As most of you have probably already noticed, I am not much of a
blogger…that is primarily Bob’s department. On 9 out of every 10
occasions, I am the Teller to Bob’s Jillette.
That being said, every once in a great while I experience something so
unbelievably profound that I feel compelled to share it with other
people, and in this case, all of you.
I just had one of those moments…
I’m not sure if anyone else shares in this sentiment, but for me the
musicians I enjoy tend to fall into one of two categories: Bring Me Pleasure or Bring Me Meaning.
Dave Matthews Band is a good example of a band that brings
me pleasure. I have loved their albums and live performances for over
a decade now, but I cannot remember a single moment where anything they
have created has moved me intellectually or shifted my perspective in
some way. That’s certainly not a bad thing, it just means (for me)
they are creating music for music’s sake.
The Flaming Lips are the perfect embodiment of the latter
category. Their musicianship is marginal at best, yet the subject
matter they address in their music resonates with me on level that has
only been reached by a handful of philosophers who died before the
arrival of the 19th century.
I just saw The Flaming Lips live for the first time at the Boston pavilion, and the experience has left my head spinning.
- Exploding balloons filled with confetti;
- Teams of dancers dressed in bizarre outfits;
- 15-foot-tall inflatable Catfish and Butterfly costumes;
- Lead singer Wayne Coyne traversing the audience in an inflatable bubble;
- Song titles like “Enthusiasm for life defeats Existential fear” that somehow never seem pretentious;
This is just some of what I experienced. And what I experienced was
marvelous. I attached a video from the show below…I was about ten rows
from the stage, so all that exploding confetti was right in my face.
The song they are playing is called “Do You Realize”.
“Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we’re floating in space -
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die”Beautiful in it’s simplicity, don’t you think?
~ Scott