In 1983, I was all of 17 years old and music was EVERYTHING that year.
I must have listened to this album hundreds of times over the next several years. This song gave me a bit of pause, as I always tried to understand the lyrics behind every song I heard.
Now, in 2023, (40 years!), my interpretation is more complete.
"Can you imagine what we've put up with now?" Yeah, yeah I can. Back in '83, I didn't understand what older people went through in their lives and how modern times clash with their values and even their understanding of the world around them. I'm certainly no 'great one', but people from that generation were more respected at the time - usually due to their service during WWII or Korea.
Today, I look at my wife's aging parents and have only recently realized that I may soon be as disconnected from 'real life' as they are. They don't have the Internet, they watch little TV, and live a simple rural life by themselves.
Recently, her mom had a terrible fall and ended up in the hospital for a few days. During that time she watched the TV with a mixture of horror and non-comprehension. "Can you believe they let that on TV? Shameful!", she said. Most of us have seen or heard worse on the Internet, and so don't think about it.
But in spite of my 'connectedness', there are glimpses of the future that I will not understand - no matter how I try. With AI's coming, I suspect fewer and fewer will at younger and younger ages.
And in spite of the younger generations being exposed to more information than ever before, my interpretation of 'the horse with the blinder eating the hay', is as apt as it ever was.
The repetition of history and the shortness of memory leads to the same circular patterns again and again. I realize youth rarely understand that while circumstances and technology might change, human beings and their motivations DO NOT. The people in Biblical times are no different than people today.
Character does not come without work and discipline - and that's something my own father tried to tell me - something I didn't get for a long, long time. Have I, as a consequence become more wise? Perhaps, but I'd never admit it. Hubris is to be avoided at all costs.
As I near to my own 'December' I have started to question some of the most basic things I thought I knew. My brain is finding patterns in things I'd never noticed before, and I think that line about 'committing an act that you've always found silly or strange' or '...the way it's connected, the print on your shirt and the one on the wall'.
It's not yet 'all too confusing for me' yet, but I can imagine a time where it will be.
I'm thinking Ivan Doroschuk knew old people. Maybe his grandparents. In today's fast-paced world, how many of the youth today truly know any?
In 1983, I was all of 17 years old and music was EVERYTHING that year.
I must have listened to this album hundreds of times over the next several years. This song gave me a bit of pause, as I always tried to understand the lyrics behind every song I heard.
Now, in 2023, (40 years!), my interpretation is more complete.
"Can you imagine what we've put up with now?" Yeah, yeah I can. Back in '83, I didn't understand what older people went through in their lives and how modern times clash with their values and even their understanding of the world around them. I'm certainly no 'great one', but people from that generation were more respected at the time - usually due to their service during WWII or Korea.
Today, I look at my wife's aging parents and have only recently realized that I may soon be as disconnected from 'real life' as they are. They don't have the Internet, they watch little TV, and live a simple rural life by themselves.
Recently, her mom had a terrible fall and ended up in the hospital for a few days. During that time she watched the TV with a mixture of horror and non-comprehension. "Can you believe they let that on TV? Shameful!", she said. Most of us have seen or heard worse on the Internet, and so don't think about it.
But in spite of my 'connectedness', there are glimpses of the future that I will not understand - no matter how I try. With AI's coming, I suspect fewer and fewer will at younger and younger ages.
And in spite of the younger generations being exposed to more information than ever before, my interpretation of 'the horse with the blinder eating the hay', is as apt as it ever was.
The repetition of history and the shortness of memory leads to the same circular patterns again and again. I realize youth rarely understand that while circumstances and technology might change, human beings and their motivations DO NOT. The people in Biblical times are no different than people today.
Character does not come without work and discipline - and that's something my own father tried to tell me - something I didn't get for a long, long time. Have I, as a consequence become more wise? Perhaps, but I'd never admit it. Hubris is to be avoided at all costs.
As I near to my own 'December' I have started to question some of the most basic things I thought I knew. My brain is finding patterns in things I'd never noticed before, and I think that line about 'committing an act that you've always found silly or strange' or '...the way it's connected, the print on your shirt and the one on the wall'.
It's not yet 'all too confusing for me' yet, but I can imagine a time where it will be.
I'm thinking Ivan Doroschuk knew old people. Maybe his grandparents. In today's fast-paced world, how many of the youth today truly know any?