Thousands speaking a foreign language in unison?

All of my posts are about Radiohead, so... this one is about Radiohead.

It relates, though. I found it interesting that in this video, which was shot in Milan [where very few speak English well and most speak none at all (one of many sources confirming this: http://russell.dyerhouse.com/cgi-bin/log.cgi?log_id=6)] that thousands of people can still speak/sing a foreign language in unison, regardless of whether or not they understand what they're saying (though, they know how it feels).

So, here are a few hundred people from Milan (many of which who don't speak any English) singing in English, in unison, if you are interested.

Lyrics if you're interested:
Karma police, arrest this man, he talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge, hes like a detuned radio
Karma police, arrest this girl, her hitler hairdo, is making me feel ill
And we have crashed her party
This is what you get, this is what you get
This is what you get, when you mess with us

Karma police, Ive given all I can, its not enough
Ive given all I can, but were still on the payroll
This is what you get, this is what you get
This is what you get, when you mess with us
And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself
And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself

For a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself

I MAY BE PARANOID, BUT NOT AN ANDROID

Random (long and sporadic and nonlinear) thought (TURN BACK NOW).

I wonder how much of our language is spent on denial. Before most people can see the meaning behind any symbol or concept they usually meet that symbol concept with resistance or contention. Whether you are looking at the Greek alphabet as jibberish or hearing about how "Language Speaks Us," we spend a remarkable amount of time putting up a fight against something we simply do not understand yet (take African Americans or Homosexuals in America for example).
When I first heard Scott say "Language Speaks Us" I liked the idea but didn't really "eat it up". However, last night I was watching a fascinating video on TED.com (for the second time) about how the agricultural revolution may not have been a technological invention by humans, but rather, that it was actually a co-evolutionary development where things such as grasses evolved to exploit us (humans) into doing their dirty work for them (deforesting the competition, etc.). He got this idea while planting his garden. He saw a bee pollinating a flower and he thought "ha, that bee has no clue that he is compelled by the flower to do what he is doing. But I know that he is." Then he went back to gardening. But then he realized, that he was not much different than the bee. And that maybe gardening was so enjoyable for people because they are also being compelled by the plants to keep them in fruition.
So anyway (these thoughts are not entirely linear), I was thinking about this, and how absurd it seemed, and I was making up reasons to deny it and so forth and while doing so I thought of Language Speaking Us. And I thought, maybe language doesn't necessarily SPEAK US, but maybe language (meaning and symbols) somehow compel us to speak it - Rousseau did say that language grew out of need, right?

Now, of course, this can't necessarily be; considering that language is not a THING per se, but really a confluence of THINGS... but how are we (humans) any different? We THINK we compel things to do what we want them to. We think we have this power over language and that it can't possibly speak us. WE SPEAK IT, IT'S ABSURD TO SAY IT SPEAKS US, IT'S NOT A THING, IT'S LANGUAGE! But we're no different. We evolved with language. We're more advanced because of language and language is more advanced because of us. And the last I checked a human has never made language cry (aside from those horrible Karaoke songs), but language makes humans cry (and laugh and so on) ever single minute. We are shaped by language and we evolve because language evolves - and vice versa.

Now, of course (once again), I am babbling, and my thoughts are abstract and nonlinear and people will disagree and argue and so on, but we couldn't engage in such activity without it.

So, in conclusion, and since I tie EVERYTHING back to RADIOHEAD (because they created the heavens and the earth)... And this post is no different - as it was inspired by them (in a way). I was listening to their song PARANOID ANDROID. And during the chorus - barely noticable in the background - there is an audio recording of a robot's "voice" saying "I MAY BE PARANOID, BUT NOT AN ANDROID." And with EVERYTHING ELSE (language speaking us, agriculture as a co-evolutionary byproduct, etc.) I thought... try explaning that to this android... that he is not an android. If this thing actually existed - I wish it did - it would be nothing more than a machine that is programmed to feel paranoia and to doubt that it is what it is. I don't think we're much different. Human beings always ascribe their own species as the "BEST" species. I'm sure that penguins would do the same if they had as much denial as we do.

Here's the link to that TED VIDEO I mentioned: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/michael_pollan_gives_a_plant_s_eye_view.html

thefuckingend--sorry if my post is not proper enough to cause the effect of discussion.


PS: I think that people should come here and vent their thoughts more often. Don't use spell-checker and rewrite your thoughts in some WORD filter. Just get these things out of your head, and on to this blog. They're always the most interesting to read. You can recant in class.

YOU/USED T O _B E A_LR IGHT WHAT/HA _PPENED ?

Quick thought about Music as language (or as a form of communication).

Two weeks ago I traveled almost 1,000 miles to see a (Radiohead) concert. In preparation for such an event, my girlfriend (Paige) and I spent 5 months saving up over $2,000. It took us 15 hours to drive from Orem, UT to Auburn, WA and while waiting for the band to finally come out onto the stage I realized something. This 2,000 dollars, this 1,000 miles, this 15 hours of driving, this 150 days of waiting--all of this--it all came down to a little blurb of time that would seem to end before it began. I asked Paige if she thought it was odd, so many hours of driving, waiting, working to save money... and all of it just to experience 2 hours of music. But as we discussed this I began to look around and I realized something. It wasn't just us, there were thousands of other people on the edge of their seats, each anticipating the same thing: music. Who knows if they drove from 15 blocks away or 15 states away. It didn't matter. There were thousands of people lined up for one reason. And when the first note resonated throughout the arena, thousands of people simultaneously sprang to their feet and collectively erupted like a volcano of voice.

Nobody told any of these people to show up here. Nobody told us to scream, shout, or dance. It was simply understood.

Music not only has the ability to inspire a human being to wait 5 months, save 2,000 dollars, drive 15 hours/1,000 miles, etc. just to experience it first hand; it also has the ability to communicate with thousands of people simultaneously. The majority of the audience surely can not play instruments the way the band can, nor do most of the people watching understand how the band plays their instruments in such a way... but it doesn't matter. All that mattered was the rhythmic conversation between multiple notes and multiple people. The instruments shouting to the crowd and vice versa.