| Music Review of "Do You Realize??" by The Flaming Lips Hi everyone. I�m back from my all-too-long summer hiatus. You know I took time off to revise for my exams, and I made all too many promises that I would be back in June. Then June became July, and July became August. A few days back, September spun around, and nothing was updated. It�s not that I�ve forgotten all about this little project of mine, and more importantly, all you readers out there who actually bother. But so much happened in between. I sat for my exams, went on an unforgettable holiday, graduated, said goodbye to people and places, said hello to people and places, and started work. It all sounds hectic, though it wasn�t really all that packed, to be brutally honest. It�s just that I never found myself completely comfortable with the state of things until now. And that short paragraph explains why my month-long hiatus turned out to be the longest summer of my life. And yours too, quite possibly. No? Damn, you guys just won�t give my ego a chance, would you? Okay, and so it is that we�re in September as I write this. So all those promises about reviews of movies like �In The Bedroom� and �The Royal Tenenbaums� will have to be broken, simply because even video stores aren�t placing those titles under new releases anymore. Yup, even video stores. So, I�ve got a whole new slate of things coming your way. So just sit back and enjoy. And if you�ve got some time in between, just sneak in a prayer or whatever it is you might do, that I don�t decide to disappear for four months at a go anytime in the future. Damnit, I missed you guys! Now that up there has already taken up way too much space, and I wouldn�t be able to squeeze in a rant or a movie review in the remainder of this entry. So I�m actually going to announce my return in a big way, by breaking tradition and writing about a song that I really, really like. It�s none of those pop-Top-40-R&B-hip-hop-rap all-in-one tunes that seem so hot in herre right now, but a song that accompanied me as I made the transition from the schooling life to the working world, and as I moved house from one continent to another. Let�s try to get through this without getting my eyes red, shall we? I�m kidding! It�s not really that complicated, Avril. Now shut up. British reviewer Ben Gilbert gave this single 5 stars, and called it �the most profound and glorious single to be released in eons�. I had the good fortune of listening to the single before reading the review and I have to agree wholeheartedly with his assessment. I mean, I�ve heard some pretty profound stuff, but this one deserves to be called an epic. I�m talking not just about the music, but also the lyrical beauty that capture life�s spirit and render it timeless. You�ll have to find it somewhere, but better still, get the album. It�s called �Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots� and is worth every cent you pay for it. Let�s get down to business. The single is called �Do You Realize??� and the bulk of the lyrics are questions that songwriter (and lead vocalist) Wayne Coyne utilizes to challenge our thinking about the way we approach life, before moving on to deliver a chorus that manages to inspire and provoke further thought without being preachy. I�ll have something to say about the whole thing later, so I�ll just give you some of the lyrics now. �Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face? Do you realize we�re floating in space? Do you realize that happiness makes you cry? Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know you realize that life goes fast, it�s hard to make the good things last, you realize the sun don�t [sic] go down, it�s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round.� You realize that the lyrics can be downright depressing, yet they can also be some of the most joyful words you might have ever heard. It�s all a question of context, and I guess life is so much about that. The context within which we choose to live it, the context by which we base our choices, and also the choices that we ultimately make. I guess when I left university, and moved home for good, it set up one of those situations whereby you start to reflect, contemplate, and just take some time to assess. In some way I guess I had no choice in the matter. I had to return home. I had committed myself to a job, and while anything is possible, a part of me was eager to check out the working world. And then I got to realizing that I had already made the choice three years ago, when I decided that I would take three years of my life to pursue a university degree in a land far, far away from home. And this choice led to so many good things in my life, more than I can list right here. So it was remarkably easy to say goodbye. I miss certain things, but then I also realize that the times that I cried, the times when I felt like I owned the world, the times when I felt that I would happy dying right there and then, were the times I shared with people. Those real moments. Mostly unexpected. The type that you wish you could relive, every single minute and every single detail, where the end isn�t painful, but joyful, because you were a part of that whole beautiful picture. And I have to try very hard to remember where these places were. But I�ll always remember the people. And so, to all of you who have been such a great big part of my past three years, this one�s for you. Cheers. R.D.'s Rating : Like they say, one of the most upliftingly glorious singles in years. I liken this to a sunny December day in Britain. And that equates to a RAWKING DAWG. (What's a RAWKING DAWG? Check out R.D.'s rating system here.) Sound off!! So are you one of those people who've played such a big part in R.D.'s life for the past three years? If so, then go to the index page, and fill in the guestbook, so he can keep in contact with you! If not, then fill it in anyway! If you've anything else to share, tell me here. |