I Hope I Die Before I Get Old ... Oops, Too Late!

The AV Club linked to this video:



You can find an English translation of the lyrics here, along with some background information about the program. The blogger who put it up called it "The most bizarre cover I've ever seen," but I beg to differ. This at least gives it a run for its money (no embed, alas). Gore Vidal once said of Tennessee Williams that because he could no longer die young, he would probably live forever. (He didn't.) The same goes for rebellious youth. I wish I could live long enough to see elderly punks and Lady Gaga fans on walkers, while still trying to maintain the look.

Since I couldn't embed the Zimmers' video, I'll give you this. Watching it made me think that the very same kind of entertainment -- patriotic propaganda with catchy songs and dance numbers -- would go very well in the US, in certain sectors of the population anyway. From what I hear, halftime shows at football games qualify. Come to think of it, back in the 70s I went to a performance by IU's marching band in the Auditorium, packed with clean-cut white people. (A friend of mine was playing in the band at the time.) As the audience around me leapt to their feet and clapped in time to the opening number, I shrank in my seat, wondering what strange cult I'd fallen into.



Since then I've come to an accommodation with such aspects of my own and other cultures, though like a Christian I'm in it but not of it.