The use of hyperbole is as common as air molecules. Most, if not all, of us flippantly say things like everybody's doing it, everybody says it, or everybody has one. Sometimes it seems like everybody's an expert on everything. Those talking heads on television certainly know more than we do--don't they? There are some things that leave many of us scratching our heads while other things are so obvious that truth cannot be denied.
In the end we know as much as we are willing to see, hear, read, and learn. The information that tells the full story is always available if we take the time and effort necessary to uncover what is going on. But that's not much fun for some of us, while others know so much already they cling to their opinions and sometimes misshapen beliefs just because it's what they've got and it just feels so comfortable. Getting knocked in the head with a chunk of truth can hurt. If that truth starts ricocheting off my head and hits others soundly while deflecting off others, it can stir up a riot or a movement depending on the dispositions of those who own the said heads.
Okay, so I speak in vagaries and veiled vexations. I'm expressing what some might know already and others might not be quite getting. But in actuality I think that somewhere inside we all know what I'm saying here. I'd like to think that everybody knows. Or to avoid exaggeration I'll keep it to almost everybody knows.
Battle of the Bands
Everybody Knows
The results of my "Everybody Knows" battle were decisive, but the competing version didn't do all that badly. I went back and forth on this decision. Initially I favored the version by Concrete Blonde. But then, the version by Holly Figueroa O'Reilly started taking hold of me with its catchy rhythm and nifty country instrument backing. Holly's vocals were the bomb.
After many listens I decided to go back to the bleaker sound of Concrete Blonde. The ominous presentation of the song seemed more in keeping with what the lyrics are all about. This is not meant to be a happy song. Not that Holly's version was all that happy, but it was bouncy. I did like how she changed the melody a bit to create a dark edge. Both are excellent versions in my analysis, but my vote goes to Concrete Blonde.
Final Vote Tally
Concrete Blonde 12
Holly Figueroa O'Reilly 18
*******
Next Battle on Tuesday November 1st
My next Battle of the Bands post will be the last in my election season series. This one will also be the more interesting of the two as it will--or may--be a predictor of how the U.S. presidential election will turn out. Besides voting on the favorite music recording, there will also be a few optional questions to stimulate more discussion as well as help in my prediction poll based on the music.
Hope you'll join me for that as well as stop by for a couple of posts next week that will be somewhat of a lead-in to my next Battle.
Do you totally trust the government of the United States or any other country? How much of what the media says do you trust? Has there been a time when you thought that you knew something only to find out that it wasn't the real truth?
I do not trust the government and I think that majority in are either corrupt (to some degree) to start or get that way somewhere along the line. As for the media, it's interesting to read the variety of new and see the way it's skewed toward or against something or someone. The hard part is finding news that's neutral and completely factual.
ReplyDeleteMsHatch, maybe it's better not to totally trust what the media or the government tells us--a questioning mind can be prone to being better informed though that is not always the case since people can be easily be mislead if they believe all of the answers.
DeleteLee
There's only one person I trust that completely.
ReplyDeleteAlex, might be an argument for shutting oneself off from most of the world. There are many influences around us that distract from Godliness and encourage association with those who are against God.
DeleteLee
This was the most fantastic post in the history of the universe.
ReplyDeleteI missed your battle of the bands this time. "Everybody Knows" has just about the best opening lines of any song ever. Unfortunately, during the period in which Cohen recorded the original, his music was all sounding as though it was recorded on Casio keyboards. He's past that now.
There was also a version by... Bryan Adams and Don Henley (I think) on a Leonard Cohen tribute album in the Nineties.
Nasreen, your comment is the best that any blogger anywhere has ever received.
DeleteMy original thought was to put up the Henley version of "Everybody Knows" up against Concrete Blonde's version, but then I figured that his version might be hard for any other version to beat. I actually kind of liked Cohen's electro-pop phase as made his sinister songs sound even more sinister and ironic.
Lee
OUR GOVERNMENT AND MANY POLITICIANS HAVE PROVEN NOT TO BE TRUSTED. LIKE ALEX, I ONLY TRUST ONE PERSON.
ReplyDeleteShelly, it's sad that we would not be able to trust our government. Perhaps if they held up Jesus Christ to a higher place this country would see amazing things happen in our favor.
DeleteLee
I've been wrong before and shall be wrong again I bet, but that is how you learn, have to keep an open mind. Pffft to the media, never fully trust them, if even trust them a little.
ReplyDeletePat, you wrong? Pffft! An open mind is good for the incoming ideas as long as one adheres to a garbage in/garbage out philosophy. Too many people who pride their open minds have found their brains leaking out.
DeleteLee
I CAN'T WAIT for this election to be over! :P Even our Canadian national news leads off with it every night. I'll be in California for the "festivities", Basically, I think all governments and politicians are likely corrupt. They have to be to get anything done. "One hand washes the other", etc. As for the media, I keep hearing about liberal bias in the U.S. but it doesn't seem as prevalent here in Canada, although it may well be. Canada is by and large a liberal nation, after all.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I was on the winning side for this battle. Good one! ☺
Debbie D, true that Canada is so liberal that the liberal media is easily accepted and therefore not questioned. I'm not sure I'd agree that government has to be corrupt in order to get things done. Moral entropy has nowhere to go but downward and that will spell doom for the people.
DeleteLee
Newspapers here always declare their editorial stances. Some are conservative and some liberal, but that's only for their own opinion pieces. I'd like to think the actual news is reported accurately.IMO, most, if not all politicians are corrupt in one way or another. Some likely start out with good intentions, though.
