Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 176

My plate is full. My complains are nil.

I’ve got a lot to do during this upcoming winter vacation.

I’ve got two magazine columns to write.

I have a book proposal to finish.

I have a novel to get off the ground.

I need to rewrite large segments of a theatrical show for a well known comedian and performer.

I’m producing a show in Brooklyn for the Yale Alumni Association in February, so I need to cast and coach the storytellers who will be performing alongside me.

I have two brand new stories of my own that I need to prepare for upcoming shows.

I need to finish a podcast series on the making of Twenty-one Truths About Love.

It would be easy to look at this list and complain. I have an enormous amount of work ahead of me,. Add to this my desire to play with my kids, kiss Elysha, visit with friends, attend two Patriots games, see a couple movies, read a couple books, and host an open house on Christmas, and it’s hard to see where I’ll find the time to do it all.

It would be easy - maybe even reasonable - to complain about everything that I need to do over the course of a dozen days of vacation, but you’ll almost never hear me complain, for the same reason New England Patriots linebacker Donte Hightower doesn’t complain about all that he has to do.

Posted in his locker in Gillette Stadium is this message:

“I can’t cry about having a lot on my plate when my goal was to eat.”

Every time I even think about complaining about a book that needs to be finished or a column that needs to be written or a story that needs to be crafted and told, I remind myself of the time - not so long ago - when my dream was to someday publish a book or write a column or perform in front of audiences regularly.

Not so long ago, I could only dream of having this much creative work to accomplish. I try like hell to not forget this when the days feel long and the list seems endless.

And I have Elysha to remind me, too. In 2017, I was hard at work on three different books for three different publishers. Feeling overwhelmed, I found myself complaining to friends over dinner. As soon as we were back in the car, Elysha reminded me of how there was a time - not long ago - when I would’ve killed for a single book contract.

“Now you’re complaining about having three?”

It’s good to have someone to kick you in the ass when needed.

But this extends beyond my creative life, too.

There was a time when I wondered if I’d ever find a woman to love me. If I’d ever have a family.

There was a time when college seemed like an impossibility for me, and I wondered if my lifelong dream of becoming a school teacher would ever become a reality.

There was a time when I was homeless and awaiting trial for a crime I did not commit, when all I wanted was a roof over my ahead and liberty from the possibility of imprisonment.

Hightower is right. “I can’t cry about having a lot on my plate when my goal was to eat.”

When my kids are leaving their shoes in every room of the house and my students are treating each other (and me) poorly and the sink needs to be unclogged again, I remind myself that my family and my career and my home were all once little more than unlikely dreams for me.

How lucky I am to be where I am today.

How fortunate I am to have so much work on my plate.

How grateful I am to have such a full plate.

Speak Up Storytelling #77: Live from Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health with Kathy Binder (Part 2)

On episode #77 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, special guest Kathy Binder and I talk storytelling!

This week's episode features the first half of a storytelling show at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts as part of a weekend of storytelling instruction.

Following the stories, Kathy and I discuss each one.

We hope you enjoy!  

LINKS

Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling: https://amzn.to/2H3YNn3

Purchase Twenty-one Truths About Love: https://amzn.to/2qEByex

Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne

Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com

Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks

Matthew Dicks's blog: http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicksblog

Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter: http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe

Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter: http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up

Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's blog: http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-grin-and-bare-it

One Million Moms suck

In case you didn’t hear:

One Million Moms - an organization populated by a group of hateful, stupid bigots - successfully protested the Hallmark channel’s airing of a Zola ad featuring a wedding between two women, claiming that…

Actually, never mind. It’s not important what their rationale was. I’m sure you can imagine their level of abject stupidity for yourself. Just imagine a bunch of bigots - probably a lot less than a million - who don’t think women should be allowed to get married or kiss or hold hands in public.

Their reasoning is irrelevant. They are horrible, hateful, ignoramuses.

But despite their stupidity, they did manage to get the ad pulled from the network. Happily, the backlash over the Hallmark channel’s cowardly, stupid decision was greater than the One Million Moms bigoted tirade, so three days later, the Hallmark channel rightfully reinstated the commercial.

