I have to say that almost any music that I've heard that was 'Buddhist' has failed to strike a chord with me...but sometimes I think I pick up some almost-Buddhist thoughts in the lyrics of various pop songs.
"That was that and this is this,
you tell me what you saw,
Then I'll tell you what you missed,
When the ocean met the sky,
(you missed, you missed)
When time and I shook hands and said 'goodbye',
(you missed)
When the earth folded in on itself
(you missed)
and said 'good luck',
For your sake I hope heaven and hell,
(you missed, you missed)
Are really there but I wouldn't hold my breath,
(you missed, you missed)
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?
(you missed, you missed)
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?"
And also:
"Everyone's afraid of their own life,
If you could be anything you wanna be you'd be disappointed, am I right?
No one really knows the ones they love,
If you knew everything they thought about you'd wish that they'd just shut up"
(Both of those are Modest Mouse songs)
On another note, some music just strikes a chord with some other part of me:
"Your father made fetuses with flesh-licking ladies,
While you and your mother were,
Asleep in the trailer-park,
Thunderous sparks from the dark of the stadiums,
The music and medicine you needed for comforting,
So make all your fat fleshy fingers to moving,
And pluck all your silly strings and bend all your notes for me,
Soft silly music is meaningful, magical,
The movements were beautiful,
All in your ovaries,
All of them milking with green fleshy flowers,
While powerful pistons were sugary sweet machines,
Smelling of semen all under the garden,
Was all you were needing when you still believed in me,
Say what you want to say!
And hang for your hollow ways!
Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracles,
For me,"
AND also:
"And you mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder,
And dad would throw the garbage all around the floor,
As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for,
And this is the room one afternoon I knew I could love you,
And from above you how I sank into your soul,
Into that secret place where no one dares to go,
And your mom would drink until she was no longer speaking,
And dad would dream of all the different ways to die,
Each one a little more than he could dare to try...."
(Those were both from 'Neutral Milk Hotel')
Lastly, some just appeal very powerfully to Borderline Personality Disorder:
(Sung rapid-fire in one breath with ukuleles and a music box as accompaniment)
"Don't fall in love with me yet
We only recently met
True I'm in love with you but
you might decide I'm a nut
Give me a week or two to
go absolutely cuckoo
then, when you see your error,
then, you can flee in terror
like everybody else does
I only tell you this cause
I'm easy to get rid of
but not if you fall in love
Know now that I'm on the make
and if you make a mistake
my heart will certainly break
I'll have to jump in a lake
and all my friends will blame you
There's no telling what they'll do
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo"
And:
"I don't wanna get over you,
I guess I could take a sleeping pill,
And sleep at will,
And not have to go through what I go through,
I guess I should take prozac, right?
And just smile all night at somebody new,
Somebody not-to-bright but sweet and kind,
Who would try to get you off my mind,
I would leave this agony behind,
Which is just what I'd do,
If I wanted to,
But I don't wanna get over you
Cause I don't wanna get over love,
I could listen to my therapist,
Pretend you don't exist,
And not have to dream of what I dream of,
I could listen to all my friends,
And go out again,
And pretend it's enough,
Or I could make a career of being blue,
I could dress in black and read Camus,
Smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermuth,
If I was seventeen,
That would be a scream,
But I don't wanna get over you.."
So...what music hits you where you can't hide?
(Both of those were 'The Magnetic Fields' from the excellent album 3 disk album "69 Love Songs")
"That was that and this is this,
you tell me what you saw,
Then I'll tell you what you missed,
When the ocean met the sky,
(you missed, you missed)
When time and I shook hands and said 'goodbye',
(you missed)
When the earth folded in on itself
(you missed)
and said 'good luck',
For your sake I hope heaven and hell,
(you missed, you missed)
Are really there but I wouldn't hold my breath,
(you missed, you missed)
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?
(you missed, you missed)
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?"
And also:
"Everyone's afraid of their own life,
If you could be anything you wanna be you'd be disappointed, am I right?
No one really knows the ones they love,
If you knew everything they thought about you'd wish that they'd just shut up"
(Both of those are Modest Mouse songs)
On another note, some music just strikes a chord with some other part of me:
"Your father made fetuses with flesh-licking ladies,
While you and your mother were,
Asleep in the trailer-park,
Thunderous sparks from the dark of the stadiums,
The music and medicine you needed for comforting,
So make all your fat fleshy fingers to moving,
And pluck all your silly strings and bend all your notes for me,
Soft silly music is meaningful, magical,
The movements were beautiful,
All in your ovaries,
All of them milking with green fleshy flowers,
While powerful pistons were sugary sweet machines,
Smelling of semen all under the garden,
Was all you were needing when you still believed in me,
Say what you want to say!
And hang for your hollow ways!
Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracles,
For me,"
AND also:
"And you mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder,
And dad would throw the garbage all around the floor,
As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for,
And this is the room one afternoon I knew I could love you,
And from above you how I sank into your soul,
Into that secret place where no one dares to go,
And your mom would drink until she was no longer speaking,
And dad would dream of all the different ways to die,
Each one a little more than he could dare to try...."
(Those were both from 'Neutral Milk Hotel')
Lastly, some just appeal very powerfully to Borderline Personality Disorder:
(Sung rapid-fire in one breath with ukuleles and a music box as accompaniment)
"Don't fall in love with me yet
We only recently met
True I'm in love with you but
you might decide I'm a nut
Give me a week or two to
go absolutely cuckoo
then, when you see your error,
then, you can flee in terror
like everybody else does
I only tell you this cause
I'm easy to get rid of
but not if you fall in love
Know now that I'm on the make
and if you make a mistake
my heart will certainly break
I'll have to jump in a lake
and all my friends will blame you
There's no telling what they'll do
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo"
And:
"I don't wanna get over you,
I guess I could take a sleeping pill,
And sleep at will,
And not have to go through what I go through,
I guess I should take prozac, right?
And just smile all night at somebody new,
Somebody not-to-bright but sweet and kind,
Who would try to get you off my mind,
I would leave this agony behind,
Which is just what I'd do,
If I wanted to,
But I don't wanna get over you
Cause I don't wanna get over love,
I could listen to my therapist,
Pretend you don't exist,
And not have to dream of what I dream of,
I could listen to all my friends,
And go out again,
And pretend it's enough,
Or I could make a career of being blue,
I could dress in black and read Camus,
Smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermuth,
If I was seventeen,
That would be a scream,
But I don't wanna get over you.."
So...what music hits you where you can't hide?
(Both of those were 'The Magnetic Fields' from the excellent album 3 disk album "69 Love Songs")
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