| Paul Simon – The Boy in the Bubble Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Oball is correct. Incidentally, and significantly, the baby with the baboon heart was killed by a creationist. Yes, dramatic effect..."doomed" would be more accurate. The doctor who implanted the heart chose a baboon heart without regard to medical compatibility because he didn't believe humans and baboons are related. Consequently she died earlier than she might have with a more compatible heart (see http://www.conradaskland.com/blog/2007/07/baby-fae-the-unlearned-lesson-of-evolution/). The "Boy in the Bubble" was David Vetter. The bone marrow transplant was a new, experimental procedure they had just come up with to resuscitate his immune system. (The hospital's experiment with David was basically over, and it was looking for ways to divest itself of him.) It might have worked, but a virus crept into the transplant material which caused rampant cancerous tumors in little David. The cruel irony is that the donor was his older sister. As an older sibling (and parent of small children) myself, I've often thought about the mental anguish she must have gone through, that in her attempt to free him she effectively killed him--and I wish I could tell her that She Did The Right Thing. For what little consolation that would be. Simon's references to David are to him as he was portrayed in the press--as a little boy bravely facing his affliction. In reality he became psychologically unstable due to lack of human contact, the seeming hopelessness of his situation, and the looming (to his mind) threat of disease all around him / his bubble. Similarly, the images on the song's video aren't an accurate portrayal of what he or his bubble environment looked like. Then again, what's known about him now wasn't widely available in 1984 when the video was released. |
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