Doc Rhombus – Out of Time
The world changes constantly, and we can’t say for certain if all these changes are for better or worse. One thing is clear, however, and it’s the fact that tomorrow, as always, you’ll have to ask for permission from someone with a gun when you want to do anything.
In fact, most of your heroes had to do the same. Those sports heroes lifting trophies were probably recruited by some dictator in order to make the team. The handsome actor used to be someone’s gardener.
And, the songs? Ah, don’t get me started on the songs. Just about each of the tunes that you know and love was first heard, critiqued, and, eventually, approved by some rich man who’d decided that investing in a music label was a good career move. Where’s the freedom?
Doc Rhombus has found some, and it’s just very lucky, isn’t it? How else could the harsh truths of “Out of Time” get to be told so plainly? Modern woes aside, however, this is also a really pretty-sounding record, one that brings to mind big-budget early 1990s productions. It is, however, a DIY project. And if that’s impressive to you, there’s at least one reason to smile right there.
Marc M Cogman – The Reason I Don’t Own a Gun
One ought never to take one’s freedoms for granted. I say this having lived a good portion of my life in a country that afforded few of them (albeit before my birth). But one shouldn’t be dumb enough to use all of one’s freedoms once they do get them. That’s the easiest way to ensure the fabric of society breaks down. And it’s the easiest way to ensure that things can’t be put back together.
The 1995 Oklahoma Bombing, even when glanced at from afar, from outside the US, is shocking for its violence and, frankly, stupidity. The fact that things of a similar nature were allowed to continue, or that individuals not unlike the local terrorist responsible for the attack are allowed to influence and sway public opinion, is downright insane.
Those are the ideas that preoccupy Marc M Cogman on “The Reason I Don’t Own a Gun.” Sure, the songwriter has an inside view, but he’s also smart enough to laugh off the idea that things have improved since 1995. Nah, this is a song for people with short memories and the belief that guns and violence will, somehow, make anything better. It’s a funny, smart song about a terrible, dumb thing.
