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Current mood:  angsty Category: Religion and Philosophy
CULTURAL REVOLUTION AS POP POSSIBILITY
An essay inspired by Madonna’s "Holiday"
Travis Egedy
"If we took a holiday, took some time to celebrate. Just one day out of life, it would be, it would be so nice"
So say the opening lyrics to Madonna’s 1983 mega hit "Holiday." Simple enough, right? Who doesn’t like a holiday? Indeed, it would be nice. You are sitting on a tropical island, sipping a pina colada under a parasol, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing in the distance, think of those Corona commercials…yes quite nice. But what if this was not the kind of "holiday" being sung about over the catchiest three note bassline ever? What if "holiday" was describing a possibility? A possibility of a future with a highly radical and extremely revolutionary cultural ideology? It is interesting to project this idea onto a seemingly simplistic sugar soaked pop song, but with this outlook, "Holiday" becomes one of the most culturally progressive and idealistic anarcho-utopianist visions of our time, all while being broadcast to millions via pop radio and television. (I highly suggest watching the music video on Youtube.) Woah ,woah, what? Yes, a pop song with lyrics that define and outline quite possibly the next phase in human evolution, and one that describes an opening into an alternative reality.
"Everybody spread the word, we’re gonna have a celebration. All across the world, in every nation. Its time for the good times, forget about the bad times, oh yea. One day to come together, to release the pressure, we need a holiday."
If any of you readers have crawled out from under your rocks in the past few years, you might have noticed that things aren’t looking so hot for the average human being. We are living in an age in which we are suckling at the silicone filled tits of a corporate owned world, destroying our planet and ourselves in the process. Never in one point in history, has our power been so far removed from us. And shit, what else is new? Anyone with half a brain can see this going on around them. There is really no stopping this. Everyone is guilty of feeding the death machine more fuel, some even encourage it. There is really almost no avoiding it, and voting for Obama isn’t going to help either. It has become nearly impossible to live a functioning lifestyle in contemporary society without your very existence being sold back to you. And so what? What does this even mean? It means that the tides have shifted. The control is completely out of our hands. We are no longer holding the steering wheel to our own consciousness. Ever get the feeling that our culture has gone scandalously wrong? We are owned and trapped in a false dimension, an illusionary trance world created by media, and our own apathy. What happened to substance? You know that special feeling when your mind is blown at a particularly transcendental moment in your favorite song or performance? Or the rush you get from doing something that you actually love? Or the temporary déjà vu or intuitive flash of something you can’t really put your finger on? These are glimpses and windows into another reality, one that was lost a long time ago. This is a possible world to be a part of, constantly. Imagine the "celebration" referred to in the song being after the (inevitable) collapse of corporate capitalism, and world governments, with freedom being returned to the peoples of the world, "Mad Max" style, but without all the oppression or Mel Gibson good looks. Imagine a unification of people, all across the planet building a new life for themselves "releasing the pressure" and literally celebrating the beginning of a new reality. With the "good times" being about shedding an old skin and the ushering in of a new age. This new age being a fundamental transformation of both American and global lifestyles. Release the fucking pressure.
"You can turn this world around, and bring back all of those happy days. Put your troubles down, its time to celebrate. Let love shine, and we will find a way to come together and make things better. We need a holiday."
I don’t want to start talking about ancient astrological prophesies from multiple cultures (and contemporary scholars and mystics) predicting human consciousness to progress into a next level of mind and being in a few short years, a new "golden age" if you will. But one cannot not see the parallels between this "holiday" reality, and the fact that our entire planetary consciousness (including the planet herself) is ripe for total evolution and transformation. "Bring back all of those happy days" anyone? So yea, I am not going to go there. That’s a whole other article. How is this idealistic elevated utopian "golden age" bullshit possible? I have no idea. But I think letting love shine might have a little something to do with it. The concept of a complete and total shift in our conscious reality is really hard to wrap your head around, and I honestly haven’t a clue on how this change will occur, maybe Madonna does. Just keep your hearts and minds open. For how oppressive and massively intricate the global system seems, it also seems to be teetering on the edge of a gigantic mountain of its own excess, top heavy from too many McDonald’s hamburgers and personal greed. We have got to be able to pull out that one specific Jenga piece, and watch the tower collapse. Because it’s always so exciting when that happens! "You can turn this world around," it’s just going to take a large collective effort, and collectivism is something we humans can be quite good at. At its total core, the simple words behind "holiday" are just describing a place where people are together and having a good time, leaving their troubles behind and making life better for themselves. This is really all the song is talking about. It is a very basic idea, but one that has the ability to promote massive change for the better. Anyone can create their own "holiday" at any time of the day, but it could be, it could be so nice if we were there partying together. Future ho!
11:31 PM
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