HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA

That cracked me UP something awful. LMFAHS



Reminds me of an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and her girlfriends were trying to play an upbeat song but it instead sounded like a funeral dirge.

But this is better because it's non-fiction.

*promote

P'shaw Bono, U2, and this tired pop dirge.....*promote
danka danka dank, danka danka danka dank....

Wot's all this then? U2 were at their peak with ZooTV but I stopped listening to them once they put out that unlistenable "Pop" CD in 1997. It's all been dirge music since then, just retire already. Take a lesson from R.E.M.

Not sure the Great and Glorious Neil Degrasse would agree with your title. Fear is there, sure, but he sure doesn't beat that drum.

Worship, Greed and War are the three drivers. Sure, there is fear in there, but I hear Neil writing a symphony of hope, not a dirge of fear.

Great vid, by the way. Loved it. Good sift!

I love poignant, beautifully structured, meaningful, and heart felt musical renditions. Which is probably why i think this trite, syrup laden dirge is AWFUL. Jeez, it's just a semitone off parody.

Seems clear that expectations have diminished to almost zero. Television is, for the most part, cheap fly on the wall crap, repeats, or C list "celebrity" embarrassment - what next, celebrity ass swap? Films insult our intelligence with "adaptations" (copies) or parts 1,2,3,4,5. As for music, it has become a soulless dirge-for the most part. How the hell did the skyfall theme get an award? Another case in point is David Bowie's latest "creation." It's simplistic, banal and self indulgent crap. BTW, I think Bowie and Adele are great, but are we running out of ideas and inspiration?

I definitely would not call this emo. It seems to be more influenced by minimalism and seventies german space rock. It may not require amazing talent, but who cares about talent when they have a vision and a desire and passion to make it come alive? This is the sound of universal life.

>> ^chingalera:

promote
...because I would enjoy an enlightening discussion on the subject of anyone's innate ability to produce soothing or otherwise beneficial tones on objects at hand, be they electronic, percussive, etc.
This video is like watching a camera on at some folks place that have a variety of musical apparatus around. They probably have distilled spirits or were at the very least, inspired by the same.
It's probably cold outside.
Not much to do but shiver.
Suns gone for weeks at a time.
This dirge transmits and set the mood. I'm cold. Time to make popcorn and ribs.

*promote

...because I would enjoy an enlightening discussion on the subject of anyone's innate ability to produce soothing or otherwise beneficial tones on objects at hand, be they electronic, percussive, etc.

This video is like watching a camera on at some folks place that have a variety of musical apparatus around. They probably have distilled spirits or were at the very least, inspired by the same.
It's probably cold outside.
Not much to do but shiver.
Suns gone for weeks at a time.
This dirge transmits and set the mood. I'm cold. Time to make popcorn and ribs.

All you need to make music like this is some found instruments, a bit of timing, and maybe a screaming Vitamin D deficiency like these snow-dwellers!!
I mean c'mon man....I dig the vibe, would like PERFORMING this stuff with a roomfull of folks on some good drugs...but-Take's no real talent to make tuneful noise people....This is by no means outstanding-Justa buncha pasty white folks spontaneously composing an ever-increasingly UN-listenable, EMO DIRGE!!

Okay, but seems like a lot of random stylization without regard for the feeling behind the song. It's meant to be a funeral dirge.

The original makes me cry. No shit. Superman is the new Jesus.

Indeed long live the Clash. My #1 music muse will always be Joe Strummer, followed by Lennon and McCartney. I was playing Supertramp's 8 minute long dirges on the piano back in 1980 until I heard London Calling and it totally energized me.

I saw the Clash at the infamous Bonds shows in June 1981 in Times Square, with Topper on drums. Hard to believe that was 30 years ago.

The song's lyrics (and title) are both a tribute to Ayn Rand's novella Anthem, who deeply influenced Neil Peart - Rush's lyricist - at the time:

Know your place in life is where you want to be
Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me
Keep on looking forward, no use in looking 'round
Hold your head above the ground and they won't bring you down

Chorus:
Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
Wonders in the world they wrought

Live for yourself -- there's no one else
More worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will
Only cry out for more

[Chorus]

Well, i know they've always told you
Selfishness was wrong
Yet it was for me, not you, i
Came to write this song

[Chorus]

From a Q&A with fan questions in 1993:

Q. It's fairly well known that you've been influenced to a great extent by the writings of Ayn Rand. Knowing that her philosophy places a great deal of emphasis on individualism and creative integrity, particularly in the realm of art, how do you reconcile this with the fact that the music of Rush is written collectively? What happens if one of you has your heart set on a particular part, but the other two are dead-set against it?

Eric Simpson
Miami Springs, FL

A. Well, I saved this one until last, and you can see why! Eric and other people often send long lists of questions, and I hope they understand that I just can't justify spending half a page on a complex answer for each arcane question (for myself or for the general reader) so I have to be selective. Since I'm giving my time to this as a service to others, I go about it in my own way -- like the selfish bum I am.

