Life Is Not a Competition
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Hello, MOG! I've made some posts on other people's pages, but I haven't made one on my own in a while (what up wid dat?), so here goes.
Along with this post comes another song from my album (yay!): "Life Is Not a Competition" (track 4, for those of you keeping track... ahem, pun). Usually I like to leave the meaning of a song, including the ones I write, up to the listener. But this song is pretty straight forward, so I'm going to expound on a few things that have been on my mind lately that are on this topic.
I'm curious... at what point did it become commonplace to base your worth on how everyone else views your constructed public image? Was it reality T.V. that taught us to judge people's lives on what they chose to show us? Was it MySpace and its format of "express yourself for others to see, but make sure you look cool, and only use stuff that impresses people... oh, and take lots of pictures of yourself...?" Was it "American Idol" creating a world full of judges, throwing a multitude of inexperienced kids to the proverbial wolves? Was it MTV switching from playing music videos and live performances (God forbid) to shows about rich kids in Orange County and Laguna Beach and how hard their lives are? (*On a side note, I am still campaigning to change MTV's name to PCTV: Pop Culture TV -- Join me and sign the petition)
Maybe it's all of these things... maybe we'll never know. I'm not trying to tell people what to do -- everyone will always do what they want. But what I would like is for everyone to consider the possibility that when we (the "Royal" we) participate in such activities, whether editing ourselves for others or viewing/evaluating/judging others, we are playing a game of our own creation which has no bearing on anyone other than us. It's kinda like inventing a country in your backyard and then proclaiming yourself king... it doesn't mean jack to anyone but you.
So, I wrote this song about it... like to hear it, here it go... (click red and white play button -- ding!)
Along with this post comes another song from my album (yay!): "Life Is Not a Competition" (track 4, for those of you keeping track... ahem, pun). Usually I like to leave the meaning of a song, including the ones I write, up to the listener. But this song is pretty straight forward, so I'm going to expound on a few things that have been on my mind lately that are on this topic.
I'm curious... at what point did it become commonplace to base your worth on how everyone else views your constructed public image? Was it reality T.V. that taught us to judge people's lives on what they chose to show us? Was it MySpace and its format of "express yourself for others to see, but make sure you look cool, and only use stuff that impresses people... oh, and take lots of pictures of yourself...?" Was it "American Idol" creating a world full of judges, throwing a multitude of inexperienced kids to the proverbial wolves? Was it MTV switching from playing music videos and live performances (God forbid) to shows about rich kids in Orange County and Laguna Beach and how hard their lives are? (*On a side note, I am still campaigning to change MTV's name to PCTV: Pop Culture TV -- Join me and sign the petition)
Maybe it's all of these things... maybe we'll never know. I'm not trying to tell people what to do -- everyone will always do what they want. But what I would like is for everyone to consider the possibility that when we (the "Royal" we) participate in such activities, whether editing ourselves for others or viewing/evaluating/judging others, we are playing a game of our own creation which has no bearing on anyone other than us. It's kinda like inventing a country in your backyard and then proclaiming yourself king... it doesn't mean jack to anyone but you.
So, I wrote this song about it... like to hear it, here it go... (click red and white play button -- ding!)
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