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Unpopular Anthems for the Middle Classes

Traveling home on the bus,
Never sitting with the cool kids

Singing Smashing Pumpkins songs
On the headphones
All by myself

It’s amazing what you find
When you look around the edges

We crawl through this life like beautiful snails
And we leave a trail behind
For others to follow

I used to watch the gorgeous girls as they walked thru school
I used to feel so small and sometimes it didn’t even feel like I had a face

I remember
Miriam,
With her windy face of shadows

She used to live near me
And she had a brother who was annoying but funny

He used to spy on me when I stole "Punisher" from the comic store
He never sold me down the river

I wonder where she is now
I wonder what happened to him too

Something good I hope
Because they both deserved it

I remember
Reading magazines and believing them
I remember
What it was like to not be cool

I remember
Donna,
Blonde, so beautiful

She was like an adult and I was like years behind her

And she was the first,
To know this heart
And guess the secret it held

Yeah, she knew it all somehow
She called me on it in Economics Class
She said I should say it, if that was what I wanted to do

But I kept so silent
And I pretended to be just a teenager without a clue

Because my heart was still frozen
Because I still wanted to be invisible

Because I changed suburbs like a nomad
I changed suburbs like a nomad

Singing Smashing Pumpkins songs
On the headphones
All by myself

Trying to find out where I belonged
And if you had a spare ten years

We could cycle thru the golf clubs and the tennis courts
We could go to clubs and act like vampires

Because I changed suburbs like a nomad
I changed suburbs like a nomad

But you wouldn’t find a real me and maybe not even you

But everywhere I ever found was a like an oasis in a desert of cool
And friends dried up like water

Nothing lasts forever

That’s what I found
That’s the flipside of this instant life

But then when I get negative
Something draws me back to Buddha and the Wheel

And I feel like a Technicolor Sun,
And I can call my real friends still

But it’s funny how when you get old, you call only those
Who make you feel safe
When once your heart courted the danger

Friend, this heart is used and long past jaded now almost into freedom

I have so many questions
I have so many hit songs

I have so much heart-ache
I have so much left to prove

But come the witching hour
I went down by the Sea

I went to watch the fireworks by myself
And somewhere down along these years

I have forgotten which tears are for me and which are for those I’ve left
But this I know
Sometimes the beauty and the sadness are as one

Singing Smashing Pumpkins songs
On the headphones
All by myself

It’s amazing what you find
When you look around the edges

And if anybody ever follows this trail seeking answers to questions they themselves bring

Beware of possessions
For they make us slaves

Beware of not believing in Love
For it will one day come

And turn up that little world you know
And only some are strong enough

To strip away the chains of ice and of shallow friendship
And wake up inside the dream

In the freedom that feeling brings
Where we are reborn and reborn

Ever-changing and mostly endless, until some moment of release

Opaque, as clones in the rain,
Quoting Leonard Cohen songs

Where one day we will all belong

But if you ever held me in your strong arms,
If you ever were the heart I clutched on

Inside the dying wind
Inside some kind of Love

Then you have helped still this storm,
And for that I thank you, now.

(David Finn, 2004)

Dear redlantern ~

If you are David, I am addressing the writer of this journey and exodus through life, with its pain and surprizes, its joys, and its inversions and truths. I was very moved when I read this, your very expressive piece.

Even though I could cite many other lines just as legitimately, I'll restrict to just these. This really resonates with me:

But it’s funny how when you get old, you call only those
Who make you feel safe
When once your heart courted the danger

Welcome to the Forum.

~ Elizabeth

thankyou very much Elizabeth, I really appreciate people reading and responding!! I thought this would be appropraite for this site because it mentions Leonard Cohen songs, and in the last year or so I have bought some Leonard Cohen Cds which I have really enjoyed-I love "10 New Songs" and "The Future", but my fave song is 'Everybody Knows" and/or "Suzanne". He is cool. I will be around, folks!!!

So, are you David? Still nothing definitive in your response . I'm glad to hear you like "Ten New Songs" ~ perhaps a function of your age ! Well, that's if you're David .

It's great to hear you'll be around ! Will you be around in New York, this year, as well? It's the Evente Splendide for the new initiate .

~ Elizabeth

oh Elizabeth, I am definitely David!!!!!!! I am in Sydney, Australia, and I am in my late 20's-I don't know what that means for liking "Ten New Songs"-I just think he is a great writer and I love the way he sings. I wish I was in New York!!!

Ah yes, I've checked out plane fares......so it would be quite the savings. However, you are the lucky winner! YOU get to attend the one right there in your homeland!!! Just hunt down Andrew (Darby) here, the News section, or the Files, for details! It's MOST heartening to hear that you like Ten New Songs ~ particularly, with your age[the Smashing Pumpkins seemed to place you in a younger bracket, however, someone turned me on to them 5 or so years ago, so you never know]. I've considered that, perhaps, age might be the most relevant factor in like/dislike.

~ Elizabeth

Hi redlantern,

I love the poem... I had quite similar experiences in my life and it really moved me... at first the epic length was a bit overwhelming but as soon as I read the first two lines I had to read it all the way... somehow you manage to grab the reader's attention...


Cheers Arno

good poem David/redlantern, welcome to the forum.

If the proverbial 'we' could only convey to 'our' children how the ebb and flow of life changes what may appear to be permanence in their youthful years. It seems teachers, even, often fall into reenforcing the 'popular,' 'confident,' and outgoing children, whilst neglecting ~ right along with the other students ~ the quiet, shy, retiring, introverted, and/or invisibly-studious ones.

I don't know how it is at other schools [much less schools in other countries]; however, what was very striking for me when I attended a couple, high school reunions, was that a noticeable 'reversal' had often occurred. The popular kids had often grown into 'average' adults, living 'ordinary' lives. However, the unpopular ones [see list of above for possibilities as to why] had grown into extraordinary adults, very creative and interesting people, living unique/unusual/admirable/highly-accomplished lives. This 'formula' isn't a given, of course, but I've talked with other people about it, who have also noticed it, enough to find it ironic.

In the U.S., we have 2 years of junior high school and 4 years of high school ~ maximum total of 6 ~ out of how many to come? Unpopularity/'uncoolness' ~ NOT a life sentence! When I hear of teenage suicide, where peer 'pressure' and perception appear to be or are issues, I am particularly aggrieved. "If only...if only......" ~ the teacher who validates a child's, ANY child's, worth is the one whose classroom I would want my child to be in. It may not be the cure-all, but having that respected adult believe in you can be enough to give a child hope and self-esteem, enough to mitigate against the oft-felt nightmare of 'popularity.'

~ Elizabeth

lizzytysh



Joined: 27 Jun 2002
Posts: 3756
Location: Florida, U.S.A.
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:20 pm Post subject:

My heartfelt thanks for keeping a record, Heretic ~ looking for a parttime job? I hear Pete could use some help, so he could start earning some points himself. However, you'll have to be able to get along with Big Chief. I've heard he can be quite persnickety, and you're behind on me already. It should be 3760.

By the way, what are you doing in these parts!?! I heard Partisan had convinced you it wasn't worth the time or effort. Be that as it may, you could probably join us in the I-Spy thread. You seem to have a propensity for such activities, myopic as they may be . With your diligence, perhaps you could find a way to work me into all those lyrics .

Redlantern2051

This is an excellent contribution to the board.

I enjoyed the poem


Cheers

Ben

You are right, Liz. I thought Heretic in his other guise of Partisan had exiled himself from the poet's domain. Goes to show you that you can't trust a devil.........
Georges

David, nice piece of evocative writing, keep them coming!!!
Georges