Song of the month (IV)

Have you ever wanted to go ‘off the grid’? Well, not literally. But have you ever had this feeling that you are overwhelmed by the big city and its chaos and need to get out of all that for a while? I guess that is what Eddie Vedder was thinking about when he wrote “Society”.

This has been a recurring thought in my mind lately. A few weeks ago, when I went home to Spain for my Easter holidays, not only was I looking forward to seeing my family and my doggies, but I was yearning to enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of my little village. I am from a beautiful tiny village surrounded by mountains where all you can hear at night is the barking of dogs in the distance and the singing of birds at dawn; where my favourite hobby is going for a walk with my dogs and feel the nature around me; where I can breathe. After spending a few months in Manchester, it all feels so quiet on my first day at home that it takes me a while to get used to the new calm atmosphere. Even time seems to go by more slowly and I almost feel that I am out of the mundane society – a comforting feeling sometimes.

But Eddie Vedder goes even further in his song. He talks about greed and consumism, in opposition to the ‘less is more’ notion, which I particularly could not agree more with. That is also why I feel so comfortable at home – the lack of infinite consumer options makes you value what really matters. It is in places like my village, where you do not have everything you want on the palm of your hand, where you realise that you do not really need most of the things that are included in your ‘wish list’.

Sadly though, we humans are never satisfied with what we have and, ironically, after a few weeks of peace I was already longing to go back to the lively and noisy city. I guess almost no one can escape the clutches of materialism, and I am not less guilty...

I hope you like the song!

SOCIETY

(written by Eddie Vedder)

It's a mysery to me

we have a greed

with which we have agreed

And you think you have to

want more than you need

Until you have it all

you won't be free

Society

you're a crazy breed

I hope you're not lonely

without me

When you want more than you have

you think you need

and when you think more than you want

your thoughts begin to bleed

I think I need to find a bigger place

cause when you have

more than you think

you need more space

Society

you're a crazy breed

I hope you're not lonely

without me

Society

crazy indeed

hope you're not lonely

without me

There's those thinking more is less

less is more

but if less is more

how you keepin score? 

Means for every point you make

your level drops

kinda like you're startin from the top

and you can't do that

Society

you're a crazy breed

I hope you're not lonely

without me

Society

crazy indeed

hope you're not lonely

without me

Society

have mercy on me

I hope you're not angry

if I disagree

Society

crazy indeed

hope you're not lonely

without me