This American Life

Play The Part
          Narrated By: Ryan Murdock


In this they are talking about, how when people are put on camera, or on the spotlight, we tend to act differently under the circumstances. It's 2008, and they go on about this man living in the bronx unemployed, in the middle of a lawsuit, coming back from the war. And his life is just a complete mess. Until he walks into a bar, and everybody is watching the presidential speech when everybody turns and looks at him, and their jaws drop, because he looks exactly like the soon-to-be president, Barrack Obama. So he goes on to make a career out of being a Obama impersonator, and through his many bumps, he tries to get though life.

It sort of made me think of how he would feel under the circumstances. Although when Obama was in the middle of election, he was glorified, and everybody thought that this was the president that could fix everything. But as it turned out he didn't quite turn out to be the prodigy he was acclaimed to be, so with people hating his guts you can imagine how hard it would be to look exactly like Barack Obama.

1. How people can change their life when given the opportunity
2. How hard it is to live in a time and place such as he was.
3. To not give up on your life no matter how awful it gets (I guess)

I though the part that I think related to the thesis of the presentation the most, was when he says. When my life was going bad and I had problems, I would just put on the suit, shave, and take a walk downtown, and watch the praise pour in, and it felt amazing. But as soon I would return home and take off the suit, I would realize, Im not Barrack Obama, I'm me, and all my problems would return.

Ted Talks No. Me

If I were ever to do a talk on something, to be honest, I would need some credentials to start it. Anyway, over the course of doing all the summaries for these talks, it wasn't the cool technology, or the interesting science that really got me going or motivated, it was really the talks about the emotions of people, and why people, when out of their element react to situations like they do. Being a high school student, I know when i'm not wanted in some situations and sometimes I don't, or sometimes I am wanted and just don't know it. I would really want to do my talk on breaking down, how, and why people react in a social society the way they do, how people act to certain people with certain feelings, and most importantly, what does it mean to have a reputation. This may just be fragments of my actual life, but personally I cant see anything better to talk about

(and finally) Ted Talks Summary No. 10

Steve Jobs
          How To Live Before You Die


Steve Jobs talks about how his life proceeded from birth and how he arose to the seat he holds today

CEO of Apple and founder of "Pixar"

In my final talk, Apple CEO Steve Jobs starts by telling us how he was adopted into a family that took him for who he was, and seventeen years later put him in college for him to drop out six months later, because he felt we was wasting his parents life savings. He did various things until he began working with computers and began a 10 year journey to create the multi-billion dollar industry that today is know as "Apple". When fired from apple due to a bad decision, he took a step back and thought carefully about his life, eventually starting companies called "Pixar" and "Next" witch were eventually owned by apple. So there he was again back up top. But after having this epiphany, he really wanted to "live" before he died, and to make conscientious decisions to feel like you were living each day as if you would "like" it to be your last.

I chose to do this one, because I figured Steve jobs would be talking about his life and his rise to fame and power. I figured I could see if I could pick up any helpful tips for life along the road. It has always really intruiged me to hear stories of what people did after school, even today I am hearing interesting things about my parents early lives that I didnt know.

I ended up getting a feel for what people do after they graduate, but it still worries me to think of what I am to do. I really liked his part about living each day like you would like it to be your last, because it sort of ties in with my moral belief system that I currently use, and I think it could be a helpful tool to use.

My favorite part, and by now you are hearing an echo, was when he says. At the end of each day, I looked in the mirror, and asked myself. If this were my last day on earth, would i have made the decisions that I did? and if my answer enough times in a row was no, then I knew something needed to be changed.

Ted Talks Summary No. 9

Helen Fisher
          The Brain In Love


Helen Fishes gets down to why we deal with love how we do.

Anthropologist, expert on romantic love.

