The other day I was listening to my iPod and "Freedom of Choice" by Devo shuffled in. Ah, a flashback....
It was 1981 and we're sitting in our room, watching Channel 12's Teletunes on Dan's crappy B&W TV. We hear the now familar opening riff and I see some of my favorite skaters (El Gato, Grisham, MAlba and SAlba) tearing it up. That's my memory of this song...catchy, silly but it had skaters.
Back to 2007 and I finally listen to the lyrics. Hmmmm...interesting thought here.
Now, I'm not going to pretend that I'm too deep here, but this is an interesting (and mighty cynical) commentary on apathy in America. We've got an amazing amount of selection in this country: fast-food restaurants, groceries, houses, cars, etc... And basically, they're all the same. I'm not advocating eliminating choice here, it didn't work so good for the USSR. But it's a shame that in this land of "choice" we really have very little. I can choose to only buy Hondas. Good for me. But truth be told, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Ford, Mazda and about 8 other companies make a car that would drive/feel about the same as my trusty old Accord. Is the natural consequence of selection brought on by free enterprise a virtual homongenization of these choices? Don't know. But it was at least worthy of a hmmmmmmm. And I actually listened to the lyrics. Maybe I should listen to some other 80's tunes and see if there's any hidden meaning. Maybe Loverboy and the B-52's are that generations true poets.......
It was 1981 and we're sitting in our room, watching Channel 12's Teletunes on Dan's crappy B&W TV. We hear the now familar opening riff and I see some of my favorite skaters (El Gato, Grisham, MAlba and SAlba) tearing it up. That's my memory of this song...catchy, silly but it had skaters.
Back to 2007 and I finally listen to the lyrics. Hmmmm...interesting thought here.
Freedom of choice
Is what you got
Freedom from choice
Is what you want
Now, I'm not going to pretend that I'm too deep here, but this is an interesting (and mighty cynical) commentary on apathy in America. We've got an amazing amount of selection in this country: fast-food restaurants, groceries, houses, cars, etc... And basically, they're all the same. I'm not advocating eliminating choice here, it didn't work so good for the USSR. But it's a shame that in this land of "choice" we really have very little. I can choose to only buy Hondas. Good for me. But truth be told, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Ford, Mazda and about 8 other companies make a car that would drive/feel about the same as my trusty old Accord. Is the natural consequence of selection brought on by free enterprise a virtual homongenization of these choices? Don't know. But it was at least worthy of a hmmmmmmm. And I actually listened to the lyrics. Maybe I should listen to some other 80's tunes and see if there's any hidden meaning. Maybe Loverboy and the B-52's are that generations true poets.......