Every Tear does NOT taste the same

[Guest Speed Racer]

A friend of a friend wrote this bit on "You Are Not Alone" and the value of a good communicator.

 

I was listening to a Mavis Staples song the other day, (accompanied by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on the album, "You are not alone," which he produced), when I heard that lyric. I thought to myself, "Damn, that is a beautiful line." In so few words it says so much about shared human experience and emotion, and in this case, pain and sadness. It's poetry, and it got me stuck in time for just a second.

 

Do all tears taste the same?

But then I thought, "Wait, do all tears really taste the same?" I'd be lying if I hadn't tasted my own, and maybe a couple others'...but I haven't done the necessary research. So I read through some studies performed by trained researchers.

 

It turns out, most tears consist of electrolytes, proteins, albumin, lipids, mucins, and other small molecules, all in varying degrees, but particularly affected should the crier be beset by disease. So, Jeff Tweedy, all tears do not taste the same, especially to the refined palate.

 

This is sometimes what happens when you look too deeply into something; you can forget where you started from, and what it meant. But don't confuse this with the cliché, ignorance is bliss; it's not quite that. The beauty I knew and the emotion I felt for a moment from hearing that phrase wasn't ignorance. Quite the contrary.

 

The value of a good communicator

It turns out Jeff Tweedy is a good communicator. Mavis and Jeff probably wouldn't have gotten very far with "You are not alone," singing about albumin and mucins in varying degrees.

 

Often, this is what being a communicator means--finding meaning in something which is frankly uninteresting to very many people, and making it understandable, interesting, and even inspiring. If you've done any science writing, you may know this.

 

Deane Morrison just had a piece the other day, a perfect example of taking the mundane to many and making music from it. Read "From sunlight to synfuels," to see what I mean. Think of the difference if the researchers had simply published 100 pages of their findings. Maybe being a good communicator is about staring into the abyss and coming right back out again, only to say, "it's not that deep; I found a way out."

 

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not saying that there isn't beauty in an atom, a quark, or even dark matter. They're beautiful to someone--namely, most likely, the brilliant scientists and researchers many of us work with. The parts, the whole: the atom, the universe. The tear, the pain, the sadness, the disease, and the mucin. We need everybody at every level to understand this world and make it better, but that understanding always comes from communication, and the best of it from those capable of staring into the abyss unscathed.

[Guest Jules]

What happened?

[LouieB]

Some folks have too much time on their hands. Don't be licking MY tears thank you very much.

 

LouieB

[Guest Speed Racer]

What happened?

 

Jeff wrote a blah song, some old lady recorded it, and some other old lady is writing about how Jeff and that old lady were alright even though some of the lyrics are factually incorrect.

[Guest Jules]

Actually that song is awesome and that "old lady's" post was stupid and all over the place.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Actually that song is awesome

 

You are not alone; LouieB's with you.

[Doug C]

This is proving to be a very entertaining thread and I am certain that I am not alone in requesting that the mod/admins use their discretion and allow it to die a natural death. Thank you.

[Guest Jules]

Actually, there's nothing wrong with this thread, so don't try to fuck it up.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I'm with you! Keep it open; this is a raid!

[Doug C]

I agree with you that there is nothing wrong with this thread and I also have no desire to fuck it up. I don't understand your post.

Maybe you ain't worth the salt in my tears. Ha ha.

[Guest Jules]

Actually, I don't understand my post either. Disregard!

 

Back on topic, now.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Jeez...sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

The article is much more twee and precious than the song it seeks to vaguely skewer.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Jeez...sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

The article is much more twee and precious than the song it seeks to vaguely skewer.

 

Is any song worth singing if it doesn't help? If you feel like singing a song, don't let anyone say that it's wrong, but the best songs will never get sung; you can't hear them on the radio - they won't play them on the radio.

[u2roolz]

So does this mean that we won't ever be graced with Tear Flavored Gatorade?

[choo-choo-charlie]

I enjoy this song and have found it to be comforting in the last few months of my life. My tears taste salty.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Mine are crisp, like sunny late-winter days.

[Guest Jules]

Is any song worth singing if it doesn't help? If you feel like singing a song, don't let anyone say that it's wrong, but the best songs will never get sung; you can't hear them on the radio - they won't play them on the radio.

You're a piece of work.

[Doug C]

Jeez...sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

The article is much more twee and precious than the song it seeks to vaguely skewer.

I knew that there was something about the article that appealed to me but I couldn't put my finger on it. Thanks for helping me understand why. It was clearly subconsciously arousing my major Belle and Sebastian love.

[Guest Speed Racer]

You're a piece of work.

 

I will turn on you.

[Guest Jules]

I would like to point out that a cigar is never just a cigar.

[u2roolz]

I would like to point out that a cigar is never just a cigar.

[choo-choo-charlie]

Mine are crisp, like sunny late-winter days.

 

Perhaps my favorite line from that song.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I'm with you; it brings the song to life.

[tinnitus photography]

So does this mean that we won't ever be graced with Tear Flavored Gatorade?

 

The NY Giants drank the world supply after the Eagles game.

[Moss]

I was always grossed out by the Alice in Wonderland scene where she is standing in a big pool of tears. Yick.