In this talk, Helen Fisher talks about how we go about dealing with different types of love, how we experience love, how our brain reacts to experiencing love, and how we deal with getting out of love. Obviously starting off with the different way we go about loving, she talks about when we love, a sensory part of our body goes to work, which is the part that allows us to feel good. And that's why people are so addicted to love, because we sometimes feel so attracted to this person that we cant get enough of it. And apparently after romantic relationship break ups, you would  think that we would like to forget this person and just move on, but infact we just love them harder.

I picked this particular ted talk because I was talking to my dad, and in the back of my mind I was wondering, why parents separate, and why it has been getting more, and more frequent throughout the years. I sometimes feel like, am i the only one that has a real family? pardon me for saying that and I mean no offence to anyone, but sometimes if feel it to be true, my parents are still in a loving relationship, but I find it weird that so many parents are separated.

Although that was what I wanted to be answered it didn't quite help me, instead gave me a better grasp of how we love one another, and what the actual feeling of love means to people. Well, I know what that feels like, I've been there. So infact it did help me in some ways but not quite in the areas I expected.

I know its the recommended quote but I liked it so much. "Romantic love is an addiction: a perfectly wonderful addiction when it’s going well, and a perfectly horrible addiction when it’s going poorly.”

Ted Talks Summary No. 8

Kevin Allocca
          Why Videos Go Viral


In this talk Kevin Allocca talks about how videos get popular and go "viral"

Trends manager for Youtube

In this he talks about how internet web videos become viral in such a a short time span. As a trends manager for Youtube he gets paid to watch videos. And being a trends manager, you are paid, to see how trends start on Youtube and become widely known to the world. Most "viral" videos are apparently started from celebrity introduction, and from there on become widely known very fast. For instance, Jimmey Kinnel introduced the double rainbow guy. Daniel tosh introduced the viral pop monstrosity friday. And even Justin Beiber got started right off of Youtube.

I like most teens am on youtube frequently almost every day, and when he says that 2 days worth of video are uploaded every day its really not that hard to believe. So when I watch a Youtube video and ask myself, why is this video so popular, or why isn't this video more popular? I wanted to have an answer.

This made me think about how things outside the internet and how they can become a big deal very fast. And as cheezey as it sounds, it may help to understand the idea behind what people are thinking in buisiness and how that could  or could not affect me later in life.

Ted Talks Summary No. 7

Elizabeth Gilbert
          Nurturing creativity


Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the pressure creative artists have when it comes to their work and that having a "genius" can be better than being a "genius"

Writer, author of the novel "Eat Pray Love"

In this particular talk, Elizabeth Gilbert tells us how as people from the creative arts; writers, artists etc.  We struggle with the problem of finding creative inspiration. In the early times in greece and france, people who came by inspiration easily and created great works of art were referred to as a "genius". Although in rome, these amazing artists were have said to have, a "genius". And by genius I mean, a little entity or spirit that lives within art studios and concert halls, that was said to be the source of inspiration. Until the renaissance arrived, with the the idea that these amazing artists are have said to be the source of their own inspiration and that they had the power all along! Although, this may have been a mistake, because you put all this pressure on the artist, that did not exist  prior to this new theory. Artists could feel more at ease knowing that it isn't all up to them. Although now these artists feel the pressure of their work overpowering them, if they write a masterpeice no inspiration they think of will ever ammount to what that masterpeice was, Many artists took their lives and some went crazy. So the goal of this was to nurture your creativity and let it flow through you and beleive that that "genius" might actually exist.

like my previous post, I wanted to find somethig to help me in my life. I am (hopefully) becoming a designer after school, the hard part is I dont know what I am going to be designing. So I wanted to get a generalized term of how to deal with creativity, and what challenges I might face in the future when I rely on myself for inspiration to fuel creative thoughts.

And I ended up not quite getting a life changing theory, but more of a couple of pointers. It was helpful and a lot if the stuff about talking to famous poets and muscisians form of inspiration was very touching, and I found that I could relate to a lot of it. So I think I may try it out but im not sure of how much I agree with it, but I do know that it does feel like it takes A LOT of worry of yourself.

