Showing posts with label commentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commentary. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2016

A Special Song of the Day Post, with Commentary - Dear Mr. President - P!nk, with Indigo Girls

Image result for election 2016

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me
Let's pretend, we're just two people and
You're not better than me
I'd like to ask you some questions if we could speak honestly

Well, after months and months we are finally here.  The day of reckoning!  This is undoubtedly one of the most momentous days in our 240 years of history, the world is watching, and the stakes couldn't be any higher.  

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray to at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

Today's song was written about another president who took office after another very contentious election season 16 years ago.  Back then, so many of us were angry.  We'd felt cheated and we feared for our future.  Unfortunately, those fears came to pass as 8 years of that poor choice brought us two wars, one plausibly acceptable, and the other completely unnecessary and based on lies.  Thousands of people lost their lives as those in the inner circles enriched themselves off of the misery of others. We tortured our enemies in questionable violation of international law.  Our economy was in shambles.  The housing market crashed.  Unemployment rates and the deficit soared as the stock market fell.  We all suffered...but we survived.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother hs no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me, in the eye, and tell me why?

It was 8 years ago now that we made history.  We'd finally said enough as a nation and brought the other party back into power.  A black man had been elected president.  Hope was at hand. Unfortunately, whatever popularity this new President brought to the office was despised by many, either because he was a black man or simply from the 'other side.'  

His integrity was questioned and every attempt he made at progress was met with unprecedented obstruction, which remains to this very day as the Supreme Court's power has been unconstitutionally and unprecentendtedly checked by the branch of government still controlled by the former president's party. The supposed outrage that's been spun over the past 8 years truly boggles my mind, as the previous 8 years of absolute misery seem to be an aberration to those on the other side.  Perhaps there is a case of mass amnesia.

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
How can you say, 
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
As you pave the road to hell    

So now we have this...an anti-establishment billionaire vowing to "Make America Great Again." Does anyone out there really believe that we are no longer a great country?  Please look me in the eye, and tell me why.

Of course, our choice is minimal.  One out of two, well in reality four, people.  But that in itself is a problem we must overcome.  Yes, the establishment is crooked all over.  Both sides of the aisle work first towards their own personal gain before helping us, the little people.  It's been that way for a long, long time.  The United States of America has become the United Corporations of America, where special interests gain favor to our detriment.  Yes, we need an anti-establishment president.  This isn't the one, though.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father mght hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way, from whiskey and cocaine

The climate of our politics has been dividing us for too many years now.  Politicians tell outrageous lies simply for their own gain.  And we believe them, yet our lives never seem to change that much for the better, no matter what they say.  Right?  

Today we all have a huge choice to make.  For seemingly all of us, the choice is clear.  Unfortunately, that choice isn't the same.  While I see it as the choice between a seasoned, yet admittedly flawed candidate and a misogynistic, inexperienced and impulsive bully, others actually believe that the bully would do us better.  Well in my eyes, that bully has cheated our country of thousands and thousands of dollars in taxes, gone bankrupt on quite a few occasions, and looks to divide us rather than unite us.  He doesn't deserve to be president.  

Let me tell you about hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you about hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you about hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you about hard work, hard work, hard work
You don't know nothing about hard work

Yeah, those 8 years were terrible!  But they seem like nothing now compared to what could happen in the next 8.  It truly makes me sad...and a little scared, too.  Why do we spend so much time hating and being sheep rather than keeping informed, loving one another and really making the world and our country a better place?  We should all be on the same side.  

I only hope that today we get it right and we make it better.  Maybe someday in the future we will find a true anti-establishment hero willing to lead us all into a brighter future.  Until then, we need to make the right choice now, or the next time could be even worse.   



Monday, August 31, 2015

Unoriginal, Narcissistic, Low Life Nicki


I thought I was watching the Jerry Springer Show!  In case you haven't seen it, Nicki Minaj got all Springer at the VMA's last night after accepting an award for Best Hip-Hop Video, calling out host Miley Cyrus for supposedly trashing her in the press.

