i know that there will be 4,398,009 blogs about michael jackson posted today, and although i’m not one of the massive fans, it’s a pretty massive thing. so forgive me.
however, what i did notice was the emergence of a new form of memorial. what has gone from bronze, to landscape architecture and now to the ipod. every store, cafe, public place with a PA system had michael jackson songs playing. my boss – a massive fan – had his entire collection on (including the random b-sides from dangerous, or something).
and across the city, homage was being paid in this way. a real-time memorial in sound to a man who meant something to people.
when kurt cobain died, radio did specials on him, there was a rage piece and i distinctly remember standing in the local video store listening to helen razer’s spoken work eulogy to him. but those sound pieces were in fits and starts – not a city-wide sensation.
with the spread of the ipod (and other portable music devices), paying tribute through sound has now become a public connection point between people, and a way to address a collective grief.
bronze on pedestal, be gone!