I particuallarily liked the part where she was talking about the famous poet and how she would just suddenly whereever she was, catch almost a "breeze" of inspiration and she would try and race it to a peice of paper before it got away and found another poet. Its the childish things that keep our imaginations alive.

Ted Talks Summary No. 6

Brene Brown
          The Power Of Vulnerability


Brene Brown talks about her research and her ongoing goal to understand human emotions

Brene Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston and has spent the last ten years breaking down vulnerability.

In this talk, she talks about how as humans, we seek to find a belonging in our lives, and in doing so need to break down the concept of vulnerability, and courage to accept that "we are enough". The question is, why do we struggle with vulnerability, and how can we overcome it? the answer lies within ourselves if we have the courage to see it, we try to make ourselves noticed, otherwise we feel vulnerable. And then the bad thoughts start pouring in, i'm not good enough, i'm weird etc. But in the process of trying to become visible we instead become who we currently are, and not who we should be, and that sense of vulnerability comes back, but in a different form. So it seems that the way to overcome vulnerability is to be at peace with our emotions, to let our self know, we are enough, and then the vulnerability will start to fade and that sense of belonging will return, but without the self guilt trip to follow.

I went into this ted talk hoping to find something that could help me. I thought I would sound vulnerable to say this, but who really cares, I am who I am. This has always been a touchy subject for me, because not that you care about my personal life, but I struggle, and when I say struggle, I really mean I struggle. With the fact that, i put myself down all the time, and i hate myself for it, so it's just myself and my conscience always in a constant fight. And i hoped I could get out of this; something to help me fight that feeling of "I am not good enough".

And as it turns out it has helped, I think it helped A lot. Although the next day i felt really good about myself, it does take some getting used to, a lot of getting used to. So it will have to become a thing that I need to rehearse more, but I am always open to concepts that aren't total bullshit, that make me a more understood person, to myself, but I got a lot out of this, more than I've got from a talk yet.

My favorite line of this was: when we feel vulnerable, we feel sad, and to cope with sadness we get say, a beer and a banana nut muffin, and try to put all these harsh hate we have for ourselves on ice. but in doing so we numb happiness itself. So when we can no longer feel happy we feel now very sad, so what do we do? we spring for a beer and a banana nut muffin, and its a vicious downward cycle.

Ted Talks Summary No. 5

Harald Haas
          Wireless Data From Every Lightbulb


The topic that Harald Haas talks about, is that simply we have 1.4 million wireless fidelity broadcast towers around the world transmitting data, through radio waves, to computers routers and smart phones around the world. Although this process can be simplified much easier by transmitting data through a newfound technology invented, to transmit wireless data through light waves, because the visible light scale is 10,000 times more potent than the radio wave scale. Therefore, 10,000 times 1.4 million is 14.4 billion, which is about how many lightbulbs we have around the world.

I have always been on the struggle with wireless technology, whenever I pull out my phone or mobile device I am wondering about wifi, and how I can get some when i'm out, or what position i have to be in to get the best signal. So for when a presenter comes to talk about an alternative to wireless fidelity, I really wanted to hear about this.

I think His point is very well said, and the idea is almost, very sound. Yet his original point of there being 14 billion lightbulbs in the world, it would seem very confusing still to think of how people would adapt to an alternative source of wireless fidelity. It may seem weird, instead trying to find a signal, trying to find a source of light. A lot of factors come from that, when I think about the sustainability of connection while using this "light fidelity". For instance when you are using wifi you find a strong hotspot and stick to it until you are done with it. But light varies all the time, day goes to night lights turn off cars drive by, it just seems like a work in progress at the moment.

I really liked the point near the end where he says " So, all what we need to do is, to fit a small micro chip to every potential illumination device. And this would then, combine two basic functionalities, wireless data transmission, and illumination. And it's this symbiosis, that I would personally believe could solve the four essential problems we face in wireless communication these days. And in the future you may not only have 14 billion lightbulbs, you may have 14 billion lifi's deployed worldwide, for a cleaner, greener, and even brighter future."

