Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Culture and Art - A song on display

Another song who has unlikely libertarian tendencies within it, or at least some truth ;)
It is one of this alternative pop-songs who more often turn out to be leftist jazz mish-mash music.
However, I want to dwell a bit in this song:

Kings of Convenience - Misread:

If you wanna be my friend
You want us to get along
Please do not expect me to
Wrap it up and keep it there
The observation I am doing could
Easily be understood
As cynical demeanour
But one of us misread...
And what do you know
It happened again

A friend is not a means
You utilize to get somewhere
Somehow I didn't notice
friendship is an end
What do you know
It happened again

How come no-one told me
All throughout history
The loneliest people
Were the ones who always spoke the truth
The ones who made a difference
By withstanding the indifference
I guess it's up to me now
Should I take that risk or just smile?

What do you know
It happened again
What do you know

Especially the last part is very interesting, because here, he speaks individually. While the first part is a description of a problem in a relationship with a friend, the second part is his own musing about his existence and a justification that what he has done was right. Aside from a melancholic but speedy rhythm and a beautiful melodic piano, this song even has a text which can be read without thinking of it as schmalzy again.
"A friend is not a means to utilize to get somewhere" is especially good and I like it, because it shows that you have no rule beyond your own body (and some people can't even control that). The singer also recognizes that people who speak truthes often are lonely people and get harsh words (as seen here).

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