"Face is something that is emotionally invested, and that can be lost, maintained, or enhanced, and must be constantly attended to in interaction. In general, people cooperate (and assume each other's cooperation) in maintaining face in interaction, such cooperation being based on the mutual vulnerability of face."
(Brown and Levinson 1978:66)
I grew up as a child in the 1960s - a time of great progressive upheaval and re-evaluation in the world. Perhaps because of what I saw then, I truly believed that we all had a chance to rise above the petty superficial nature that is part of our human condition. We, unlike many other animals, have a supreme intellectual capability to overcome such simple predispositions.
Here it is 2013, and I'm very unhappy with what I see, hear and feel - my childhood dream seems so naive to me now. Instead of a greater understanding and appreciation for one another, so many focus on the differences that might divide us. Why be part of conflict created for superficial and political purposes? The extreme of this fosters war, genocide, and murder - every contribution large or small, physical or verbal, feeds these fires of hatred. Do you want this as your legacy? Our legacy?
Leave the rhetoric behind, and avoid being co-opted as part of anyone's political "team" or ideology. Let's humble ourselves, realizing that this world is vast - it does not exist only for what we may have surrounded ourselves with or what we are comfortable with. This will get us to the higher place we all seek.
"Judge not, that ye be not judged," "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," and "Love your neighbor as yourself." Vive la différence! Life would be so dull without it. Peace, love, and happiness for everyone, everywhere, and without borders - Mark
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lyrics
(Lyrics)
I don't know what to do
I just can't seem to break through
Because I put on my face, you put on your face
Offer Darwinisms as "proof"
And divisiveness as "God's Rule"
Because I put on my face, you put on your face
What's it take to make this Phoenix fly?
What's it take to make us climb
On our cardinal flight
To a greater height
Fake-triots and Faux-hemians and
Every trip in between of them
Vow how we'll strive to rise above
We all want honesty and real love
Yet I put on my face, you put on your face
What's it take to make you see the light?
What's it take to show you why
What's in our heart applies
And I'm not the "bad guy"
What's it take to stop the battle?
What's it take to cease the prattle?
Don't let this slide
Don't let it ride
Hatred feeds your mayhem,
Do you gain from their elimination?
You'd deny your twin
Bar the door...
They're already in!
Nothing worth dreaming
Is easy to seize
Nothing worth having is free
I don't know what to do
All this anger splinters us in two
Yet I put on my face, you put on your face
I put on my face
You put on your face
We're saving face
No saving grace
I put on my face
You put on your face
We put on our...
credits
released September 30, 2013
Vocals, guitars, bass, piano, organ - Mark O'Keefe
Drums, "Mean" tambourine ;) , arrangements - Gary Schwartz
Original cover art - Mark O'Keefe
Mark collaborates with Gary Schwartz - former drummer of "The United States of Existence" and "The Jigsaw Seen".
Check out Gary's Bandcamp link! garyschwartz.bandcamp.com
