SOUNDTRACK: BOB MOULD-“American Crisis” (2020).
Bob Mould was once a punk icon. He has since moved through various styles of music (some more successfully than others). But now, with everything going on in America these days, he is back to doing what he does best–writing short, powerful, rocking punk songs that address issues.
“American Crisis” starts out with a bashing guitar intro and Mould screaming (he can still scream with authority). The verses pound forward, unrelenting. The verses are short–all the better to get to the chorus which is also propulsive and fast but really catchy.
I love the third or fourth part (there’s quite a few parts in this brief song). The lyrics: “You’re one of us or you’re one of them.” He gives a great wave of a guitar slide leading to a brief guitar pause before the song takes off again.
He ends the song with a whispered statement that was true during the AIDS crisis and is true today. “Silence=Death. Never Forget.” Check it out.
[READ: June 5, 2020] “Bedside Planner”
This is an excerpt from Coetzee’s novel The Death of Jesus.
Simón and Inés are the legal guardians of a young boy named David. David suffers from an unknown disease and is bedridden. David is often asleep but is occasionally lucid.
David wants to know if he will be recognized. Simón says, as a hero? Of course. But first you will have to do the deeds that will get you remembered. That way someone will write a book about you.
David asks if he has done anything and Simón assures him that he saved Simón and Inés. He also says that some of the good deeds that David did he did with the aid of Don Quixote.
David wants to know what it will be like to die. Simón tells him that he won’t die for a long time, but then says that he thinks death is a feeling of great peace descending upon you. Then you wake and everything feels fresh and new.
David wants to know if Don Quixote will be there and Simón says of course he will be there.
David says he will write everything about his life on a piece of paper. He will fold it up small and keep it in his hand so that when he wakes up he can read it and know who he is.
Simón says to remember not to let that hand drag in the water because water washes everything away.
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