The Ever-Present Abyss

A few days ago, someone, 41, lawyer, in a small town in Germany went on a shooting spree. The first victim was the 44 year old spouse, killed by shots in the head, followed by the 5 year old son, smothered with a plastic bag. With the help of explosive oil, the person set fire to the apartment. Armed with ammunition up to the teeth, the offender went across the street to the local hospital, killing a male nurse before being subdued by the local police force with several shots. The circumstances point towards a family tragedy, revolving around divorce, a parental custody fight and other sorts of disappointments having to do with family or the remains of it. It is not completely unheard of, we have had these kinds of rampage shootings in the past. What's new is, that this time they were committed by a woman.

I don't want to sound sexist now, but when men do that kind of thing, killing their families or shooting random people, or being violent in general, we still question their motives, but we are not that surprised. It just happens more frequently.

Since Columbine or Winnenden we know for example that young males are prone to violent rampages. But these are different kinds of acts, committed by students, although the outcome and the sequence of events seem to have some similarities.

This current one seems to be about family and everything it entails.
This woman obviously was in pain, hence the reports of psychiatrists saying she was in emotional distress, her ex-husband was in a new relationship, some years prior she had a miscarriage in that same hospital she went during her rampage.

These are all pieces of a complicated puzzle, but they cannot serve as explanatory proof for anything. People deal with these kinds of troubles all the time. In Germany more than a third of marriages end up in divorce, many women have trouble carrying a child to full term, and even though multiple of those factors combined don't happen that often to one singular person, they statistically appear from time to time. It just doesn't seem to be an extraordinary set of circumstances.

It would ease our minds immensely if we could pinpoint one particular reason. There probably is none that would satisfy our need to believe that there is a big difference between her and us. The wiring of brains may diverse slightly, but our general setup clearly points towards homo sapiens. There probably is nothing fascinating about it. Still, why do we feel the need to create a mystery, a mythology of rampage?

In the papers you may read questions like:
What special circumstance drove her towards doing such a horrible thing?
I am afraid, that those kinds of questions seem to divert us from the real problem.
The real question, to put it most eloquently, is:
What makes a brain go nuts? Not only hers, but yours, mine, everyones.

Is the fact that she had access to weapons and ammunition sufficient?
No. Even I have a kitchen knife.

Is the fact that she was a sporting marksman some sort of hint to the build of her personality? Good try, but wouldn't it be more efficient to choose variables we do know something about?

Do you have to have a special pre-existing mental setup to enjoy a hobby that includes shooting at targets?
You'd like that wouldn't you?!

How did her brain function? Did it misfunction? Does it make a difference, how we look at it?
YES.

There is only one thing that makes us different from her. The fact that we haven't done something like that. We cannot deny the possibility. Our brains may be the same. Aren't we all familiar with pain, disappointment, jealousy, loneliness, anger, desperation, anxiety? Aren't those many of the forces that drive us to do all kinds of things?

Isn't it always better to look for similarity in behaviour rather than difference to explain human phenomena?
Yes, at least, if we really want to know the answers.

How not to write lyrics Part 2

     

I realize now how very hard it is to write good lyrics. Over the last days or so, I made several attempts to write something that could be sung. It makes a huge difference if a text is meant to be read or sung, I tell you. And not just because it has to be rhythmically interesting in case it's the latter.

Obviously, the first thing I came up with was the crypic variante of writing. I am sure you know these types of lyrics. They don't tell you a storyline, but leave you overwhelmed with powerful and supposedly meaningful poetic key-words. It is supposed to sound abstract. The most important thing is that the writer remains detached, because most of the times the words stay impersonal, but you still can somewhat relate to it, if you choose to do so.

I'll give you an example:

Radiohead Fake Plastic Trees

Her green plastic watering can
For her fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself

I know now that it's not only a question of form but also a question of content. So, what should the lyrics be about? The most common ones are about Love (Soul, R'n'B), Hate (Rap, Rock), all the mentioned above plus, one of the newer topics sung about is Fame (Pop). Like the Gaga does.

There are some good lyrics which just tell you interesting stories, bring in interesting points of view you can relate to. Take the next one for example.

Nik Kershaw Billy

Billy is a new man, at least when she's around, a model father or if
needed, he'll
be mother for a day.
He watches "Men Behaving Badly" though
he'll gladly switch it off if she's offended
he'll pretend it wasn't funny any way
He's got one face he keeps for his woman
And one for when he's out with the guys
Sally wants a true man (...)
But he's living out a lie (...)
And he reads Marie Claire at the Doctors just
in case there is something he should know (...)


Like Homer Simpson would put it: It's funny because it's true.

Even I can relate, and I'm a woman!

For me personally, these are the best kinds of lyrics, because they describe a certain scenario I find to be believable. Besides, if someone successfully manages to get you involved in his or her personal business without you getting annoyed but rather intrigued by the writer's and probably your own misery: that's the high art of writing lyrics. Way to go!

Radiohead, The Bends
Nik Kershaw, 15 minutes

How not to write lyrics

Today I want to talk and complain about stupid song lyrics. One in particular. Until my later years I didn't even notice many of the idiotic lines we are fed on a daily basis by these so-called artists of the music industry. They appear to have the urge to communicate very important, basic human feelings and thoughts about..

Yeah! Oh Yeah! Oh life! Oh life!

This one's by Des'ree, I am sure everybody has heard the song.

And here it goes:

I'm afraid of the dark
Especially when I'm in a park
And there's no one else around,
Oh I get the shivers.

Dark and park are really classic lines, ingeniously put together by Mrs 'ree. So far I'm with her. Being in a park is scary, especially when it's dark.

Even more when we're alone.
Or in the arms of Al Capone.

Haha, just kidding, of course Des'ree didn't come up with that. I did. Just to be clear.

Ok, let's continue with Life:

I don't want to see a ghost,
It's the sight that I fear most
I'd rather have a piece of toast

Hold it right there.
Take a second to think about these last lines and try to grasp their powerful message.
She thought of ghost and assembled it smoothly with most, which is ok, obvious but ok, but then she had the audacity to lash out to toast? Seriously, how desperate do you have to be?! Well, and it's non-sensical, even though it rhymes. You'd always rather have toast than see a ghost, getting stabbed, having a stroke, basically toast is better than everything that's bad, except when the toast itself is poisoned..
I think she is making fun of the audience... HOW DARE SHE!

And watch the evening news.

Admirable. But I don't believe her. Being afraid of ghosts and evening news: there's a mismatch!

Then comes the chorus Life oh life.. and so one

I'm a superstitious girl
I'm the worst in the world
Never walk under the ladders,
I keep a rabbit's tail.

So she claims to be so superstitious, the most superstitious person in the world, yet she doesn't know that it's not the tail, but the rabbit's feet which supposedly protect against bad luck.
REALLY? I am surprised nothing serious has happened to her so far.
Walking-under-the-ladders-accidents are quite common. Beats dying of all the other possible causes anytime.

Please, before you go get the chain saw, consider that cutting off your pet rabbit's feet will not only hurt your beloved pet, it also won't help against basic physics! So don't do it!

Holding a shovel doesn't help you while falling off a cliff to give you another example involving the laws of nature.

I'm really getting quite angry at Des'ree. Not only did she put absolutely no effort in her lyrics, she's also setting a bad example. I refuse to quote any more of those idiotic lines. Please all you readers, if you hear her song on the radio, cover your ears quickly! And don't let your children listen to such nonsense either. It's pretty bad advice about life, oh life.