Wednesday, December 13, 2006

truest thing i'll type all day

In an e-mail, just now:
Starting a blog has easily been the single greatest generator of unanticipated consequences of anything I have ever done in my life.
You?

Meanwhile, as for the question of truest things, I was recently trying to think of what I thought was the truest thing ten words or less in the recent history of popular music. The reason I was thinking of this was a candidate sprung to mind, the line "How you gonna win if you ain't right within?" from Lauryn Hill. The candidacy of this statement has two problems, though--one being that maybe it is profound but still not quite profound enough, the other being I don't really think it's actually true, as certain ways of being "not right within" seem to be quite consonant with winning, i.e., monomanical tenacity (to bob for a couple examples, take Bobby Fischer and Bobby Knight). Let me know if you have any nominations.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

"My second home is a third world cantina." - Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

Anonymous said...

Oops, I did it again.

Anonymous said...

"Sometimes you can't make it on your own." U2

(truth in simplicity in this instance; and then maybe, sometimes, there's beauty in the breakdown)

While stuck on the word sometimes, a not-so-recent movie quote popped in my mind:

"Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic mechanism, from which one extracts what one needs." from WMCJ.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if "Country Music" qualifies as "popular," but the truest lyrics are from Keith Urban's song, "Days Go By." He sings, "Days go by, like a hand out the window in the wind." I can't think of a better way to describe the aging process. Now, if you don't count the articles, it's less than 10 words.

Anonymous said...

I like Anon 9:26's line.

Lately, though, I've been thinking that in the pursuit of love, and tenure, it's good to keep in mind Beyonce's new song, "Irreplaceable," and the line: "Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable."

Anonymous said...

"Some days are diamonds, Some days are rocks" Tom Petty

My question is alwyas which are the better days...the diamonds or the rocks??

Anonymous said...

diamonds are very hard

tina said...

"They rally 'round the family, with a pocketful of shells." -Rage Against the Machine.

Anonymous said...

how come every time you come around,my london,london bridge wanna go down

Belle Reve said...

The actress hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Evita*
*Okay, I know this musical like 27 years old, but I love this line for a million little reasons.

carly said...

"Det var så länge sen, jag var normal"

translation: "It's been so long since I've been normal"

Anonymous said...

"A legend's not a legend 'til it ends."
- Shawn Colvin