Ted Talks Summary No. 4

Hans Rosling
          New Insights on poverty


There are a few things that Hans starts to talk about, He begins to talk about how, the success rate of people living past the age of 2 on the rise, and on the run, being the average amount of money per household per year, and how the money and people are increasing, but then he points out Africa and how even though they are in a struggle.

I have never known much about why developing countries are so behind in the economic race, so I figured i might get a little educated on the subject, I like graphs, i'm a visual learner, and this really helped to shine some light on the subject.

I always used to think of africa as the unsuccessful younger brother of the rest of the world, but now I see them as the dedicated one-legged man running the marathon trying to keep up, he shows how africa is compared to parts of the world at certain times, like in an earlier time africa was compared to medieval europe, and that they are evolving, although the process might be slow they are getting by an pulling themselves out of poverty.

I loved the quote he said when, " I have a neighbour who knows 200 different types of wine. I only know 2 different types of wine, red, and white. And he said I only know 2 different types of countries, industrial, and developing, and I know 200 "

Ted Talks Summary No. 3

Anthony Atala
          Printing a human Kidney


In this presentation Anthony Atala is trying to get his point across, when he talks about his cry out in how the world is in a medical crisis because of the lack of human organ donors. In the past until the present, the number of organ donors has gone down, while the number of patients that require organs has gone up. Therefore, Anthony Atala has come up with a way to engineer artificial organs, using biological tissues that allow cells to use as if it was the original organic material.

I first flipped to this particular presentation on a hype from technology from my last summary, I was confused at what "Printing a Human Kidney" could be. and it was really interesting to see how the field of medicine is becoming so technological, for a greater good.

Anthony Atala's talk at the very start got me worried for the future and made me think of how fragile our bodies actually are, and that people may be waiting for a long, long time for donors for new organs, and that they might not get them before they parish of whatever sickness they are suffering from. I would've never imagined some technology as advanced as this coming into the near future, his vision of a world of people who could have access to organs at free disperse could save so many lives. Yet I thought of it as a      
visionary's dream, until I saw it applied to an actual person in need.

Continuing on my last paragraph, the most important little bit I got out of this was when the boy that they cured when he was young coming up on the stage 10 years later to talk about how this man saved his life, and how he will never be the same thanks to him, because he allowed him to live his life free of pain  and struggle heath-wise.

Ted Talks Summary No. 2

Pranav Mistry
          The thrilling potential of Sixth Sense technology

What the presenter is trying to prove in this video is why there are only certain reactions associated with the computer and everyday life. And how if possible we can break that barrier between man and machine and try to incorporate everyday interactions, with new innovative technology.

I am a big technology nut, and am always interested in the new and upcoming fields of technology, I had no idea what sixth sense technology was going into this video and in the first few minutes I didn't know if it was right for me, but later in I knew this was something I wanted to be interested about.

He has really made me think about our technology today and how it distracts us from our lives, being two separate things, life and machine. But he tries to break that barrier in which so few have even ventured, to incorporate technology with everyday interactions, and this performance he talks about trying to simplify life to keep us away from those distracting machines so, that our lives can become a little more human. 

The most moving line i got out of this was " So as a last thought, I think that, Integrating information to our everyday objects, will not only help us to get rid of the digital divide gap, between these two worlds. But it will also help us in our own way to stay human, to be more connected to our physical world. And it will actually help us not to be machines sitting in front of other machines"

Ted Talks Summary No. 1

Ken Robinson
          School Kills Creativity


what he is talking about in this presentation, is about the school system in our today squandering the arts all over the world, and it is turning us into very unpleasant people, who's lives lack fulfillment. He tries to prove that, we are all driven to become know it all's, who work for the economy and not ourselves.

