Music and (bad) Lyrics

Recently, more than ever, it has become extremely apparent that song writers are running low on creative fuel. Take, for instance, the popular song belted out by Toby Keith with the chorus "High maintenance woman don't want no maintenance man." I realize that grammatical correctness has fallen by the wayside, but is too much to ask for lyrics that are not so corny that they require their own side of butter? Or, perhaps you've heard the song "Fergalicious". This one is even better than "My humps". If anyone can figure out how the Black Eyed Peas have managed to hang on despite atrocious vocals and lyrics that can only be described (and I'm being generous here) as juvenile, please fill me in. And while we're on the subject of the Black Eyed Peas, has anyone heard the folk rendition of their "junk in the trunk" song by Cheryl Crow? I'm really hoping that Cheryl recorded it as a parody because there is no other explanation for the lack of judgement that this particular choice represented. It is embarrassing to watch artists passionately perform these songs. Today's artists would do well to take lessons from such lyrical greats as U2 or Johnny Cash.

Living life

"It is very easy to think of the poverty far away and forget very quickly. Today a great disease is that feeling of terrible loneliness, the feeling of being unwanted, having forgotten what human joy is, what the human feeling is of being wanted or loved. I think this is found in very well-to-do families also.

We may not have people hungry for a plate of rice or for a piece of bread in New York City, but there is a tremendous hunger and a tremendous feeling of unwantedness everywhere. And that is really a very great poverty."

-Mother Teresa

I recently had a conversation about anxiety and fear and their increased prevalence in today's society. Heinous crimes are committed by those who are searching, longing, begging for love and acceptance. While we may never know the cause behind the Virginia Tech killer, it's obvious he was plagued by the demon of loneliness. This does not, by any stretch of the imagination, explain or condone his crime in any way; however, I believe it is worth noting that loneliness is a powerful motivator. May we cast off our shrouds of fear and loneliness, living life as it is meant to be lived, with exuberance and abandonment.