Lotusblog

Simon said something that resonated with me the other day. He was talking about progressive Australians (we’ll call them Good Australians for the sake of simplicity) such as Peter Garrett. People who recognise that there are serious problems in Australian society and have dedicated, or rather, based their lives on solving these problems. Surely almost every citizen of Australia between the ages of 10 and 60 has heard of a band called Midnight Oil. The generation most familiar with and most fanatical about the band is ironically now the generation that activists such as Garrett are now fighting against (we won’t call them the Bad Australians, we’ll just name them the Sad Australians). The bigots. The racists. The ordinary Aussie battlers who are tired of them coming in and taking our jobs, bringing in their strange religions and customs, wasting their social security benefits, causing problems and mayhem.

So the question is, what on earth were said Battlers thinking when they were singing along with lyrics of US Forces, Power and the Passion and The Dead Heart? Were they just reacting to melodies and rhythms? Completely oblivious to the lyrics?
I was wondering if this was even possible- how can you immerse yourself in a song which is sung in in your pater familias without understanding what it means?

After some deep reflection, I realised that some of the hip-hop songs I think are pretty cool are actually lyrically repugnant to me, once I slow down and try to understand what is being said. (but the difference is that I am aware of that). I also realised that living in Japan, I hear a lot of Japanese songs, which truth be told, I can’t completely understand, yet I like a lot.

So here’s an idea for a project.
Choose an obscure language. A dead language even. Using advanced mathematics, craft a perfect pop-song. Set it to the most ridiculous, offensive, contradictory lyrics imaginable.
And watch it zoom to number one.

And anyone who has been to karaoke in Japan, knows that you can easily sing a song you don’t understand. You just need to have a guide to pronouncing each sound. Actually, probably anybody who has ever been to primary school knows this. I learnt that German Tennenbaum song when I was nine and I know fuck all about German. I know it’s something about a Christmas tree, because I later learned the English version. Japanese kindergarten kids have their repertoire of English and German songs too.

So back to my song… we’ll watch it zoom to number, people of all ages and classes will be singing to their heart’s content.
Send your song lyrics to me. You know where I am.