I was first interested to see something about Ken Robinson, because he came to our school, and I didn't see him. I was wondering what all the exaggeration was about, so I decided to do one on him. I found an interesting subject I liked and went here. The applause from students was no exaggeration.

Ken Robinson in a way helped me to understand a topic that was before, sort of vague to me. The topic of how the arts are important and should never be frowned upon for being what they are, because creativity is of course what makes us human.

One part of this I am most likely to take out of this, is the deeply shocking part about the dancer and her mother. When it was in the early 1900's the doctor said she was a dancer, and insisted she be enrolled in dance school, and she went on to be in plays everywhere open her own studio and make millions, but a doctor today would've prescribed her with A.D.H.D and that would've been the end of it.

11. Charities

If I were given $30,000 dollars to give to 3 charities, these are the charities that I would pick.

Make A Wish Foundation

The make a wish foundation is an organization dedicated to granting the "wishes" of children with life threatening medical problems. I've always thought the make a wish foundation was a good charity, not because of the wish, but of the repercussions of the wish being granted. When a child is granted a wish, they are given a thing to remember, in what may or may not be their last days. If it even gets to that point, it is still a chance for that child to experience something they would normally not get the chance to, and that is not fair. But when people see how happy the children are when they see a charity really going to work in their own neighborhood, just the sound of it just makes you want to contribute to a worthy cause. Doesn't it?

Against Malaria Foundation

The against malaria foundation is a charity organization that deals with the purchasing of nets and antibiotics to treat and prevent malaria in less fortunate countries. Malaria causes symptoms such as, fever and headache, and in sever cases progressing into coma or even death. Malaria is hard to prevent, if one does not have the appropriate tools to deal with it. Mosquito's are more common in humid areas of the globe like rainforests, and can catch people by surprise as well all know. Yet 200,000,000 cases of malaria happen worldwide each year, and this charity is a great charity with a good track record dedicated to the purchase of nets, insecticide treated nets, and long lasting insecticide treated nets to prevent malaria in less fortunate countries, with the cost of nets being fairly cheap.

The British Columbia Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

More commonly known as the BC SPCA, these people can be lifesavers to animals everywhere and are one of the leading contributers to the rescue of abused animals. On one side, the people at SPCA rescue animals from their prosecuters and put them into shelters where they are treated well and then sold for fairly low prices to families who will adopt, love and care for them. As much as we need to repair people, we need to care for animals, and remember that we are not the only species on this planet, and nobody should treat animals as if we are.

When I was going over the structure of this I wanted to divide the charity money evenly between different causes, so the money is used in different ways. We need to remember that some less fortunate people are right next to us, so I chose the "Make A Wish" foundation, because when we have all the necessities of life in front of us, we need something to keep us moving forward. Although when we are even less fortunate and when we have to struggle to get the essentials of life, it takes 1 disease for you to be put out of work. Why I chose the "Against Malaria Foundation" to help those 200,000,000 people move forward and not have to worry about 1 more thing. And finally, animals are important as much as we are and I think are attitude as a species towards animals needs to take a change for the better, so I would donate this to the good people who saved my friends dog and my cat.

15. My Proudest Works.

I found that my proudest moments, are those brief, and happy moments, when you create something good, and others think it's beautiful. I found this feeling reflecting off my poetic works this year and last. I got a lot of positive feedback from peers and family member (not just my parents!). But it feels good when people appreciate something that you have put a lot of effort into, and that feeling of self satisfaction is just an overwhelmingly happy feeling. Especially when it is coming from your parents, because they will be proud of who you are becoming (or they could be faking it). Anyways This is one of the poems I wrote in English last year, that I though was mediocre, because it was my practice on using poetic devices, but when Carnrite handed it back to me in the hallway, she looked surprised and said it was really good. And your immediate reaction is always, "really!?".

