OMNI - the sunscreen song
Mar 30, 1999, 8:59 am
#1
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OMNI - the sunscreen song
I apologize in advance, but I simply can't resist posting this one.
A graduation speech rumored to have been delivered by Kurt Vonnegut -
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall
in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements. Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone. Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and then people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
[This message has been edited by demeter (edited 03-30-99).]
A graduation speech rumored to have been delivered by Kurt Vonnegut -
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall
in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements. Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone. Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and then people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
[This message has been edited by demeter (edited 03-30-99).]
Mar 30, 1999, 11:25 am
#2
Commander Catcop
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 10,259
This song has a few travel related references (The guy who sounds likes my high school principal says "Travel" and "Don't let the geography separate you... yada yada yada."
And sunscreen is an important thing for us going to the Party in paradise to have.
OMNI: the song's number 1 or 2 in NYC. And at least it's a better address than the deadly dull ones I got at my high school graduation.
My advice would have been: travel, early and often, even if it's in your daydreams!
And sunscreen is an important thing for us going to the Party in paradise to have.
OMNI: the song's number 1 or 2 in NYC. And at least it's a better address than the deadly dull ones I got at my high school graduation.
My advice would have been: travel, early and often, even if it's in your daydreams!
Mar 30, 1999, 6:35 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 1999
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I hear the somg every morning on WPLJ New York. I liked it at first, but it is somewhat overplayed.. A good song though. The song was actually written as a mock graduation speech by a newspaper columnist.
Mar 30, 1999, 9:59 pm
#5
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Chicago Tribune Columnist Mary Schmich wrote a column in 1997 imagining what she would say if she was giving a high school graduation speech. The speech wound up on the internet, attributed to author Kurt Vonnegut. Now the writing has become a song by Australian film director Baz Luhrman. It's played heavily on alternative rock stations. Schmich thinks that the popularity of her "graduation speech" indicates the Millennium Generation is hungry for advice.
If you have a Real Audio player, you can hear the NPR interview with Chicago Tribune Columnist Mary Schmich by cutting & pasting the link below in your broswer:
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/19990322.atc.20.ram
[This message has been edited by Max M (edited 03-30-99).]
If you have a Real Audio player, you can hear the NPR interview with Chicago Tribune Columnist Mary Schmich by cutting & pasting the link below in your broswer:
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/19990322.atc.20.ram
[This message has been edited by Max M (edited 03-30-99).]
Mar 31, 1999, 2:02 am
#6
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Apr 4, 1999, 1:57 pm
#9
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Posts: 811
BTW, I first heard the sunscreen song in-flight ("Everyone's Free to Wear Sunscreen") in January on Air Canada Radio Channel 7. Channel 7 on Air Canada plays alternative music and the selections are excellent (at least by my taste- current artists include PJ Harvey, Iggy Pop, Garbage and The Orb)