Soccer, Irish American Rap, and Other Strange Things

I don't know why the philosophers are involved, but this is pretty much every soccer match I've ever watched:

Musical Interlude -- When I first heard parts of House of Pain's "Jump Around" in the 90s, I thought it was just another gangster rap song, didn't really care for it.

It came around in my life again a few years later in a completely different context, so different that I actually didn't recognize it. Then it dropped out of my life again for a couple of decades.

For some odd reason, it came up on YouTube for me recently and I decided to play it. Turns out there's an Irish American theme to it, which was completely new to me. If you don't like the music (which I can understand), turn it down and just watch the video. With a different sound, it could fit in here.


Other Irish-themed rap tunes on the same album include "Shamrocks and Shenanigans" and "Danny Boy, Danny Boy."

And if you do kinda like it (which I won't hold against you), here's "Top O' The Morning to You":

Strange that I'm just now connecting the various contexts I've heard this song in. Anyway, I grew up with some of the old rap, and there was some good stuff, but my tastes ran more toward rock and blues and bluegrass. Which eventually came back around ...


So I was thinking about Jacques Derrida recently, again, and feminist philosophy, and decentering, and I think that explains a lot of what the left is about. I just need to put that into a coherent essay someday, or find someone else who has already done the work for me.

And if you're wondering where the name "House of Pain" comes from, they took it from The Island of Dr. Moreau. That makes a lot of sense.
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4 comments:

  1. Grim12:21 AM

    You missed out on House of Pain? They were something, once upon a time. Everlast had a solo career afterwards; his best hit at that time is just as relevant today.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFkCOBYTy0s

    But he also had a solo career before them, when he was a member of Ice-T's "Rhyme Syndicate." You'll hear him in this bit if you give it long enough.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykqd5xX029o

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  2. Grim12:55 AM

    Oh, and try this one.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzX8R_xI2O8

    "Benevolence. Mercy. Discipline."

    Everlast converted to Islam in the mid-90s, well before 9/11. I have a friend who did that also about the same time. There's a strong religious aspect to their mid-career, as they work through how religion affects their commitments.

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  3. Grim1:12 AM

    I had forgotten that the "Jump Around" video begins with pallbearers and a coffin. On the 4th of July I carried a dead man, though it was not at his funeral; our volunteer fire department was moving his body from his home to the ambulance that would take him to the morgue.

    Later that week I saw him again. My wife and I were out riding motorcycles, and we met with a hearse and a funeral procession coming up the mountain. Of course we pulled to the side and showed respect for the dead.

    It's an important thing that we do, showing respect for the dead.

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  4. Tom3:23 PM

    You missed out on House of Pain?

    Eh, I'm still debating whether I missed out or got lucky ... Their stuff is in that weird musical area where one moment I'm jamming and the next I'm ready to hit "next". I think I'll call that my House of Pain Dance: reach for the next button, no I like this - set my arm back down, no I don't - reach for the next button, yes I do - arm down, no I don't - reach for the next button, etc.

    I'll check out the tunes you linked.

    Indeed, showing respect for the dead like that is important.

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