I'm listening to the song Video Killed the Radio Star by the Bugles and all of the sudden it hit me.
I've always thought this song to be completely arbitrary. I would just listen to it and bob my head cause it's a good song. But then the whole meaning of the song just came to me. Video actually killed the radio [star]. It was meant so literally I almost felt blind. With new technology the obsolete is quickly set aside- it no longer has the glamour it once held. Radio didn't have this awe-some grip on listeners anymore. Instead video and television stole the spotlight. Sure, radio is still around but now it's just there. There's nothing really special about it. It just became another form of media.
Mark Twain once said something similar. He wrote this piece about how when he first came to the Mississippi, it had this mystical, inspiring, unknown beauty to him. It was simplistic but it absolutely captivated him. However, he says, with time and experience came knowledge. When he looked up toward the sky he no longer saw shape-shifting clouds. He only saw what tomorrow's weather would be like: rainy, clear, overcast, etc. He no longer looked at the swirling current of the river and saw beauty-he saw what it was like, how strong it was, which direction it was going and was it beneficial for the boat? He goes on to further say that doctors, with all of their education and knowledge, do they see the beauty in the blush of a girl's cheek or do they see a hint, some umbrage to a possible illness? I suppose Twain's point was: is knowledge really worth it? Without knowledge, people take more pleasure in the natural, simplistic beauties of life. The world isn't complicated, there isn't a scientific reason for the clouds being wispy or ominous. It just is.
With the invention of the video, radio lost its appeal. There was something new, something better. More advances were made and people now no longer saw the beauty in the blush of a young girl. There's nothing wrong with moving forward, gaining more knowledge. It can do a lot of good in this world. But we shouldn't simply forget the old things. There's a certain nostalgia that is always there; a loving sense of youth.