All of this sent me to onemillionmoms.com to see what these lunatics were all about.

Apparently, it’s a bunch of bigots who are angry about things not going their way.

Their current campaigns include::

Protesting the Hallmark channel over the reinstatement of the aforementioned ad

Protesting the Hallmark channel’s recent announcement that they are now open to LGBYQ films (welcome to the future, Hallmark channel…)

Chick-Fil-A’s recent decision to stop supporting ant-LGBTQ organizations (it’s about damn time)

A proposed show on the CW network called Good Christian Bitches

An amusing Hotels.com ad referencing condoms

Kellogg’s use of cereal mascots to push the LGBTQ agenda (the cereal brand’s famous mascots are promoting their individual cereals packaged together in a purple box with rainbow colors)

Thinx, a company that sells period-proof absorbent underwear, launching its new ad campaign titled MENstruation, in an attempt to make everyone, especially men, more comfortable talking about a woman’s menstrual cycle,

Barnes & Noble’s selling of a new parody written by Faye Kanouse entitled “If You Give a Pig the White House” (I’ve already ordered 5 copies)

Disney’s confirmation that there will be a gay couple in the new animated Star Wars Resistance series

Mattel’s line of gender inclusive dolls

FemiClear's "Hooha" ad

Disney’s “blindsiding” of families with a “lesbian scene” in Toy Story 4

This one is especially disgusting. One Million Moms writes:

“At the start of the movie, when Woody’s new owner Bonnie goes for her first day of kindergarten, in the background there is a quick scene where one child is dropped off by two moms. Later, the moms return to pick up their child who gives them a hug. The scene is subtle in order to to desensitize children. But it is obvious that the child has two mothers, and they are parenting together.”

These are bigoted, hateful, backwards monsters.

But here’s the good news:

By all appearances, they are very upset. Quite angry. As the world slowly but decidedly moves in the direction of love and righteousness, they are like the little Dutch boy, sticking his finger in the dike, hoping to plug up the holes as a flood of love and acceptance and morality overwhelms them. They are organizing protests, signing petitions, crying foul at every turn, but they are losing mightily.

They are fighting a losing battle. Wasting their time and energy. Flailing about like fools.

The world has moved far afield of these backwards, immoral morons. They can cling to their ancient, wrongheaded views of sex and sexuality, and they can mount the occasion protest and occasionally score a temporary victory, but we are finished with their nonsense.

But it’s amusing to watch them waste precious time and resources protesting the rainbow lettering on a cereal box and a commercial acknowledging the existence of condoms.

I love watching losers lose.

Make stuff

This entire film was make with an iPhone 11.

And yes, it was done by Hollywood director David Leitch with a full crew of professionals, but still… it was made with an iPhone 11. A phone that millions of Americans already have in their pockets.

The barrier to entry in the film world has been leveled. So, too, has the barrier to most creative endeavors. You can professionally record music today at very little expense. You can design and draw digitally just like the greatest digital artists today. You can record radio shows at your dining room table.

And the platforms for distribution are free.

Want people to see your film? Post it to YouTube. If it’s great, people will watch.

Write and record a great song? Post to Soundcloud or the dozens of other places where musicians are posting their music today. If it’s great, people will find it and listen.

Want to publish a book but can’t find an agent or publisher? Publish online. Or partner with a self-publishing company to print and bind your book, complete with cover art. If it’s great, it will sell.

Want to host a talk show but can’t find a radio station that will let you in the door? Record a podcast. If you’re doing something that people love, they will listen in droves.

The list goes on.

My point is this:

Whether you are 16 or 60, if you want to make something, you have no more excuses. You can make stuff on shoestring budgets these days - sometimes no budgets at all - and if it’s good, it will be seen.

So just make stuff. Instead of being a content consumer, find a way to become a content creator.

I promise you:

It’s eminently more satisfying to make stuff than it is to consume stuff.

