Unwanted Opinions Anonymous

**I may add, before you read this, that i repeatedly use words that, in India are called "Them Four Letter Words" in this post. Just a warning. To put it bluntly, i use certain expressions in the English language that are used in slang and refer to extremely sexual or dirty things but are actually used either to convey disgust, as expressions of catharsis or for point-emphasis. I apologize for this if you are put off by it. But please bear with me.

I am affected by opinions, be it for movies, music or even people. Sometimes, i call it peer pressure; sometimes i call it bandwagon humping tendencies; but the point is that as much as i hate it, i'm affected by what others think. Opinions make a difference. Just to clear the air, i'm not looking at this in a i-hate-when-people-hate-me sort of way but in a i-hate-when-people-tell-me-a-movie-sucks-when-it-actually-doesn't sort of way. In my opinion, anyway.

Allow me to posit a scenario:

Your friends are chilling together, and they call you to chill with 'em. You go wherever they are, and basically just sit back and relax with them. In this state of 'chilling out' or 'relaxing', several topics of discussion float around, such as women, sports, movies, friends etc. Suddenly, you go: "Dude, have you seen 'Trainspotting'? I'm dying to see it. I saw a bit and it looks insane!". Picture this: they all start laughing and say stuff like: "Fuck yourself, idiot", or "It sucks, idiot", or even "I hate blackcurrant ice cream. Mmmmmmmm." What emotions do you think you'll experience?

For starters, you won't finish the movie. Even if you do, it's ruined. Fucking opinion pushers. I liked 'The Love Guru', and a huge fucking middle finger to whoever didn't.

One cannot avoid opinions. Personally, i'd go crazy if everyone suddenly stopped putting their opinions forth and became very politically correct. The slang for politically correct is PC. Like the magician. Hyperlink! However, i hate vehement bad opinions. They put me off. Sometimes, i hate vehement good opinions as well, but it's the bad ones i detest. Anything in excess is bad. People who attach a lot of emotion with their opinions are unacceptable. People who stress and emphasise every point in the opinion are, unacceptable. Has your friend ever told you a snippet from a movie you haven't seen either to:

a) Get you to watch it, or

b) To make you think of the movie in a favourable light, or

c) To make you think of the friend in a favourable light.

It's time for a true story! Here goes it:

One day, my friend Karun just happened to be sleeping. He does sleep a lot, but he is, after all: Lazy Man (with his trusty sidekick: Lazy Boy). Anyway, because of his slumber, we were forced to go the movies without him. There, we saw "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Now, as you may or may not know, the movie is shite. Comic lovers especially hated it for reasons that i refuse to get into. Personally, i loved the movie, but after hearing everything everyone else had to say, i kept this piece of information to myself. Moving on, everyone told my friend Karun that the movie sucked. For those who can't understand terminology usage or are from the past or the future, 'sucked' is a bad thing. Do not misinterpret this for your generation. Therefore, because of us, Karun did not have high expectations when he finally got down to seeing the movie; and because of this, he loved it. This is a perfect example of what i'm trying to say. Almost too perfect. But that's how life is. Seemingly too perfect.

PS: I like self referencing. It's why i love 30 Rock: see Season 1, Episode 5: Jack-Tor. I also like Baby I'm Yours - Arctic Monkeys; Dreaming Of You - The Coral and Friend Is A Four Letter Word - Cake.

Comfort Eagle

We are building a religion

We are building it bigger

We are widening the corridors

And adding more lanes

We are building a religion

A limited edition

We are now accepting callers

For these pendant key chains

To resist it is useless

It is useless to resist it

His cigarette is burning

But he never seems to ash

He is grooming his poodle

He is living comfort eagle

You can meet at his location

But you'd better come with cash

Now his hat is on backwards

He can show you his tattoos

He is in the music business

He is calling you "DUDE!"

Now today is tomorrow

And tomorrow today

And yesterday is weaving in and out

And the fluffy white lines

That the airplane leaves behind

Are drifting right in front

Of the waning of the moon

He is handling the money

He's serving the food

He knows about your party

He is calling you "DUDE!"

Now do you believe

In the one big sign

The doublewide shine

On the bootheels of your prime

Doesn't matter if you're skinny

Doesn't matter if you're fat

You can dress up like a sultan

In your onion head hat

We are building a religion

We are making a brand

We're the only ones to turn to

When your castles turn to sand

Take a bite of this apple

Mr. corporate events

Take a walk through the jungle

Of cardboard shanties and tents

Some people drink Pepsi

Some people drink Coke

The wacky morning DJ

Says democracy's a joke

He says now do you believe

In the one big song

He's now accepting callers

Who would like to sing along

He says, do you believe

In the one true edge

By fastening your safety belts

And stepping towards the ledge

He is handling the money

He is serving the food

He is now accepting callers

He is calling me "DUDE!"

Do you believe

In the one big sign

The doublewide shine

On the bootheels of your prime

There's no need to ask directions

If you ever lose your mind

We're behind you

We're behind you

And let us please remind you

We can send a car to find you

If you ever lose your way

We are building a religion

We are building it bigger

We are building

A religion

A limited

Edition

We are now accepting callers...

For these beautiful...

Pendant keychains

Cake - Comfort Eagle

Sometimes, merely recommending a song isn't good enough. You may never listen to this song , but you will realize that it is purely the song's magnificence that is forcing me to commit such blasphemy. Please have a listen.

I could end the post here, and leave you to enjoy the music. If you are listening to the song, then please stop reading. If not, read on. Of course, i can't really control what you read, and keeping this in mind, i continue to type out my thoughts. Logic doesn't have to be logical.

I've started listening to Cake, and i can't seem to get enough of them. For me, this song (Comfort Eagle) shows Cake at their finest. I like to look at music and imagine what the song looks like. This is an extremely psychedelic experience, and i'll try to explain. Don't expect much, i'm not very articulate.

Imagine a song starts off with a guitar riff. After a few cycles, the percussion kicks in along with the bass. Now, the guitar, bass and percussion instruments lock together, and this forms the backbone of the song. Over and above these instruments come firstly, the vocals. To highlight differences in the different vocal lines of the song, other instruments sometimes play leading melodies or counter melodies, where the aim is to basically add layers to the music and reduce monotony. At the highest point of the song, there are a lot of layers on top of the basic backbone of guitar, bass and percussion. The layers can be backup vocals; lead vocals; keyboard & synth usage; flute/saxophone/trumpet etc; lead guitar parts; extra percussion; basically anything that deviates from the backbone of the song. The song rises up to a crescendo, and then again drops a notch. The entire cycle starts again, with minute differences, and the song ends on a soft note.

To me, this is what Cake's music is like, and the feeling is indeed awesome. You know a song is good when it gives you goosebumps.