Red Shift 55

When I was young, the stars were closer.

The moon was a place to go.

There would be cities under the seas,

and cars would fly

and sooner or later someone would invent warp drive

and we could all get out of here.

Earth is so much smaller now.

Yet the stars are still faraway.

55

Stick With This Until You Get Through The Solo

Assuming you like guitar solos, that is. This is a very, very over-the-top song by one of the most over-the-top bands ever, but it's still awesome, and the solo is even more awesomer. It's right around 3:28 if you're too impatient to listen through all of the fantasy bombast and Christopher Lee narration that comes before it.

The Majesty of Rock

Compare and Contrast 55

Intrinsic 

Extrinsic

I 

You

have  

have

needs    

wishes

and issues       

and hopes

and desires   

 and dreams

I  

You

fear   

act

and fret   

and attempt

and avoid    

and achieve

I  

You

watch  

succeed

and envy      

and thrive

and denigrate       

and encourage

myself with    

others with

comparisons  

your example

I  

You

can't seem    

already

to change        

have

55

The Decline and Fall of Pop Music 55

Oh for the days

when pop songs were five minutes long

and had great guitar hooks

and used their lyrics to tell a complete and completely believable story

with wry humor and linguistic flair

and broke in the middle for

a bass solo,

a keyboard solo,

AND

a guitar solo.

Diesel, where did you go?

55

(Youtube took the video down, but the song is here.)

Worth a Listen

Sorry there doesn't seem to be a real video for this one!

Double the Fun!

Enthusiectomy 55

I detach and stare blankly

Buffered

Muffled

Afloat in something formless

looking through dull lenses at the lives moving by, 

one of them apparently my own.

Nothing stops me from reaching for passion, 

except that 

my passion for reaching 

has slouched 

down 

in 

apathy. 

Things happen 

yet 

I no longer seem to act. 

Why not?

55

Prodding the Plodding 55

Wake up!

There is so very much to see and do in this world - beauty and worth in bewildering abundance wherever you turn. What fool sits slumped and morose in the midst of glowing wonders? 

Slap him. 

Shake the senseless jackanapes by his collar!

A bold and startling universe hangs in wait for us all.

55