7. Educational Youtube Moments (if that's possible)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7r7YY_EO0A

I decided to go off book for a little bit here and talk about why I chose this video, but not in a good way but infact a negative way. As some may take a first glance at this video and think, well hey those are good points, they are not wrong, its just I don't think they're go very in depth into this kind of topic. If motivational speakers are just out there to tell you to you're better than everyone else and to try and be someone your not just for success, then do you really have an identity? This is the "Identity Blog" and I really think it is helping me get in touch with who I want to be and what I want to do. Like I have said throughout this project, I would prefer not to live up to the "American Dream" format of living, but I would like to take the setting goals and working towards them portion out of it. Because if being wealthy and powerful dehumanizes me then what is the point? If I cant make my own choices, then is life worth living? Don't get the wrong idea when I say that but I think we rely on ourselves to be want we want to be.

14. Living Hero

For my living hero, I chose Stephen Hawking because of his amazing battle with life. As it says on his official website, In 1963, Hawking contracted motor neurone disease and was given two years to live. Yet he went on to Cambridge to become a brilliant researcher and Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. Since 1979 he has held the post of Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, the chair held by Isaac Newton in 1663. Professor Hawking has over a dozen honorary degrees and was awarded the CBE in 1982. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Science. Stephen Hawking is regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein. 

Today he is said to be the smartest man alive, it really puts to work what you were saying about being blind doesn't it Knittle? ;). Most would say they couldn't go on living only being able to move a handful of muscles. Yet against all odds he survived and decided not to (pardon me) a vegetable and use his life for a greater purpose. He went through college and became successful with the only muscle he needed, his brain. He kept positive, and used that brain to make groundbreaking achievements, and still is said to be the greatest mind since Albert Einstein.

13. Poetry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-8NuZZPD9E

4. My Memorable moment

For my memory, I am going to pick the time when My Grandparents took me and my brother along with my parents to West Edmonton Mall. Now, to clarify, I didn’t pick this memory for the venue, I picked it for the time. Me and my brother were just kids fairly little, he may remember it less than me, but the memory was so potent. I would love to remember when everything was good. It was sunny, my grandparents were still married, and my grandmother was still alive. I remember the flashing lights from amusement park attractions as me and my brother ran for every attraction we saw as my parents smiled and my grandparents laughed. I picked this one fairly importantly for my grandmother, she was a great person, awesome, always thinking of others even when times were hard for her she looked up. And we would sometimes look down when she made wrong choices, and I regret it dearly. But I should’ve been more appreciative of the moment, even though I was too small to comprehend how important the moment really was. It felt like everything was just in perfect harmony we were all smiling, nobody was hurting, and that’s a feeling that I could feel forever. 

10. One Thing Id Like To Do

If you were to ask me if I could go or do anything in anyplace for any length of time, I'm not exactly the kind of person who would go sky diving or deep sea diving, or Paris or Italy, Africa or Japan. I feel like those things are all one time only see it and go thrills that can die down after a while and only turn into vivid memories. I would go somewhere that would expand my knowledge, someplace to help me get in touch with myself. Or even my surroundings, it’s just something I would love to do to really get an understanding of our confusing world, to learn something amazing. I want to get out of the routine machine lifestyle that so many suffer from. I need to be out an about expressing myself. I could never work a desk job because I need to feel like I’m getting something out of what I do. And if taking a little time with some guru up in the Himalayas learning how to be peaceful, and more understanding, is what it takes, then by all means ill go buy a one way plane ticket.

http://www.fpmt-hbmc.org/

12. Favorite Song Lyrics

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died(*)

So, bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so
Now do you believe in rock and roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow

Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin'

Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But, that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin'

Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
Landed flat on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died
We started singin'

Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend
And as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singin'

Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singin'

Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

They were singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die


SONG IS DONE POEM TIME


The message it sings
and how many the words
never ceases to bring
those words that I heard


The first day I heard that song
In the car with my dad
seven minutes to short, but so very long
made me so glad 


I asked to hear it more and more
my dad sat for a while
i was sure his ears had to be sore
he took a seat back looked back with a smile
turned his head over and turned up the dial.