Radio around here is rather pathetic. We get a lot of music stations that I never listen to (Spanish-language, Country-Western, Gospel) and I find myself longing for a Metal station, or any modern pop/rock that isn’t Hip-Hop or generic Top 40.
But this morning, driving to work, 91.9 Radio Stevenson was back on the air. This is a high-school radio station, that only plays music before 8 a.m. and again after about 3 p.m., and not in every time slot, and only during the school year of seemingly late September to mid-April. (The BBC News is on the air at that frequency during the off hours.) I’d been wondering what new songs/artists/music trends had been going on in the world outside my radio wasteland, and today I got to once more start listening to modern rock and other non-mainstream audio bliss. I even heard some Metallica. Life is good.
But then 91.9 switched to BBC at 8 a.m., so I’d changed channels to one of the more Top 40 choices. A song came over the airwaves, with belted-out lyrics sung in harmony over a simple yet dramatic syncopated beat:
“I’m still not sure what I stand for,
What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don’t know anymore.”
And I thought, “Really? You… don’t know?!? And this is something you would find acceptable to share with the world, maybe hoping that many people think the same way and can relate?” Or perhaps not much thought was put into what the lyrics were at all, which is almost as sad.
I can’t imagine being confused enough to not know where I stand on the various aspects of life. I know what my core values are. I know where my views lie on any issue I am well informed on. I know the way I feel about people I’m in relationships with. I can consult the code of honor I live by and use objective, rational thought to decide where I stand in any new situation.
In my professional life, I stand for having a strong work ethic, and taking responsibility. I stand for being self-reliant whenever possible. I stand for leading by example. I stand for being thoughtful and considerate. I stand for learning, achieving and creating in a free society, and living my life to the fullest potential, to see just how far my talent and determination can take me.
At the moment I’m really appreciative of my I-tunes library, which has an excellent selection of songs by Rush, VNV Nation and other artists who have expressed admirable values and written these into lyrics to which I can happily sing along.
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