Tell me I'm a jerk-face, but in a measurable, empirical way, please.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I take my goal setting and New Year’s resolutions very seriously. Since 2010, I’ve posted my resolutions on my blog, and at the end of every month, I post my progress or lack thereof.

Years ago, I came upon a piece in the Wall Street Journal on New Year’s resolutions that suggests that outsourcing your resolutions may improve your ability to achieve them.

Most of us could use help achieving our goals. Who better to tell us how to improve ourselves than someone who knows us well—perhaps better than we know ourselves—and even may be all too happy to offer up some tough love? And if we promise to check in regularly with this person to discuss our progress, we’ll probably do a much better job of keeping our resolutions.

“We all have blind spots, but the people we are intimate with can see through them,” says David Palmiter, a couples therapist and professor of psychology at Marywood University, in Scranton, Pa. A loved one can encourage us to meet our goals and hold us accountable when we slip, he says.

I had always asked a select group of friends to suggest goals for my upcoming year, but after reading this piece, I thought it might be a good idea to open up my goal selection process to anyone who might want to participate.

I’ve been doing this for the past eight years.

So if you’d like to suggest a goal for me in 2020, I would love to hear your ideas. Please note that this does not guarantee that I will adopt every suggested goal, but I will seriously consider all that are submitted.

Also note that all goals must be empirically measurable, so a goal like “Be less of a jerk-face” cannot be included in my list of resolutions (even if it’s a valid suggestion) because there is no way for me to determine if the goal was met.

But you’re welcome to tell me to stop being a jerk-face at any time if you’d like. No need to wait until the end of the year to make that request.

Submit your suggestions by commenting on this post or emailing me at matthewdicks@gmail.com.

There is nothing wrong with that Peloton ad

Now that the entire world has expressed their utter hatred for the latest Peloton commercial (causing the company’s stock to plunge more than 15%), I’d like to defend the commercial.

A little bit.

In a lot of ways, this Peloton commercial is just like every other Peloton commercial. Place the bike in an enormous, unrealistically minimalist room beside floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking incredible vista and watch a happy, committed person ride. It’s admittedly a ridiculous scenario, but if you were making a commercial for an exercise bike, you’d want to display it in the best possible light. Perhaps there is a middle ground between luxury home with oddly, every changing landscapes and a poorly-lit basement beside the washing machine, but this isn’t the issue that has Americans up in arms.

Critics claim that the advertisement is sexist, promotes harmful relationship dynamics, and implies that women should say thank you to their husbands for asking them to lose weight.

They argue that the advertisement tells the story of a vain, controlling husband that wants his wife to stay thin or even to lose a few pounds despite her already trim physique. Others argued that the ending implies that wives who receive a Peloton as a means to nudge them into losing weight should be thankful and gracious. Some comments on Twitter also jokingly noted that this commercial was nothing more than documenting a 120-pound woman's journey to become a 116-pound woman, or that she was in great shape to begin with.

I think that all of this is nonsense.

Let’s start with the fitness of the wife who is portrayed in the commercial, because this is the most egregious of the claims. Those who argue that the commercial documents a physically fit woman’s journey to shed a couple extra pounds don’t understand the benefits associated with task commitment and daily exercise. They wrongfully assume that someone who appears thin can’t benefit from the multitude of benefits that come with exercising regularly or committing to something important for a long period of time.

Lots of thin people in this world do not exercise. Because of diet, genetics, metabolism, or a combination of all three, they manage to look good despite being relatively inactive. My mother, for example, never weighed over 100 pounds in her life except when she was pregnant with me, but other than walking, she never exercised.

Could exercise have benefited my mother despite being so thin?

Of course

There are many reasons why people exercise, and losing weight (or even maintaining their weight) is only one of them. Exercise reduces your risk of heart disease and some cancers. It improves mental health, It helps to keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. It improves muscles and bone strength. It improves sleep. It improves your sex drive. It helps you to live longer.

The list is endless.

And committing to something important and maintaining that commitment over time is also enormously beneficial to human beings. It improves self confidence. Helps to prioritize more appropriately. Overcomes procrastination. Sets a positive example for children.

