CHAPTER
COMMENTARY
This
category contains references to the subject matter of death.
Death
is one of the universal constants that no one can escape.
Knowing this, many philosophers have emphasized the need for us to enjoy
life while we can and make the most of it.
Unfortunately, some rock and rollers do not share this philosophy, and
advocate non-life affirming values.
Some
musicians try to glamorize and romanticize death, particular violent forms of
death like brutal murders and suicide. One
wonders if they would sing this way if they had visited the aftermath’s of a
Serbian/Bosnian death camp; an Algerian or Chiapas village massacre; or
Cambodian killing field? Would they
have the courage to talk to survivors of these ordeals or the families of the
victims? Would they still glamorize
and romanticize death, if it was their child who was brutally murdered or died from suicide, and not
somebody else's?
Life presents people with a multitude of options and alternatives to choose from. In addition, people have the ability to influence in some manner everything they come in contact with. Over a life time a person has the ability to create immense goodwill in their lives and others. Or they have the ability to create destruction and havoc in their lives and others. Over a life time these actions and impacts can have enormous impact on the continuum.
When a person dies, their impacts and actions become final.
The legacy is irreversible.
People
are presented with a choice of waking up each day and focusing on the positive
or the negative. How do each of
these two approaches differ in impact and outcome, and who benefits?