DeleteI don't trust the candidates, the govt or the media. I'm sick of all of it.
ReplyDeleteAn example of something I was told which wasn't true was about Custer. Being taught that he died a hero and all that. He had it coming after the crap he did to the Native Americans.
JoJo, there was good and bad on both sides. I recall growing up with the notion that the Indians were always on the bad side. As I grew older I learned there were different stories about different people both good and bad and sometimes within themselves good and bad.
DeleteLee
I've never trusted the government, and the media seems more like an arm of it every day, so I don't trust them, either. I get the impression with the media that they're telling us what to think instead of telling us what happened. It's like Mark Twain said: if you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed; if you do, you're misinformed. Same holds true for the news channels and the network news broadcasts. And I don't think this is anything new; this has been going on for years, we just didn't catch on until this year.
ReplyDeleteJohn, Twain was a genius of cultural perception and he got it right about the media. I think the biggest problem is that print media has become less relevant. Since reading often encourages more thought about content, not reading and having information just told to us I think we are more apt to just absorb that info as fact and not pursue it much more than that. Now it's visual and aural bombardment filled with repetitive info dumps where the content is skewed one way or another. We're getting more than ever at a faster pace. Intelligent discussion seems to be replaced to a greater extent with indoctrination. My guess is that of those who vote, many will have no idea about the specifics of what their candidates represent. I truly believe that the bias has grown greater than ever because the newer generation of journalism has lost sight of the concept of straightforward reporting of pure facts and has been leaning toward facts combined with interjecting opinions, personality, and entertainment.
DeleteLee
I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone anywhere trusts their government.
ReplyDeleteChrys, maybe we tend to think we could do it better or just deep down don't believe the folks running things are doing it in the interest of the people.
DeleteLee
Finding the truth among the rhetoric can be difficult. I think it's a good idea to keep learning as long as possible, and that doesn't necessarily come from being in a classroom. Life experience counts toward attitude and demeanor, and those silver-spooners don't really know clouds at all. . .
ReplyDeleteDG, I think I've learned as much or more outside the classroom.
DeleteLee
I definitely don't trust the government, especially the CIA! Regarding politicians, there is so much corruption there and so many back-room deals going on. It atrocious. But it's what we've got and we have a lot of rights. We can enact change but it takes courage and stamina --- not for the faint of heart.
ReplyDeleteI think that some politicians start out with good and honest intentions but they get swept up into the cesspool of corruption...
Good battle you had there. Will look forward to the next one. I'm ready for this election to be over though...
Michele at Angels Bark
Michele, I agree that Washington tends to corrupt even the best-intentioned politicians. It's sad for us--the people they are supposed to be representing.
DeleteHope you'll play along with my next battle. Just out of curiosity.
Lee
So far, I've managed to pick some winners! How did that happen?? LOL.
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing me to some new tunes!
Cherdo, we win some and we lose some as the saying goes. I've even won a few.
DeleteLee
I think I'm thoroughly confused, but I might not be.
ReplyDelete*sighs*
Dolorah, if you think you're confused then you probably know what I'm talking about here.
DeleteLee
No, I don't trust the government or the media. Does anyone?
ReplyDeleteShannon, I'm sure some people trust the media and the government. Look at how much support Hillary has and by all logic she should not only have little support, but she should be on trial and heading to jail.
DeleteLee
CONCRETE BLONDE may not have won but they staged a pretty impressive comeback. At the time I voted for them and ended the shutout, they were BURIED in Holly berries and votes. It's rather surprising to me now to find out they only lost by 6 votes. That one was seriously looking like Blowout City for quite awhile.
ReplyDelete~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
STMcC, yeah I was concerned about the blowout, but they came out fairly well in the end.
DeleteLee
Pleased I picked the winner Lee.
ReplyDeleteHave a great Sunday.
Yvonne.
Yvonne, you have a pretty good record at picking the winners.
DeleteLee
I read pretty widely so am always looking for a variety of opinions on any given subject. I think that makes it easier to know who to trust. But, yes, I have been wrong. I admitted it when I was.
ReplyDeleteKathleen, this election season might prove that there were no really right answers, but some might be more right than others.
DeleteLee
It's dangerous to put 100% trust in any government. There's a line in The Tao Te Ching about what kinds of disastrous things can happen by putting too much faith and trust in one's leaders and government.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anything, in any country's media, has ever been 100% truthful and trustworthy, even if there's been no deliberate falsification. There's an invariable spin, a version specifically chosen to present a certain POV or aspect, perhaps because the powers than be don't want to take up extra time by presenting multiple sides and too many details. I know when I was a lot younger, I innocently trusted almost everything I saw in print or watched on the news, not fathoming how lies or a deliberately twisted agenda could be disseminated. As I've gotten older, I've learnt a lot about vetting sources and looking into multiple sources, not just ones that back up my own biases or go along with the popular media narrative.
Carrie-Anne, since governments and media sources are all run by humans, there is plenty of potential for error. Where it comes to news I'd prefer just straight reporting of facts without any bias or editorializing and when those things are going to occur they should be labeled as such before being presented.
DeleteLee
Everybody knows you can't trust everybody all the time. Every knows you can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Everybody knows that not everybody knows what's going on. What's going on? I picked the winner this battle!!!! And now everybody know that (whoever reads my comment, anyway).
ReplyDeleteJeffrey, it's nice to know at least a few little things for whatever they might be worth.
DeleteLee