The Elysian Fields

In a natural follow-up to yesterday's video - Apocalyptica's cover of One - we break briefly from the format of rock-played-on-orchestral-instruments, and we come to rock-played-on-rock-instruments. Of course, the reason for this is One, as performed by Metallica, from their album ...And Justice for All (Amazon.com).

Now, while this song starts with quiet textures and some beautiful melodic fretwork by Kirk Hammett that should be considered accessible to all, it does transition to some of the heaviest, most powerful work Metallica has ever done. Even if the bass - played by Jason Newstead, who had to step in to fill dearly departed Cliff Burton's unfillable shoes - was recorded with some of the most godawful lack-of-production qualities ever to see a release.

I would expect those of you who don't like such things as heavy metal, distorted guitars, and so forth to shun this video, however, I'd like you to make an exception.

This video is perhaps one of the most innovative music videos to have been made. Despite this being a "promotional video" - which is what the music companies consider music videos: advertising - the band is upstaged throughout by clips - dialogue and all - from the 1971 movie Johnny Got His Gun (IMDB) which is based on the book (Amazon.com) of the same name. The clips are powerful and graphic.

Several themes - and critical issues - are brought up. War: "For democracy, any man would give his only begotten son." The end product of war: "Inside me I'm screaming, nobody pays any attention. If I had arms, I could kill myself. If I had legs, I could run away. If I had a voice, I could talk and be some kind of company for myself. I could yell for help, but nobody would help me." Medical ethics, euthanasia, and extraordinary measures to sustain life: "He eats through a tube. And whatever comes in through a tube has to go out through a tube. He is the armless, legless wonder of the twentieth century. And yet, by God, he's just as alive as you and me."

This should not be watched lightly, but I feel it should be watched. Then again, those who most need to be moved by this are very likely amongst those who would never watch it - and, just as likely from what I know of you, not amongst those who are viewing this on your Friends page.

Watch, discuss.

... I wrote this:

And, lo, we do sow our seeds upon the fields;
And, lo, we do raise a mighty army;
And, lo, our army does meet our enemy in battle;
And, lo, we do plant our children once more beneath the fields.

Woah.

Check out Jaik Wills (on MySpace) - and most particularly, listen to his song Checks and Balances, which has a, ahem, "guest vocal" by Pat Robertson. If you avoid MySpace, check out the song on Neil Young's Songs of the Times from his Living with War Today page.

This was written on a certain day this past September, and was promptly misplaced. In celebration of our ineffective government shifting like an unsecured load in a freighter in heavy seas, lo, here 'tis:

At the end of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge learns his lesson; he learns what Christmas means, and he learns to keep that spirit all year long.

On a given day, we memorialize the loss of many lives; we don't celebrate because we are the victims here, not the victors.

And through a series of lies, manipulations, and sheer incompetence, the victors are able to continue their celebration through the year. As our leaders seek personal gain and personal vendettas, we take a moment of silence. It is but a brief moment, for excuses, promises never kept, and more lies that pour forth from the mouths of politicians.

Why do terrorists do the things they do? Mostly because they're pissed off, and feel that's the only way to get their point across.

While I really wish they wouldn't, it's no less successful than anything else - they certainly aren't going to keep our government and others from meddling and muddling in their affairs. Our leaders have our profit as their motive, and they'll cling to it. They claim it's a moral imperative, but that's just a distraction from the truth.

Neither one side nor the other can get out of this and save face - the terrorists stop killing, and our government will still attempt to control them; our government simply won't step back because that would give the terrorists what they want, and would not give the people in power what they want - more power.