Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Welcome to World Affairs & Rock-n-Roll

This is the blog that is based on the belief that if either (a) the leaders of the world knew how to rock, or (b) the rockers of the world were the leaders, there would be world peace and prosperity for all.

To appreciate this blog you will have to not only suspend any prejudices you might have about the rock and roll culture, but also any pre-conditioning you have about how the world really works. It has often been said that history is written by the victorious, though another aphorism of western culture states that between two sides of every story there is a cold hard truth. In the case of warfare, the cold hard truth is usually best understood by the frontline soldiers who suffer and die, as well as the refugees and civilian victims. In the case of bipartisan fighting over healthcare or fiscal policy, as examples, the cold hard truth can be read in the faces of those who can't afford medical treatment or lose their jobs as a result of foreign trade. This blog is meant to step away from dialectic propaganda and see things how they really are.

Since the very nature of such issues, even when not addressed from an existentialist perpective, can be rather maudlin, we balance this inquiry of socio-/econo-/politico-/BadCo-/Morocco/etceteraco thought with lots of good old rock and roll. Rock music, of course, being the sound of blood, sweat, tears, and sex, amplified into the most profound rhythms and melodies of the human condition. Here is why Rock & Rollers could and should rule the world, because we are in touch with such vibrations.

The alternative title for this blog was "A Light In The Black," a reference to the second half of the heavy rock movement "Stargazer"/"A Light In The Black" which makes up the entire second half of Rainbow's "Rising" LP. With the enchanted strings of the Munich Philharmonic, Beethoven-gone-Hendrix stratocastering of Ritchie Blackmore, and trumpeting baratone of Ronnie James Dio, those songs together describe the human condition in the imagery of the Major Arcana (the song Tarot Woman opens the album). Ancient weapons and hokie superstitions are no match for a good blaster at your side kid--Han Solo, Star Wars Ah, consider the 9-11 terrorist attack and the political war over the temple mount in Jerusalem and the tempest of horrors that is all pertinent analogy.

World Affairs and Rock-n-Roll. You are invited to join, write, contribute, and visit often. There will be fun, we'll contemplate horror and unthinkable betrayal, but we will follow the light in the black. I hope you find it calling you back.

WARR Lord

High, noon, oh, I'd sell my soul for water
Nine years worth of breakin' my back
There's no sun in the shadow of the wizard
See how he glides, why he's lighter than air
Oh, I see his face Where is your star, is it far, is it far, is it far?
When do you leave?
I believe, yes, I believe
In the heat and the rain with wisp and chains
Just to see him fly so many die
We built a tower of stone with your flesh and bone
Just to see him fly don't know why - Nowhere do we go!
Hot wind moving fast across the desert
We feel that our time has arrived
The world spins while we put his wing together
A tower of stone to take him straight to the sky

All eyes see the figure of the wizard
As he climbs to the top of the world
No sound as he falls instead of rising
Time standing still then there's no blood on the sand
Oh, I see his face
Where was you star, was it far, was it far?
When did we leave?
We believed, we believed, we believed,
In that heat and rain with wips and chains
To see him fly so many died
We built a tower of stone without flesh and bone
To see him fly but why
It doesn't rain with all your chains
Did so many die just to see him fly
Look at my flesh and bone
Now look, look, look, look, look at this tower of stone
I see a rainbow rising, look there on the horizon
And I'm coming home, coming home, coming home


Cant forget his face, What a lonely place, Has he really let us go
All the time thats lost, Whats the final cost?, Will I really get away
All my life it seems, Just a crazy dream, Reaching for somebodys star
Cant be believed it all, Did he really fall, What to do now I dont know
Somethings calling me back, Theres a light in the black
Am I ready to go? Im coming home!
Breathed the air before, Heard the thunder roar, Never knew it was for me
Always looking down, Lost and never found, Eyes that looked but not to see
All my life it seems, Just a crazy dream, Reaching for somebodys star
Like an open door, That youve passed before, But youve never had the key
Somethings calling me back, Like a light in the black,
Am I ready to go? Im coming home, Im coming home, Home!....
Wont forget his face, What a lonely place, Did he really let us go?
All the time thats lost, Whats the final cost, Will I really get away?
All my life it seems, Just a crazy dream, Reaching for somebodys star
Cant believe it all, Did he really fall, What to do now well I know
Somethings calling me back, Like a light in the black
Yes Im ready to go... Im coming home

(lyrics by Ronnie James Dio)

No comments: