Recently I went to show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and I saw Father John Misty. Though I had heard many good things about him, I was unfamiliar with many of his songs
He sang one song in particular though that hit me hard when I heard it, and stuck with me — Bored in the USA. As we think about the birth of our nation this year, lets consider this portrait this songwriter lays out.
How many people rise and say
“My brain’s so awfully glad to be here
For yet another mindless day”?Now I’ve got all morning to obsessively accrue
A small nation of meaningful objects
And they’ve got to represent me too
Doesn’t this sound miserable? Click on the photo to view the video.
Now I’ve got a lifetime to consider all the ways
I’ve grown more disappointing to you
As my beauty warps and fades
I suspect you feel the same
When I was young, I dreamt of a passionate obligation to a roommateIs this the part where I get all I ever wanted?
Who said that?
Can I get my money back?
I know we can do better than this!
Just a little bored in the USA
Oh, just a little bored in the USA
Save me, white Jesus
Bored in the USA
Oh, they gave me a useless education
And a subprime loan
On a craftsman home
Keep my prescriptions filled
And now I can’t get off
But I can kind of deal
Oh, with being bored in the USA
Oh, just a little bored in the USA
There must be more than this. If you are reading my blog, I know you must have a sense of this too. You must believe that there are more choices than the path this songwriter lays out. (And…sorry if the white Jesus offends you—don’t get hung up there). This song lays out boredom and mediocrity that I know I am trying to break free from. Creative choices, new options, homeschooling, unschooling, let’s just not be signing up our kids for a useless education (…and likewise the nice home and bad loan!)