Get on your boots

Interesting sound for U2’s new single.

Filed under: U2, music , Get on your boots, music, U2

Victims of Comfort

Keb’ Mo’ (1994)

Some thoughtful lyrics:

No rocket’s gonna fly that high
There’s no escaping the enemy he’s you and I
We poison up our water, we’re chokin’ on the air
Last stop before it gets too late or is it already too late?
Is it already too late
For the victims of comfort?
Got no one else to blame
We’re just the victims of comfort
We cannot soothe the pain

And it’s a technological merry-go-round
Dangerous solutions buried under the ground
And everyone likes a party
But no-one wants to clean
Well I’d like to see a change somehow and I believe we’re busy right now
Just a little busy right now
I am just a victim of comfort
I got no one else to blame
I’m just a victim of comfort
Cryin’ shame

Boy what have we got to lose? Everything
Yes and what do we stand to gain? Everything, so let’s
Try together before we have to cry together
It’s too soon to die together
I’m just a victim of comfort
Got no one else to blame
I’m just a victim of comfort
Got to soothe the pain
Be the victims of comfort
Got no one else to blame
I am just a victim of comfort
Cryin’ shame

Filed under: links, literature, music , blues, Keb Mo, lyrics, music, Poetry

Seeing responsibly?

What is the connection between sight and responsibility?

Here’s some lyrics from Brooke Fraser’s recent album, from the title track, Albertine; “Rwanda… now that I have seen I am responsible“.  How does this connection work?  And how – and is – this complicated by communication technologies that enable us to see without being in relative proximity to something?

Perhaps this what aid groups are seeking to call upon when they televise images of malnourished children? What is the difference between seeing something and viewing an image on something else (ie. TV, billboard etc)? Should we be careful as to what we see?

Incidently, Brooke Fraser’s music is fascinating. For a pop artist (although to be fair she has a lot more musical depth than the average pop artist), she carries a lot of startling philosophical and theological reflection. Check out some lyrics and clips – I highly recommend her latest album.

Filed under: Brooke Fraser, ethics, music, responsibility