Orpana, Simon

English

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(In)Famous Cover Tunes of 2014

Wilfrid Laurier University

The GooseVolume 13 | No. 2 Article 110-6-2014(In)Famous Cover Tunes of 2014Simon OrpanaMcMaster UniversityPart of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Illustration Commons, Interdisciplinary Artsand Media Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Nature and SocietyRelations Commons, and the Place and Environment CommonsFollow this and additional works at / Suivez-nous ainsi que d’autres travaux et œuvres:https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegooseThis article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Goose by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Cet article vous est accessible gratuitement et en libre accès grâce à Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Le texte a été approuvé pour faire partie intégrantede la revue The Goose par un rédacteur autorisé de Scholars Commons @ Laurier. Pour de plus amples informations, contactezscholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended Citation / Citation recommandéeOrpana, Simon. "(In)Famous Cover Tunes of 2014." The Goose, vol. 13 , no. 2 , article 1, 2014,https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol13/iss2/1.  ~  I was initially reluctant to make a mash-up of the Simon & Garfunkel song “The Only Living Boy in New York” (1970), because the satirical use to which I was putting these lines, on first glance, runs contrary to the themes of innocence and honesty that inform the song. On closer reading, however, even the original song is about how honesty and presence easily become lost in a modern world where “half of the time we’re gone, but we don’t know where.” This refrain seems even more pertinent in 2014, where we run around with one ear and eye fixed on the internet, practically drowning in information, and yet our political leaders can still turn a wilfully blind eye to the problems that our lifestyles, institutions, and policies are creating for the larger world. 1Orpana: (In)Famous Cover Tunes of 2014Published by / Publié par Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2015In the song’s original context of the seventies, the line “I get all the news I need from the weather report” used the weather to signal a natural and grounded contrast with the chaotic “news of the world.” Forty-four years later, the weather report has become part of our chaotic, unpredictable, and disastrous “news”: we can no longer distinguish a clear line between where the “natural” world ends and the human begins. But wasn’t this blurring of categories inherent even in the song’s original iteration? Even here, the singer experiences the weather through the mediation of the weather report, rather than experiencing it “directly.” The political silencing of scientific discourse performs the same kind of nostalgic belief (perhaps covering over a cynical dismissal) that Simon & Garfunkel’s song comments upon. The difference today is that the stakes for ourselves and the world, if we continue with this irresponsible behaviour, are much higher than they have ever been.    SIMON ORPANA has been drawing and publishing cartoons since 1987. He has a PhD in English and Cultural Studies from McMaster University, and has published articles in Psychogeographies, Topia, and The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies. His illustrated ‘zine, “The Art of Gentrification,” is reprinted in Popular Culture: A User’s Guide (3rd ed.). His short documentary Beaz Steez: Skateboarding at Beasley Park is available online.    2The Goose, Vol. 13, No. 2 [2015], Art. 1https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol13/iss2/1

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(In)Famous Cover Tunes of 2014

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