Results of Ruminations

This is the first of a series of essays in which I look at music videos as an avenue to expanding the meaning of a song. Thanks to friends who have sent me dozens of recommendations, I have a larger quantity of possibilities than I have time to rewatch and analyze them. Nevertheless, I hope that I can dig something out that people enjoy, even if their suggestion didn't make the cut. I'm starting with an easy one to try to get myself situated. I selected Death Cab For Cutie's "I Will Possess Your Heart". Below are the video and the lyrics. This particular video is over 8 minutes long, but I think you need to watch it in its entirety before going on. The Set Up I've embedded the YouTube version of the song for you to watch. Again, it's a little bit on the long side, but it needs to be watched, not simply listened to. And, for convenience's sake, the lyrics ( found here ): How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me It...

HEADS UP: I'm talking about nudity, questions of social mores surrounding the exposure of the human form, and including illustrative pictures that could be construed as being inappropriate, particularly if you're of the younger variety. If any of what I mentioned here might bother you, I recommend you skip this one. Going Gaga In 2013, I went to Paris for the first time. While there, I went to the Louvre and looked at some of the most incredible artwork the Western world has created. I saw The Mona Lisa , enormous paintings by Jacques Louis David, and many other impressive, indescribable pieces--artwork that I'd only ever read about before. As I was bopping through the museum (as one does), there was an advertisement for a new, small exhibit by Lady Gaga. The ad had a person, lying in a bathtub, in the pious pose of The Death of Marat by David. I remember wondering what I was actually looking at, since, from a distance, it simply looked like someone had put together De...