When I can work out how it was
Then I'll tell you
TV stained my memories, yeah
I don't think it shows
Remember through sounds
Remember through smells
Remember through colors
Remember through towns
With fear and fascination
On what was here
And what's replacing them now
Interchange causes a mall
And crowded chain restaurants
More housing developments go up
Named after the things they replace
So welcome to Minnow Brook
And welcome to Shady Space
And it all seems a little abrupt
No, I don't like this change of pace
These are the lyrics to Novocaine Stain by Modest Mouse. The lead singer/songwriter Isaac Brock frequently talks about urbanization in his work. Here is a particularly good song that just points out how fast change seems to hit. He says that all of a sudden, it is hard to remember how things used to be, before the area began to develop. Life in its mundane self seems to distract from the change around you, and even blur your memories (TV stained my memories). Also a nice note to the clever way Isaac noticed how we do seem to tear down land, and then name the area after something in nature, whether it be a cruel joke on our part or simply a wish the nature was still there.
I personally can relate to this song as the land around me, which when I was young was nothing but woods and fields, soon turned into neighborhood after boring neighborhood. So I must agree, that when I too work out how things used to be, I'll be sure to tell you all about it.
Monday, October 19, 2009
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I have experienced that too. I have seen so many places been beautiful, then turned into subdivisions. A peaceful place on the river was amazing, and then a subdivision was built and the place is filled with obnoxious people. I hate how much has been destroyed.
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