CLICK HERE for Real  Streaming Audio

The above link will start the audio version of the full text from one of this week's readings, Psom.78.  It is worth having this audio running in a loop while you read through this week's readings.

Starting at Psom.78 we can see a feature of The Boomer Bible that I think is often talked about in general, without specific reference points . . . the feature I'm talking about is the book's extraordinary contextual reinterpretations of the sources it cites.  Modern philosophy has repeatedly made the case that there are no 'facts,' only interpretations of facts. In fact, such philosophers claim, it is our own interpretations that dictate what will be deemed a fact for our consideration.

This is a major component of Nietzsche's work - the reevaluation of all values in light of their changing (and often vanishing) relation to accepted facts . . . [If you are looking for a topic for a dissertation - the comparison of Nietzsche with Laird or Zarathustra with Harry or the reevaluation going on in each author's work would all be fertile, uncharted territory.  Fruitful for this age, indeed.] Nietzsche accomplished his reevaluation and subsequent reinterpretation by direct assault. Either he or a nominal stand-in like Zarathustra proclaims the absurdities, contradictions, and inconsistencies to be found in the accepted consensus and then proposes an alternative synthesis. Laird also makes use of direct assault, but thanks to the ICR and additional mechanisms like the Table of Harrier Days, he provides multiple layers of implicit commentary that sometimes criticize and sometimes illuminate 1) the direct assault itself (represented by Harry and/or the punks), 2) our own unexamined articles of faith and 3) the cultural icons which have helped create those frequently invisible articles of  faith.

Let me demonstrate this with Psom.78.  This is a fragment of a fairly popular song by The Beatles - Twist it Out, or is that Twist and Shout?   Anyway, take a look at the real version of the song by clicking on the SOUND FAMILIAR link from Psom.78.  Look at the dates - 1959 to 1970.  Read the lyrics.  Read them aloud as you would if you found them 300 years from now and had just translated them into your native tongue.

Now, think of how The Beatles have been presented to you your entire life.  The British Invasion.  The Fab Four. Remember the reverential tones of the disk jockeys that still spin The Beatles' records during special hours (holy hours?) dedicated to the brilliance of the most creative entity in the history of popular music.  Recall the mournful tones used in memorializing the tragic death of John Lennon.  Feel the outpouring of emotion that accompanies the mere mention of their name.  Think of all this as you read the actual lyrics.

Now, make sure you have the audio on [CLICK HERE for Real  Streaming Audio], and take a look at another of our readings this week in the book of Psomethings - Psom.28, T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men.  Make sure you get to the SOUND FAMILIAR link if you don't have the poem memorized.  Read while listening.

What happens?

We are the hollow men; shake it up, baby
We are the stuffed men; C'mon c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, baby, now

Shape without form; You know you look so good
gesture without motion; Twist and shout

Remember us--if at all--not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now.  (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now.  (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now.  (shake it up baby)

After this very brief experience, I do not think you will ever be able to listen to The Beatles or anyone who talks about The Beatles in the same way you did before.  I know that I won't. I'll always hear them as the fulfillment of a nightmare prophecy by a truly great poet who died before the 'hollow band' reached its zenith. And, yes, I know The Beatles didn't write Twist and Shout, but I suggest to you that one could read the entire Beathes songbook against Psom.28 and Psom.78 without finding a work that seems closer in stature to the former than the latter. Revolution? The Hollow Men are confused. Helter-Skelter? The Hollow Men are angry. Hey Jude? The Hollow Men are in analysis. Let It Be? The Hollow Men are resigned. If you don't believe it, you can read the whole songbook for yourself here... http://www.beatlelyrics.com/. Read the whole thing against any poem by T.S. Eliot, or against any fragment of a poem by Eliot. What do you think? Did you learn anything we haven't already learned from Psom.78 and Psom.28? Right. Nothing.

And yet, how was this accomplished?  Almost effortlessly.  Simply by following along in the Table of Harrier Days, reading all of 18 verses of fragmented lines, and doing a little digging for the original sources if your education didn't provide instant access to each of the pieces.  It's even easier on the web, where it's possible to click on hyperlinks to get to the sources and the audio.  Not a lot of work.

And yet again, the reinterpretive power of these two brief pieces is simply overwhelming.  We are looking at a cultural fulcrum like no other.  Entire books have been written in an attempt to demonstrate less.  Most of them have a shrill nature to them and are easily dismissed as "over-reacting."  But here we have the most understated, matter-of-fact presentation of the "obvious."  It's funny.  You go back over it again and again.  It's irresistible.  You must look at it.  1925.  1963.  1925.  1963.  It will get into your head.  It will stay there.  Someone could get a Ph.D. for this analysis - or widen the lens a bit; Zarathustra (begun 1881) - Harry (begun 1981) and really earn your degree.

But the Fab Four are not the only Hollow Men.  Ext.3 points to the others - the Followers of Harry.  And, by extension - us.  Those who are followers of the Followers.  We've all assimilated our own little piece of the pop culture machine and moved forward - unto what?  We never really ask.  It's easier that way.  But Ext.3 points in all the directions that the Followers are headed.  Have you headed some other way?

Of course, this isn't a stretch of my imagination.  If you miss the fact that that Psom.28 points to the Followers - just follow the ICR.  From Ext.20, follow the  first note, a. Ned.24.1-11 which is a mock-scripture update of the adage, "The clothes make the man."  T. S. had no idea just how hollow the hollow men would get.  As 24.9 says, "When my Way prevails . . ."  What better evidence do we need of the prevailing Way than the Followers? After all, "that's the way it works, as everyone knows" (Ned.14.6-7).

There is a bunch more to be considered in this week's readings, but how much can you really take in in one session?
 

So there.
 
 
 

As a note:  Vinnie didn't exactly go to that college across the Charles River located in the Great Stupid City; see Ned.14.15 through u. Vin.33.7-10.  Everybody thought he did . . .

Another note:  Ext.38 points to the entire Present Testament through ICR m.; Ned as Pope Ext.38.6;

Arch-Harriers:  Tony in San Francisco (Ext.38.7 through ICR q. Ext.43.1); Jerry in the mid-west (Ext.38.7 through ICR q. Ext.46.1-2); Sam in New York (Ext.38.7 through ICR q. Ext.40.1); and Joe in Atlanta (Ext.38.7 through ICR q. Ext.44.1).

Arch-Angels:  Vinnie in Los Angeles (Ext.38.8 through ICR a. Ext.42.1); Matt, Head of Security for the Silver Ghost Tour ((Ext.38.8 through ICR a. Ext.52.2-6);

Chosen-One:  Mike (Ext.38.9 through ICR b. Ext.51.2-3);

Parish Beacon:  Fred (Ext.38.11 through ICR d. Cen.1.10-12);

Vice-Presidents:  Lucky (Ext.38.13 through ICR f. Ext.41.1-4); Ira (Ext.38.8 through ICR a. Ext.45.1); and, of course, Vickie (Ext.38.8 through ICR a. Ext.49.1);

Yet, another note:  . . . then it happened, after seven years of plenty of everything, that things went wrong, as they often do (Gods.6.1-2 from r. Psay.5L.7 from Ned.14.12, "and win.").