throughout the song). 

"I'm worst at what I do best." Is of course a reference to Trumps reviled self-satisfied racism and lying self satisfaction that fascinates a public enough to elect him President of America. This is followed by the seemingly sensible patriotism of "Our little group has always been, And always will until the end" that actually omits all content and meaning except identity.

A paean to how we feel safer in ignorance ("With the lights out, it's less dangerous", echoed again at the ending refrain with "A denial, A denial") comes next, followed by the abiding issue of the election, a desire to be entertained and stimulated at all costs ("Here we are now, entertain us"). Self loathing follows ("I feel stupid and contagious" [fuck it, let's vote Trump!]. There is a surrealistic nod to the name calling and ugly definitions and dismissals of people ("A mulatto, an albino (a reference in the middle of it to Trump?), a mosquito") all lumped together with the raw driving force of Trump ("My libido").

The last non refrain stanza is the hardest to comprehend, but I think Cobain is saying, in the guise again of a Trump voter (the one loaded up on guns) "I don't even know why I'm doing this but it makes me smile and I just don't give a shit about anything at all! ( "And I forget just why I taste. Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile. Oh well, whatever, nevermind.").

I think this is what it was all about, but I might be dreaming everything. I might be dreaming everything in the world right now.  Here we are now, entertain us.










4 comments:

  1. Well I think you nailed it perfectly with your choice there. And I feel exactly the same....I might just go into hiding...🐱

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I learned from Rome that in 2,000 years we'll look back on this and laugh.

      Does that help?

      Delete
  2. I feel heartbroken and betrayed. To comfort myself I am reading more Nero and Archie stories. I thought a quote might cheer you, too.

    From Over My Dead Body:

    His wife, in spite of her New York clothes and her 1938 hair-do, looked like one of those colored pictures in the National Geographic entitled “Peasant Woman of Wczibrrcy Leading a Bear to Church.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry, yes, you were betrayed.


      And that did rather cheer me.

      Delete

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