Disaffected Prep

I've been plugging myself back into the pop culture currents, Matrix-style, after sixth months of hunkering down for a test that occurred on last Saturday.  It's a weird feeling, realizing free time is available for you to explore things not in pre-determined curriculum so you can just absorb yourself in the flow of inconsequential and entertaining news again. And now that I'm back up to speed on all things Ke$ha and not residual income, I'm a lot cooler to talk to.

So instead of listening to Mozart's Requiem for studying purposes (surprisingly effective), I've gorged myself on a healthy diet of top 40 to bump up my pop culture IQ. 

There's a lot of great stuff out there right now - but one standout song for me.  Jay-Z & Mr. Hudson's "Young Forever."



Yeah, the sample is killer.  Can't go wrong there.  But the thing I keep coming back to is Hov's lyrics. 

So we live a life like a video
When the sun is always out and you never get old
And the champagne’s always cold
And the music is always good
And the pretty girls just happen to stop by in the hood

My mind reeled the first time I heard it.  This is pastoral rap.  I love it.  Let me borrow a second from Christopher Marlowe's A Passionate Shepard to His Love (published 1599). 
 
Come live with me and be my Love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dale and field,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
There will we sit upon the rocks
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

Pretty girls, nice weather and good tunes.  Am I talking Jay-Z, Christopher Marlowe, or both?  Back to Shawn Carter:

And they hop their pretty ass up on the hood of that pretty ass car
Without a wrinkle in today
Cuz there is no tomorrow
Just some picture perfect day
To last a whole lifetime
And it never ends
Cause all we have to do is hit rewind

Both are talking about idealized places where we don't grow old - and despite the chasm of 400 years these themes endure.  It's fascinating to see that this yearning can be connected across time and styles, and yet the core message stays the same.

Labels: king of the r-o-c, Poetry