And now, back to this b**ch who had a lot 
to say about me in the press the other day.  
Miley, what's good?


The reference that she made happened during an interview Miley had done in which she was asked about Nicki's complaint that she was snubbed for Video of the Year, saying that "if your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year...Black women influence pop culture so much, but are rarely rewarded for it."

Cyrus alluded in the interview that the complaint was more about herself than at the bigger issue at hand.  "I don't respect your statement because of the anger that came with it...You made it about you. Not to sound like a bitch, but that's like, 'Eh, I didn't get my VMA."

Well to me, the whole thing just embodies what is wrong with the music industry and society in general, and I won't be buying any more Nicki Minaj songs anytime soon.  First of all, the amount of narcissism that exists today...freaking ego!!!  I'm sorry Ms. Nicki, but Miley was right in her response.  Referring to the Artist to Watch Award, which Cyrus lost in 2008, she shot back, "Whatever.  Because it's no big deal!  It's just an award, and I persevered!"  Really!

Aren't pop stars supposed to be role models?  This is what our kids have to look up to?  The head wagging and calling someone out live, on stage.  And all because she said something negative about you.  Boo hoo!  Suck it up Nicki.  You wanna be in the spotlight, and carry duffle bags every time you go to SunTrust, you gotta be able to deal with compliment and criticism.  You wanna change how people look at black women?  Don't portray the very embodiment of what people ignorant people think about them.  

And as for the music...I'm sorry, but Anaconda is not your best work by far.  In fact, it;s like a lot of other stuff out there in the entertainment industry nowadays: unoriginal!  That song is just Sir Mix-a-Lot copied, with a couple of Oh My God! Look at her butt's.  Really?  Again, as a woman, you're portraying yourself way differently than you want to be treated.  And you're a freaking millionaire, too!  God, there is no justice in the world, when someone like you with a modicum of talent gets to walk around living it all easy breezy objectifying women using an unoriginal song and then wanting to be rewarded for it.  Ugh, if there's any justice in the world, karma will bring you back as a much lower form of life the next time around...   

Oh, and you can check out the exchange on Rolling Stone.   






Friday, January 23, 2015

Pink's You + Me Project - Meh!




Okay, I know that this is somewhat blasphemous (?) of me to say, but I just listened to P!nk's latest entire project, You + Me, and now I'm looking for a bridge to jump off of. I can't help but ask why?

feeling confused.


That was a status I posted on Facebook just the other day. About a week ago, I finally obtained the entirety of P!nk's latest effort, a project with Canadian folk singer Dallas Green called You + Me, and I finally had a chance to listen to it. The album is called Rose Ave., and I just got to it now because probably like most P!nk fans, I didn't think it was as exciting as a follow-up to The Truth About Love would have been...and I was right.

I posted the debut single, You + Me, back in September upon its release, and though news of the tune and the project left me less than enthusiastic, I gave it a try and I liked it. I didn't love it, but it did grow on me after a few listens. Next came the follow-up single, Break the Cycle, which had the same style as the first. Not bad! Still, I never downloaded the album. I must've known something.

Finally the other day, my pal Sean let me download his copy of the whole record onto my iPod and a couple of days after, I took a listen...and hated it! My interest had been piqued when had told me that one of his favorite tunes off the project was a remake of Sade's No Ordinary Love, but I was less than impressed. Being the faithful P!nk fan that I am, I trudged through the long trek to work listening to the entire thing and yeah, it did make me want to jump off a bridge. Most of the songs had the same, slow, depressing sound and I'll probably never listen to it again.

So to P!nk, I apologize for saying all of this, because I do love you and I think that you are one of, if not the most talented singer/songwriter out there today, but I must. The Truth About Love was...is one of my favorite albums of all time, and this one...eh! Still can't wait for the next one, though!