--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > I'm not comin' down on posting YouTube links, cuz > I do it myself. But I find myself sometimes find > it difficult to put them into any kind of context, > given the lack thereof supplied by the poster. :-) > > For example, here is a link to song that was posted > to another forum by a past prolific poster here. He > wisely introduced it as "one of the most beautiful > depressing songs ever written." Without that context, > one could be tempted to believe that the poster was > focusing on the depression, and not the beauty. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d1onAfREa4 > > See how much nicer it is with the context included? > This is a *wonderfully* sad song, straight out of > the Country & Western tradition, delivered with > *just* the proper amount of pathos, and with an > instrumental accompaniment that is as professional > as one can hear in any genre of recorded music. It's > a masterpiece of what it is -- a traditionally sad > C&W song, about a sad reality that may not be ours, > but that we can empathize with, if the song moves > us into the mindspace of compassion.
To further illustrate the value of context, and how much we tend to project into a song or video based on our own experience or lack thereof, those of you who watched the video above may want to check out the full-length video that went with the first release of the song, back when it won the 2005 Country Music Association Song of the Year award: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZbN_nmxAGk&ob=av3e Was this the scenario you imagined when you first heard the song? It wasn't mine. Is the video that plays inside *anyone's* head when they listen to a song or watch a video you've posted to FFL without explanation of what it means to you the same as the video that's playing in yours? My bet is No. On another level entirely, for those who just could not "get into" a song or scenario this sad, ponder the phrase "2005 Country Music Association Song of the Year award." Think of the millions of people it took to earn that award, all of whom identify and empathize with the song, and its hopelessness. If you can't, and yet presume to give these people an intro lecture on TM and how it can fix their lives, you may be misperceiving your audience.
