It's the End of the World as We Know It

Listen while you read: (and I Feel Fine)

. . . 

Team by team, reporters baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped
Look at that low plane, fine, then
Uh oh, overflow, population, common group
But it'll do, save yourself, serve yourself
World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed
Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent in the right, right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light
Feeling pretty psyched

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

Six o'clock, TV hour, don't get caught in foreign tower
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Lock him in uniform, book burning, bloodletting
Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate
Light a candle, light a motive, step down, step down
Watch your heel crush, crush, uh oh
This means no fear, cavalier, renegade and steering clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

~  Michael Stipe (R.E.M.)

It still amazes me how I can find a song from decades ago that sounds like it was written last week. This one, from Document, dates back to 1987, three decades ago! But look at some of those lines! Not to mention the use of the verb "trumped" in the first line! (I did not include lyrics to the first verse; I wanted to cut to the chase!) Reporters baffled? Don't get caught in a foreign tower? Vitriolic, patriotic? A tournament of lies?

But I feel fine. I am making a concerted effort to put the political chaos in an appropriate box and proceed with my life. Because, here's the thing. We keep talking about happenings that are "unprecedented," and there is truth to that. But if you look back at history, it appears that there has always been chaos and discontent and division. Do we just disremember how crazy it was?

Of course, I've known this song for years. But I don't think I ever studied Stipe's stream-of-consciousness lyrics. It amazes me how anyone can sing a song like this! I would stumble just getting from the first to the second line! But singing is not my forte, so I will let Stipe and others astound me with their talent, while I just try my best to respond to it.

Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, I have arrived in Maryland to visit my dear friends Jim and Lois. We'll listen to music, drink wine, eat a delicious homemade vegetarian dinner, and talk the night away. Feeling pretty psyched.