Passing fame, happy memory
There are certain memories that
will not leave my mind.
At times, when I’m feeling
down, I will think back to “Expres
sions.” Let me explain.
Every May, my high school choir
used to put on a variety/rock show
for the students and parents. Under
the added supervision of the choir
director, 65 students “pulled” and
learned music, choreographed
dances and decided what costumes
to wear for the performances.
During my junior year, I was lucky
enough to be chosen to sing “Hey
Jude,rsolo.
Stroll with me down memory
lane as I reminisce about that night.
I noticed the smell of paint,
mixed with the smell of 600
students and parents crammed
together. The air was musky and
seemed to steam'like a sauna. I
could feel the beads of sweat
starting to form on my forehead. I
walked over to the microphone and
gently released it from the stand.
The spotlight suddenly shined
on my face, blinding me for a
second. The light was so intense
that I could see the dust particles
floating in the air. The particles
looked like little, free souls as they
came toward me.
I took a breath and sang the first
words. “Hey Jude” rolled out of my
throat and sounded cracked. I
continued singing, “Don’t make it
bad. Take a sad song and make it
better...”
I said a mental prayer, thanking
God I was singing in tune. I could
hear James, the piano player,
beginning to play the familiar
chords to complement my singing.
As I started singing the words, “So
any time you feel the pain, hey Jude
refrain ... I heard the drums and
cymbals keeping the beat with
James and me. Occasionally, my
backup singer would echo my
words or sing harmony with me.
..My heart started beating faster.
We all want to feel like stars. We all
deserve to feel like stars, at least for
a few moments. When the spotlight
shines, we may pretend we desire
to remain in the shadow, but we
all yearn to warm our faces in the
light.
and I could feel my body loosening
up. I was losing my inhibitions, and
I felt free to jazz up my perfor
mance.
I started prancing around stage
— like the singers do in MTV
music videos. The crowd started
clapping and screaming their
approval, so I started hamming it
up even more.
I could hear a few people scream
out my name, which caused my ego
to explode. My heart wasn’t
pounding anymore because I was
scared, but because I was excited.
My eyes were adjusting to the
light, and I could make out who the
dark figures were in the front rows.
I spotted my ex-boyfriend in the
second row, watching my every
move. This made me smile inside, I
reveled in the attention.
At this moment, I understood
why rock stars were so arrogant and
flighty. All that attention can be
addictive.
v __i !_it__i it_
I Wcta dupiudwuiug uiw tuu ui iiiw
song, “Nan, nah, nan, nah, nah,
nah ...” and I knew this feeling
would soon end. I was trying to
remember how many times I
planned on singing this phrase —
four? I eventually lost count and
decided that I would stop singing.
The piano and drums played on for
another measure.
The speakers in the auditorium
rang with silence for a second.
Then, the crowd started clapping
and screaming for me, sounding
like a massive thunderstorm
passing over the building. That was
an incredible and beautiful feeling.
I noticed my brows were wet
with sweat, and the back of my silk
shirt was cold. My mouth was
suddenly dry, and 1 could feel a
lump forming in my throat. I
smiled at the crowd and took my
bow.
I don’t have a lot of memories
like that night. Usually I’m not on
center stage. But I know I’ll never
forget the feeling 1 had when I
heard people applaud just for me. I
felt like a star.
We all want to feel like stars. We
all deserve to feel like stars, at least
for a few moments. When the
spotlight shines, we may pretend
we desire to remain in the shadow,
but we all yearn to warm our faces
in the light.
Lome on — l Know mat laie ai
night, when you think no one can
see through your bedroom walls,
you dance around in your under
wear singing at the top of your
lungs. You watch yourself in the
mirror, fluff your hair and think
you look pretty good. “This is just
practice for the real thing,” you tell
yourself.
It was Andy Warhol’s theory that
everyone has his or 15 fifteen
minutes of fame. We must all be
waiting for our turn.
Stock la a Junior secondary education
major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
Youth not liberal, but so what
We’re told that since the 1980s,
there has been a trend toward more
conservative values.
Is it a surprise that many of
today’s youth seem to be more
conservative than the young people
of yesterday? Is this trend a threat
to our more tolerant society?
Cultural divisions are more
prominent than ever, and the
radical right remains strong. More
and more younger people are
attending church, and the Demo
cratic Party is no longer their party
choice.
is it surprising tnat many ju
and 40-something people are
finding themselves to be more
liberal than the youth of today? As
teen-agers in the ’60s and ’70s, we
talked about a “generation gap"
between us and our parents. We
knew that we could stand up and
speak out against anything and
everything. And that’s exactly what
we did. Our parents didn’t have
that kind of freedom as teen-agers.
We used to say, “Don’t trust
anyone older than 30! Ban the
establishment!” We, too, were at
odds with adults when we were
young. Today, we may feel more
liberal than the younger generation
appears sometimes, but so what?
There seems to be a fear that a
youthful trend toward conservatism
is all bad. The young in any society
have a right and a responsibility to
make that society better. Like the
young people of today, my parents
had a right to find out what they
wanted. I’m glad they did what they
did.
During the fight to end segrega
tion, they were arrested for keeping
me out of segregated schools. My
mother also happened to be running
for the school board at the time.
She accuses me of being too
conservative. I think she has a right
to accuse me of that.
As a federal employee, my father
We used to say; “Don t trust any
one over 30! Ban the establish
ment!'’ We too were at odds with
adults when we were young. To
day, we may feel more liberal than
the you tiger generation appears
sotnetitnes, but so what?
was harassed at his job by FBI
agents who went there to intimidate
him. My father was organizing
demonstrations to end segregation.
I have found myself ungrateful
for the sacrifices they made. I’ve
complained that they didn’t do
enough. I’ve believed that I would
have rather died than accept
segregation. I've questioned
whether my parents gave enough.
I think the 30- and 40-something
crowd is finding out what people
older than 50 already know: Society
changes, but only very slowly, even
after the greatest efforts and
sacrifices arc made.
The young people of today are
not a threat to our way of life — at
least no more so than the young
people of yesterday were a threat.
Things haven't changed as much as
we thought they would. Desegrega
tion didn’t wipe out the white race,
as was feared by the segregationists.
It is true that we sometimes have to
eat, drink and live near people who
are different from us, but we still
can live separately if we want to.
Most people still have friends
from the same social class and
ethnic group as their own. Plenty of
all-white schools arc left. Most of
us don’t live much differently than
our parents did.
If today’s youths want to explore
conservative horizons, let them.
Sometimes it may look like today’s
young arc more right-wing than
before, but that depends on your
perspective To some, today's young
actually may seem more left-wing
than ever!
I'm against putting crowns on
the 30- and 40-soinething crowd for
“paving the way for a more tolerant
society” just because we were there.
We just inherited it. Give credit
where credit is due.
The people really responsible for
paving the way arc in their 60s and
70s. If anyone can claim credit for
this “more tolerant” society, they
can. They arc the ones who made
real sacrifices to get us where we
are today.
Any black person who is at least
60 years old has lived half or more
of his or her life in forced, legal
segregation. They couldn’t eat,
drink or live where they wanted to.
What is even more astounding is
that at the time of the civil rights
movement, they already had lived
two-thirds of their lives that way.
Now that's what 1 call paving the
way.
It may seem that the sides have
been switched. But have they
really? Maybe it doesn’t matter who
is on either side. Maybe all that
matters is whether at least one side
is always working hard to improve
the way things are.
Shanks Is a graduate student and a Dally
Nebraskan columnist.
' • “ /' '
a night in the orient
novem6er 12,94
6:15p.m.
neBrasla union: centennial room dr Ballroom
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