The Sounds of Silence

This song was a great choice for Paul Simon to sing in New York today, for a lot of reasons. It speaks of awaking from a dream with a memory so vivid it could not be erased, of living in a changed world where deep emotions and thoughts are dominating our minds but cannot be adequately shared or communicated. Of being entranced by bright messages of distraction and packaged interpretations of what is true and what is a lie.

In many ways these themes characterize not only the shock of waking up to the reality of terrorism as a possibility in America, but the rapid polarization caused by the opportunism and packaging of that fear into manipulation, and the failure of our leadership to use those emotions to build unity and strength in our highest ideals of freedom and liberty.

Instead the cynics in power latched onto that fear and escalated it in sympathy with their own political agendas shoving America into a state of the near paralysis of polar opposites and sacrificed our ideals and our liberty upon the false altar of fear of the terrible and unknown, the same nightmare bogy man we've been running from for over 2,000 years and were starting to see our way out of through insight and intelligence.

Instead what we got was a throw back to the dark ages where man lived in terror at the strike of lightening and the roar of a wild beast in the night. Our shattered political system is I think in many ways a direct result of that failed leadership in the days and months following 9/11. Simon's song today could be seen as a bold exorcism of the demon gods of the dark night and the desert by the High Priest of New York City. Sadly the scattered and fearful people are not likely to turn their confusion into clarity in any kind of flash of light, it's going to take a long time to regain our confidence and self actualized fearlessness.


Watch it from the audience perspective
Watch it on TV

Michael Jackson

I seem to remember chaperoning my little sister to a "The Jackson 5" concert at the old Met Center in Bloomington MN circa 1973 but can't find any reference to it the concert. Was it the Osmond Brothers?

My search landing on this page which is a fun little read through Twin Cities music history. My parents moved here in 1969 and I was only 9 years old. Looks like I missed a lot of fun!

http://www.jeanneandersen.net/musichighlights.html

Apparently in 1967 Minneapolis was pretty cool -

KDWB and the Aquatennial sponsored "Happening '67" at the Minneapolis Auditorium. It was a "three day psychedelic feast," held on July 19-21. Sheets of brilliant silver mylar and colorful fabrics decorated the auditorium. Performers were Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, the Electric Prunes, and the Shadows of Knight.