Sometimes I choose questions which a few people have asked about, but which are unlikely to appear in an interview; sometimes I choose questions I think are interesting; sometimes I head off a growing myth and debunk it for you; other times I just say "what the heck" and answer any old one. So okay...

For a start. the extent of my influence by the writings of Ayn Rand should not be overestimated -- I am no one's disciple. Yes, I believe the individual is paramount in matters of justice and liberty, but in philosophy, as Aristotle said long ago, the paramount good is happiness. My self-determination as an individual is part of the pursuit of happiness, of course, but there's more to it than that.

In this particular example, working together with Alex and Geddy is a more important part of my pursuit of happiness than is my attachment to any line of lyric or phrase of music. Thus the conflict you describe would not arise -- if we disagree on such a detail, we work on it until it satisfies everybody, and if (very) occasionally one of us has to sacrifice a petty preference, they hey -- it's no big deal. Especially when you compare such an issue against the satisfaction we get from the big picture, the sum of our work together, it would be foolish to sacrifice long-term happiness for a small difference in taste.

I've said before that in regard to my own work, the lyrics, I am more often excited by the input from the other two than I am disappointed by it, and I certainly never feel compromised by it.

And there you can see how complicated it is to identify and pursue happiness, and how complicated it can be just to answer one question (out of twenty submitted by the curious Mr. Simpson, though others often rival him.)

You see what I'm up against...

Bye for now,

N. Peart

November 4, '93, Toronto

Grievous in the movies was a huge disappointment after seeing him take on around six Jedi and a squad of clone troopers in the animated Clone Wars series, by artist of Samurai Jack fame, Genndy Tartakovsky. Supposedly he was greatly weakened by a Force Crush from Mace Windu before appearing in Revenge of the Sith, hence the constant coughing and wheezing, his hunched over sickly look and toned-down fighting style and the apparent ease with which Obi-wan Kenobi took him out (with a fucking blaster of all things! UGGH). He really deserved better. But that movie was a crapfest in general so I don't know how much having an at full-strength Grievous would improve that whole situation. Dirge would've been nice to see too but Kenobi had already had his way with him by then.

Actually, now that I think about it, the Clone Wars was the best thing to happen to Star Wars since the original trilogy by far.

i know your not into hair metal but i wanted to share this with you.if you have never seen/heard alex skolnik play this video will introduce you to him.the song is low key and even live skolnik brings a feel that many modern guitarists just cant match.
http://www.videosift.com/video/TESTAMENT-musical-death-a-dirge-the-legacy-LIVE-Italy-92

>> ^RhesusMonk:
Someday I'm going to write a long treatise here about why this song and this story have very little to do with god's grace and being connected through JC. This is about awe and gratitude. Christians believe there is some force that is doling out goodwill and that we are unwitting and undeserving of this goodwill, unless we respond in a Christian way.

I read a great quote recently: "Christian is a wonderful noun, but a terrible adjective." I have to agree. I think the feeling you're describing, the feeling hinted at by Phipps, is transcendental. As Newton emerged from his cabin that day, and heard the dirge rising up from the hold, something in his brain clicked. No doubt, "Unknown" was sold into bondage exactly on schedule, and so the song did not save him in a meaningful way, but unbeknownst to him, that song did have an effect. Newton began to reconsider his role in things, and left the slave trade. He was a vocal proponent of abolition in England. It would be many, many years before he would put pen to paper and write out Amazing Grace (he experienced his conversion moment in 1748, and composed AG between 1760 and 1770) but nevertheless, the wordless song never truly left him. He chose to share its melody with those who'd never set foot on a slave ship, and found that, somehow, the effect was sustained.

Now everything I've just mentioned can be looked at in a non-Christian context, and it would remain true. It should be said, though, that the presence of Christianity and its memes made it easier for Newton to become aware of just how far he'd strayed in his life. Given the number of unrepentant slave captains who called themselves Christians, it does not necessarily follow that Newton's salvation was due to his turn to Christianity, but it certainly helped. And it also helped all the slaves who would have found passage in the hold of his ship, but did not, thanks to his conversion. Again, Christianity didn't do it, but it was a 'hook' upon which Newton could hang this unsettling feeling in his belly.

Kurt Vonnegut notes much the same in a speech he gave at Clowes Hall in 2007. He starts by pointing out that, while Marx said that 'religion was the opium of the lower classes', he should have been taken literally. Opiates were a wonderful class of drug that numbed the pain, and who knew pain better than the working classes? He continues, "The most spiritually splendid phenomenon of my lifetime is how African-American citizens have maintained their dignity and self-respect, despite their having been treated by white Americans, both in and out of government, and simply because of their skin color, as though they were contemptible and loathsome, and even diseased. Their churches have surely helped them to do that. So there's Karl Marx again. There's Jesus again."

I guess the question is, could John Newton have composed Amazing Grace without believing in the Magic Man Who Lives in the Sky? Maybe. Probably. But it certainly helped.