The list is also endless.

To even assume that the woman in this commercial is trying to lose weight is ridiculous.

And by the way, would critics have preferred that the wife in this commercial be overweight? How would that have played with the American public? Overweight wife is given a Peloton for Christmas from her husband? Or any overweight spouse is given a Peloton by his or her spouse?

Peloton was damned either way. In the critics’ minds, the spouse in question was either going to be too thin to need a Peloton or too overweight to receive one as a gift without it being insulting.

The assumption that the husband in this commercial is vain, controlling, or sexist is also nonsense. Sure, it’s possible that the wife portrayed in this commercial is living in a secretly abusive relationship, but also, isn’t it possible that he gave her the Peloton because he loved her? Because he knew that she would love it?

Does this woman even look like she’s in an abusive relationship? Is there anything in this commercial absent the gift of Peloton to imply that this is the case?

She looks pretty happy to me.

If a Peloton showed up under my tree on Christmas morning, I would be thrilled. I’d wonder where the hell to put it, but I’d still be thrilled. I’d love the gift of Peloton for Christmas.

Would I assume that Elysha is telling me to lose weight or else?

No, I’d assume that she loves me. She knows me. She knows that I go to the gym every day possible to exercise and thought that a Peloton might make my exercise more convenient and appeal to my highly competitive nature.

I’d love one.

I realize that I am a man, so perhaps the dynamics here are different, but am I really expected to believe that never in the history of the Peloton company has a husband given a Peloton to a wife simply because he thought she might like it? Is there really no woman in America who would not be happy to find a Peloton under her Christmas tree this year?

I don’t buy it. Not one bit.

The criticism of this ad reminds me of my college English classes where professors and students would search for purposeful symbolism where there was none. They’d read a poem or a novel and see the color blue make three appearances over the course of 400 pages and look for meaning where there was none.

Sometimes things are just blue. Sometimes Peloton commercials are simply designed to make you want to purchase a product.

And the criticism over the wife creating an Instagram story of her year of exercise as a means of thanking her husband? So stupid. Somehow a sweet act of gratitude - creatively presented - has been turned into some desperate attempt by a wife to please her angry, controlling husband, despite no evidence of this at all.

I gave Elysha a ukulele two years ago. If this Christmas season, her gift to me was an Instagram story of her two year journey learning to play and performing with her ukulele, I’d consider it one of the best gifts I’ve ever received, not because I need her to express gratitude for bringing music and performance and a new commitment into her life, but because heartfelt gratitude is one of the best gifts a person can receive.

Here’s what I suspect:

If you want to see a wife, beleaguered by a controlling husband who wants her to be more physically fit, then you will see that. And it might say something about you, your relationship to your spouse, your relationship to exercise, your own self concept, or the last book you read or movie you watched. Maybe even the last donut you ate.

If you want to see a husband giving his wife a gift that he thinks she’ll enjoy and ultimately does, then you’ll see that instead. Maybe you’ll even give the gift of Peloton.

Or if you want to see some nonsense outrage over people reading way too much about a commercial designed to suggest that Peloton might make a great Christmas gift if if you have an extra $2,500 to spend, then you can be like me and see that.

Write, damn it. Don't be forgotten.

As part of the talks I’ve been doing about “Twenty-one Truths About Love,” I’ve been encouraging folks to write.

Write something. If all you write is a short account of every day - just a few sentences - that would still be more than enough. In fact, it would be a treasure to your future self and your future generations.

I’m also a proponent (and the creator) of Homework for Life, a now-trademarked system of capturing each and every day of your life through the lens of a storyteller. For the past six years, I have asked myself, “What’s the most storyworthy moment of this day? What makes this day different than any other day, even if that thing isn’t the kind of ting I’d ever tell a story about?”

Then I write it down - just a few sentences in a growing database of moments that now comprise almost 3,000 snapshots from my life. Memories from more than 2,700 days and many more memories from the past that I have recovered and recorded.

I also wrote to my children every single day for the first eight years of their lives. That writing exists online on a blog called “Greetings Little One” but also in book form now, and the kids are reading those books constantly. Reading about the parts of their lives that they cannot remember.

