 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
[Speed] [What I got] [Union] [Silly Sounding Sweetness]
Verisimilitude
by peter flynn
Versimilitude
is written about the bombing of Planet Hollywood at the Waterfront in Cape
Town on the 25 August 1998. It discusses the difficulty of our human systems
as they seek to answer human problems.
Dingy highway
where sullen streets
Sleep below the turquoise luminous sky
Only Relatively speaking of course
In an Absolute world
They make
the bomb today they say
They're sorry it turned out this way
Buy they're not the only ones who play
With fire by the bar
So drink
an ale to liberty
The overflowing cup's debris
Is floating out the window sill
But that is there (not here)
And Verisimilitude
Is a word that we won't use
'cos although we can pronounce it
The meanings way too large
On 25 August 1998 someone bombed Planet Hollywood at the Waterfront in Cape Town. I was driving in my car when I heard about it on the dingy highway where the sullen streets sleep below a turquoise luminous sky. The beauty of nature was in such strong contrast to what mankind have made out of it.
I began to think about how the streets only lie below the sky in a relative kind of way, I mean we are in Southern Africa and so the sky is technically below the streets. Then I thought about the fact that despite relativity, reality itself is absolute even if not definable...... only relatively speaking of course in an absolute world.
I thought about the bombers, the fact that they have a cause, a good one or a bad one, it does not matter, the fact is that they wanted to make a point and that they were not given a platform from which to voice that opinion in another way. They probably did not want to injure innocent people, not ultimately, not ideally...... its all a consequence..... they make the bomb today and say they're sorry it turned out that way.
This is the system, this is what we have all agreed to, "haves" and "have nots," those inside Planet Hollywood and those outside, it's a solution to something and a cause of other things. We all recognise the problem and yet we can not fix it because nobody has a better idea........
Man can not solve his own problems. This is the truth that no one wants to acknowledge.... so drink an ale to liberty and all the results we will simply ignore, those in power can let the results be "out there"....... the overflowing cup debris is floating out the window sill, but that is there not here.
Those people begging at the robots 300 meters away are simply "there" and thus those on the inside have no responsibilty, and no obligation. And so the leaders are safe. When the previously ignored people burst forward, write on "our" walls or bomb "our" restaurants, we look on in terror. How could those who were "there" be affecting us "here." How dare they?
Verisimilitude (that which is very similar to the truth, but not exactly it) is a word that we won't use, because it takes effort to see ones self as wrong, to identify, and although we can pronounce it (verri-si-milli-tewd) the meaning is way too large.
This does not mean that the bombers are right, bombing innocent people is a terrible attrocity. The irony is this: they never found out who did it, and that does not seem to make much difference. The fact is that someone was crazy, desperate, angry or bitter enough to simply blow up a restaurant and then never say why they did it.
Everybody can sense that this is not how it should be. This is the way it is, but not the way it ought to be. There must be a better way. Perhaps the reason why we can not find a better way is because we are not looking in the right place.
But in the mean time we will drink an ale to liberty, celebrating it, not realising that the overflowing cup debris is floating out the window sill. And even if when we do realise we're at fault, its alright, because that is there not here.
The mood of this song is sad and surreal because the problem is so hard to define, the solution has not yet been embraced by society at large (and may never be) and it is this that makes me sad.
The song is also is also very melodic and I think, beautiful, because despite humanity's mistakes there is still a turquoise luminous sky...... there is still hope and beauty and perfection out there and some of it is completely incorruptable.
[mp3 logo] [real audio logo]
[Speed]
[What I got] [Union]
[Silly Sounding Sweetness]
[discography] [biographies][gallery][contact]
(c)
December 1999,
union
and philtre productions.