“I read the news today, oh boy,” is the opening lyric to “A Day in the Life,” the final song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney for their iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Lennon’s inspiration came from newspaper articles he’d read while McCartney’s came from memories of his youth. The creatively written combination of John’s fictionalized present-day occurrences with reminiscences of Paul’s youthful experiences led them both to believe that “A Day in the Life” was one of their finest, if not best collaborations.
Rolling Stone agreed, and considered it to be the greatest Beatles’ song, and number 26 on their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
The boys from Liverpool achieved greatness from modest if not troubled beginnings, and then sustained it through messy, and often contentious creative and personal bouts of ego and individual, “demon” driven biases.
I read the news online today as I do every day. I approach this practice with a bit of Pollyanna-ish optimism seasoned with a Cinderella-like dose of reality. I move from wishful thinking – may good will triumph over evil – to oh boy – what a mess we and the world are in – and finally to why did I watch or read this?
The stories rife with conflict, injustice, suffering, and calamity pull me in, and their depressing tone makes me clamor for a Higher Power, or Creator-God whose existence would help me make sense of the chaos. I wonder why I am consistently drawn to the [abundant] cynical, depressing, and negative stories rather than the [scarce] positive and uplifting ones I hope to experience. Tales of war-ravaged lands, the spreading of disease, and the reporting of racial unrest captured my interest today more than the feel-good stories of a beached pod of dolphins being rescued, and illustrations of humans caring for and being kind to each other.
Why, when I want the Buddhist word mudita – appreciative joy at the success and good fortune of others – to be my companion, does schadenfreude (taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others), if that’s what it is, seem to drive my news interests?
It’s not that simple, and though I don’t consciously experience pleasure at others suffering, I am drawn to the darkness in our shared world. Perhaps researchers are correct when they suggest that we envision the world to be a more hopeful and rosy place than it is, and that suffering and darkness jump out at us, triggering our vigilance and protective wariness in spite of a conscious or unconscious rosy view of life.
The world is a messy place, but one in which triumph, greatness and beauty emerge, and gratefully surprise us. The Beatles’ partnership often became mired in voices stifled, jealousies, and conflict, from which arose occasional groundbreaking compromise, and rock ‘n roll greatness.
I’ll watch the news tonight, and wonder again why the good stories, the conflict and tension-free ones take a back seat. I’ll think, oh boy, but stay tuned. My Cinderella yearnings for uplifting narratives – pumpkins become coaches, and slippers find the right foot – will compete with watchful waiting, anticipating the gloomy, less hopeful tales. I much prefer having a background of “lightness” punctuated by bits of “darkness” than experiencing the opposite – it gives me hope for all of us.
The lyrics to the Beatles song contains references to the darkness in the world, but the orchestral glissandos and final sustained piano chord soar with hope and energy.
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Well written and thoughtful as always. I tend not to read news online but listen to NPR and the PBS nightly news in hope of gaining a greater understanding of what is underlying the chaos of our current world. When that doesn’t work, I escape into books.
I regularly find myself dealing with the dark side of life–addiction, mental illness, homelessness. That’s my job, and I love it. I can’t watch many gruesome or violent offerings that the news and entertainment provide–too much like real life. I retreat into uplifting thoughts about life and thus I retain my sanity. I preach optimistic sermons that reflect my view of the kingdom of God the way I think God envisions it. I try to keep moving in that direction, despite the wreckage of my past and the wreckage that I see around me. I try to create little islands of sanity in a sea of dereliction.
I foundmyself thinking “that’s exactly how it feels to stay informed about the world….it is disheartening and sad so much of the time”. But your descriptive language and references to cultural icons and old fairy tales say it so much more eloquently. We all love this Beatles song and remember how we identified with the lyrics . Because you share your feelings of how the world news affects you every day, after all these years, we “know’ you a little more. Your observations of our world are thought provoking.
Today on my run I was thinking about some recent events; mostly about relational interactions. The phrase that kept bouncing up was “mean-spirited” That phrase was also illustrated by reading Sue Monk Kidd’s new novel, The Invention of Wings. The story narrates the lives of the Grimke sisters, Sarah and Nina, from the early 1800s and their journey through abolition and women’s rights and effects of slavery on their own plantation owning family. Their outspoken support of abolition and their writings were a sensation at the time. I honestly long for less mean-spiritedness in the world but I don’t see it decreasing. Politicians, public policy advocates, religious leaders, we are all guilty. May God grant us peace and release from our mean-spirited thoughts and speech.
I seek my inner peace and watch the world with Divine Unconcern. I pray at night and apologize to our creator for what we have done on and to this beautiful earth he has
given us. I am skeptically hopeful in regards to world peace for as long as people want more power, possesions and control it will never be. The study of history gives us the knowledge that nothing seems to change. Be they kings, dictators,presidents, neighbors or parents it does not matter as peace begins with the individual.
Your quest for understanding yourself and this contrast of darkness and light in our life is palpable and vibrant in your writing. Write on, mon ami. Today I find Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood and Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday helpful in finding my inner peace with it all, my version of church for myself.
Good post. I definitely love this site. Keep it up!