“They say the sun is sometimes eclipsed by a moon
You know I don’t see you when she walks in the room”
(lyrics from ‘the Fly’ by U2 from Achtung Baby in Nov. 1991)
It’s been over 20 years of Achtung Baby from U2. I was living in San Jose at the time anxiously awaiting the new U2 release after being a bit disappointed with a few years of no new U2 material. Getting the CD still had some of the same excitement of a new vinyl.. not really… but I pretended. The sound was amazing.. dahhh dun dunt… dahhh dun dunt… boom boom chint.. boom boom chint… I’m ready… unlike any other U2 record once again. Lyrically.. I knew there were deep concepts leaking out.. but I wasn’t really in a place to comprehend what was being said and digest all the implications. As many have with Bono’s lyrics.. I’ve found such an amazing commentary of life. It always seems artists are seeing the future and a bit ahead of the class. I don’t know exactly what Bono would be referring to as.. “You know I don’t see you when she walks in the room”… but I would have to imagine he would be referring to a culture stuck in media gluttony.. information overload… technological advancements that hi-jack our vision (hence the fly shades). I remember going to the Zoo Tour at Anaheim Stadium in November of ’92.. the screens flashing with images and messages so fast you couldn’t read them all but surprised myself by how many I did.
In October of 2013, I’ve got information overload syndrome (IOS). Access to too much information to process that seems to hi-jack my time and sometimes days. My creative thinking gets hi-jacked by speaking through videos on youtube rather than saying or writing it. When it’s so well communicated through a video like this…
why should I take the time to put it in words when I can just say.. dude.. check this out.. totally. That’s tough to compete with. I’m in fear of living in such a strong media blasted culture.. that I won’t develop into all that I could be. Advancing in language.. writing… thinking. 20 years ago TV watching hi-jacked our culture… now that seems too boring.. something much stronger has been injected into the air. I call it media heroin. It goes to a part of my brain that no other drug does and demands more.
When I was 15… I never… I never would have imagined that I could have my whole music collection in the palm of my hand when I would spend hours upon hours recording my vinyl to cassettes so I can listen to them on the go in my LASONIC, 100 watt Ghetto Blaster.. that took 10 D batteries. This kid on youtube was me in the 80’s…
but I was a bit cooler than that… I had ripped bleached jeans, sometimes barefoot and had a live bootleg recording of Van Halen cranking.
Searching a bit about information overload.. I found cases of death by video game. Heart attack, dehydration.. baby neglected that led to death. I personally never got passed Atari.. but I get how this stuff happens. Like what the heck is this kid talking about… having some video game poltergeist experience?? really??
what the heck? Is this stuff real… it is! At least the hi-jacking of a culture and generation. I like Cam Adair’s testimony shared at TED… we’re looking for escape…
Sending kids to a boot camp for digital dependency… what the heck? yep..
I don’t want to get stuck in a cell phone addiction, facebook addiction… because there’s other things I want to see… namely ‘God’… the sun. I want to see the world through the eyes of love. I want to see my kids grow up. I want to be able to read books. I want to be able to have the patience to learn new things and push through the difficulties that come through that process to reach something more beautiful. As addictive as this media barrage is.. and it is as strong as heroin…. I know something stronger… I got to get outside..
Strong by Jon Foreman
Let your kingdom come in my world and in my life
Give me the food I need to live through today
And forgive me as I forgive the people that wrong me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one I look out the window the birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune or out of place
I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl on her wedding day So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong The kingdom of the heavens is now advancing
Invade my heart, invade this broken town
The kingdom of the Heavens is buried treasure
Would you sell yourself to buy the one you’ve found? Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong Our God in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons
A Different Kind Of Light 