I also write a blog - this blog - and I’ve posted something like this every single day for the past 14 years.

Add to this a stack of journals from various times in my life, all the stories that I’ve told onstage and recorded, an unpublished memoir of a summer spent golfing with friends, and an unfinished memoir about the most tumultuous years of my life, and and have a considerable record of my life.

You should, too.

Not to the depth and breadth that my existential crisis demands of me, but do something. Write or record something. Document your existence now before the time becomes fleeting and forgotten, as will you.

Most of the people who have ever lived on this Earth have been forgotten. Any memory of them has been obliterated by time and space, but also by their unwillingness to create a record of their existence.

Don’t let this be you. You deserve to be remembered long after you have shuffled off this mortal coil. And your future generations will treasure all that you’ve left behind.

Don’t take my word for it. Watch this lovely, four minute video about a grandfather who took the time to document his life and the generations beyond him who now treasure his words.

The perfect gift for your child's teacher

I am often asked about the appropriate gift to give your child's teacher around the holidays or at the end of the school year. After two decades as an elementary school teacher, here are some thoughts:

First, giving your teacher nothing is perfectly fine. Teachers do not expect to receive a gift and are often surprised by the generosity of parents, especially considering the expenses associated with raising children.

Not giving a gift does not make you a bad parent in anyway whatsoever.

Contrary to the belief of at least a few parents who I know, the gift that a teacher receives (or does not receive) has no bearing on his or her opinion of the parent, the child, or the family in general. We do not keep score in terms of gift giving. No teacher will ever remember which child arrived at school with a gift and which did not.

Trust me. Not giving a gift is perfectly acceptable with every teacher in every situation, and it's the most appropriate course of action.

In fact, many schools have a policy that does not permit teachers to accept gifts from parents, so offering a gift can place a teacher in an awkward and difficult position. Refusing the gift, regardless of the policy, is impolite, but accepting the gift violates school policy.

As a result, no gift is sometimes just easier for a teacher.

But if you're going to give your child’s teacher a gift (full disclosure: my wife and I give gifts to our child's teachers), here are a few suggestions:

The best gift I ever received from parents was given to me when my daughter was born. Each student in my class purchased his or her favorite childhood book and signed the inside cover with a message to Clara. These books were then assembled into a library and presented to me after Clara’s birth. The books in that library are still some of Clara’s favorites today, and we always take a moment to read the messages that my former students wrote to her. A couple of the kids actually pasted photographs of themselves into the book along with the message, and Clara now knows these kids by name.

It was a remarkable thoughtful and lasting gift that I continue to appreciate to this day.

Three things to take away from this:

Books make excellent gifts. Be sure to personalize them with a message for the teacher if you decide to give a book.

Gifts for a teacher’s children make excellent gifts.

When the class is able to come together and pool their resources, the gift that the teacher receives is often something special.

Along these same lines, I know a teacher who received a gift certificate to the local golf course from his class at the end of the school year. Not only was this thoughtful in terms of matching the gift to the teacher’s interest, but he was able to brag to his golf buddies (myself included) that every round of golf throughout the summer was sponsored by his students.

Making an effort to match the gift to the teacher’s interests and passion is always appreciated.

Playing golf for free is great.

Providing a teacher with the opportunity to taunt his friends all summer long is the best.

But when it comes to gifts, I firmly believe that the best gift that you can give a teacher is simply a note expressing your appreciation for all that he or she has done for your child.

Teaching can be a lonely profession. We work in isolation for much of the day, and our primary clients - the students - are not always forthcoming or insightful enough to adequately express their appreciation for their teachers. While we are routinely observed and critiqued by administers, these critiques do nothing to elucidate the impact that a teacher can have on a student or a family.

I have letters from mothers and fathers that I cherish as much as any other object in my life. I read these letters after difficult days in the classroom, and they lift my spirits beyond measure. They serve as reminders that what I do is making a difference in the world when a tough day or an impossible situation causes me to think otherwise.

