the good guys are in power and the bad guys are in jail

Continuing the music meme from yesterday ...

Day 03 - A song that makes you sad

I tend not to listen to slower songs. I also tend to find songs much more emotional when the lyrics are sad but the music is cheerful. I know I've said this a million times, but I just love that sort of juxtaposition. So don't be surprised when you hit play on this track and are greeted by quite the danceable little tune - my choice for this entry is Shakira's "Timor."

I know the lyrics are more heavy-handed than they are clever, but this song still manages to mess with me. The chorus -

If we forget about them, don't worry
If they forget about us, then hurry
How about a people who don't matter anymore?

- just makes me think of how so many people in wealthier countries might know that there's poverty around them and there's poverty and tremendous issues going on in other countries, and yet they never seem to give any of that more than the briefest thought. And the way Shakira puts herself in the song ("'cause I'll keep selling records") makes me feel like everyone is a part of the problem, even if they're trying to help fix things. And it makes me think of how ubiquitous American media is, almost to the exclusion of local media, to the point where I can go to a twelve-screen movie theatre in Peru and every single movie they're playing will be in English. And I dunno, it just weirds me out so much. Plus the fact that this song is about East Timor - did I even know anything about East Timor before I loaded the Wikipedia page for this song?? I don't like that countries can go so completely unheard of, it just seems wrong.

... yep. That's my vague and incoherent rambling to end a very moodswingy and culture shocky day. :)