11 min

3 Under 45

- Musik

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This column was written on August 14th, 2020.

I woke up this morning, I could barely breathe
Just an empty impression in the bed where you used to be
I want a kiss from your lips, I want an eye for an eye
I woke up this morning to an empty sky

"Regular bad." That's how I've been answering the question "How's everything going?" Let's be real, no matter how lucky I've been, it's not a fun time to exist right now. In the past, if you gave an answer like that, you'd get a follow up or a check-in from whoever you were talking to, but now you only get that if you say you're doing great. I can't shake that. That the norm is to be miserable and it's weird if you're having a good time. I can't stop thinking about how normal that feels for so many of us, especially millennials. We've really never gotten a goddamn break, have we?

I search for you on the other side, where the river runs clean and wide
Up to my heart, the waters rise
Up to my heart, the waters rise
I sink 'neath the water cool and clear. Drifting down, I disappear
I see you on the other side
I search for the peace in your eyes
But they're empty as paradise
They're as empty as paradise

I'm really at the end of my patience with the whole narrative about millennials being coddled and entitled. That we refuse to grow up and are in a perpetual state of adolescence. Sure, a lot of us wallow in nostalgia and are obsessed with the good old days. Remember Magic School Bus? That was my favorite show! I remember watching it after school when I was 8, and for the first time, realizing all the things that I never imagined could happen in a school! It was right after my 3rd grade teacher sat us down and told us what had happened in Columbine. What an eye-opening time to be a kid!

When I was 10, the World Trade Center fell and we watched thousands die on television. By the time I was 13, we were in two wars and the National Defense Authorization Act and the Patriot Act were codified, promising we would never have peace and we would never have privacy. By the time I graduated high school, the economy had the worst crash in 70 years. I got my driver's license two days before Hurricane Sandy shut down my island for weeks. And I'm about to turn 30 while over a thousand people die every day from a global pandemic the rest of the world has gotten under control and the economy is in the worst crash in 80 years. So fuck off that we've never been challenged. Fuck off that we don't know what it's like to sacrifice. The only trophies we've been given are inherited tragedies and pain. Fuck off if you think this generation is too soft. Instead of turning into bitter reminders of what we've lost, we're the first generation in decades trying to turn it into empathy. We want to abolish student loan debt, even though we've paid most of it off already. We want universal health care even though we're young and doing fine. I just can't tolerate this b******t anymore. Look around at the world we've inherited and if this is what we're entitled to, I just hope there's a good return policy.

I've been listening to a whole lot of his modern catalog, and few stand out as well as 2002's, The Rising, which was written in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. And the thing that keeps me coming back is the unbelievable sense of empathy I get from this record. While the majority of older white guys were calling for mass bombings and xenophobic genocide of the middle east, Bruce was doing what he always does, blending optimism and love with his genuine care for the people