Regardless of the gift that you plan on giving your child’s teacher this year, take some time to sit down and write a letter to your child’s teachers, telling them how much they have come to mean to you and your child. Remind the teacher that their impact extends far beyond the classroom and that they are making a difference in the life of your child.

And if you truly believe that your child’s teacher is exemplary, send that letter to the principal and even the superintendent of schools as well. During my first year of teaching, a mother sent a note to me during the holidays expressing her appreciation for all I was doing for her daughter, and a copy of a letter was also sent to the principal and superintendent expressing her support for me.

As a first year teacher, this meant the world to me. It was better than anything else I could have been given that year. It is still one of the best gifts that anyone has ever given me.

When deciding upon a gift for a teacher, consider the gift of words. Give the gift of appreciation and admiration and love. It really is the best gift that you could give.

Yes, my wife and I will be giving gifts to Clara and Charlie's teachers this year, but we will also spend an evening writing a letter thanking them for all that they do on a daily basis to help make our little girl the person she is today.

I suspect that they will appreciate and cherish these letters more than any book or gift certificate that Elysha and I may give.

Speak Up Storytelling: Live from Kripalu with Kathy Binder (Part 1)

On episode #76 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, special guest Kathy Binder and I talk storytelling!

This week's episode features the first half of a storytelling show at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts as part of a weekend of storytelling instruction.

Following the stories, Kathy and I discuss each one.

We hope you enjoy!  

LINKS

Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling: https://amzn.to/2H3YNn3

Purchase Twenty-one Truths About Love: https://amzn.to/2qEByex

Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne

Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com

Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks

Matthew Dicks's blog: http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicksblog

Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter: http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe

Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter: http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up

Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's blog: http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-grin-and-bare-it

Lyric problems: "Don't Stop Me Now"

Queen is a top 5 band of all time. Freddy Mercury is the greatest male vocalist of all time.

I love this band.

Still, the lyrics of some of their songs are just ridiculous. “Bohemian Rhapsody” being the most obvious. Yes, I love the song, and yes, I think it’s one of the greatest rock songs of all time, but there are moments when it simply makes no sense.

“Don’t Stop Me Now,” which might be my favorite Queen song, doesn’t suffer from nonsensical lyrics, but it has its own set of lyrical problems.

Take this stanza, for example.

I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car, passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go, go, go
There's no stopping me

I know it’s nitpicking, but which one are you, Freddy? A shooting star or a tiger? I think it’s both, since the shooting star is “leaping,” but talk about mixing metaphors. Then a second later those metaphors are upended by a new one. Now Freddy is a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva.

Three lines. Three different metaphors.

Oh, and in case you have never understood the Lady Godiva reference, Freddy is referring here to Godiva, Countess of Mercia, an English noblewoman who, according to a legend dating at least to the 13th century, rode naked – covered only in her long, red hair – through the streets of Coventry in order to convince her husband to lift the oppressive taxation that he had imposed on his tenants.

So guess the racing car is naked? Or a tax protester? Or red headed?

But this isn’t the stanza that annoys me the most. The most egregious is this one:

I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm traveling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

My problem here?

The temperature.

200 degrees? You’re traveling at the speed of light, Freddy, but you’re burning through the sky at a temperature that wouldn’t bake a brownie? Coffee is routinely served at 180-205 degrees, so Freddy is apparently burning through the sky at 299,792,458 meters per second but has only managed to reach the temperature of a cup of coffee?

Mr. Fahrenheit? I don’t think so.

I know. I’m nitpicking. I’m nitpicking a song that I adore. I listen to it all the time, and even though these lyrics make me a little crazy, they make me happy to sing them.

But the writer in me loves good lyrics. Sensible lyrics. Lyrics that tell a story or express an idea or feeling clearly in a combination of words that I have never heard before. I love it when a musician can perfectly marry words and music to create something that is sonically appealing while also being thoughtful, insightful, and sensible.

Queen fails this test with “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

Nevertheless, I love the hell out of the song because sometimes a song is so good that it can overcome its flawed lyrics.