Category: Music

One Secret to Happiness: Gratitude

Gratitude In the 1600s, French author François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld wrote, “The gratitude of most men is merely a secret desire to receive greater benefits.” (Reflections, or, Sentences and Moral Maxims 298 (1678)). While the maxim implies some type of dishonesty, La Rochefoucauld might have been surprised to learn that one’s gratitude reaps some more unexpected benefits.

In the video “The Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude,” SoulPancake presents the result of a study finding that one way to increase happiness is to show gratitude. The video explains how expressing gratitude benefits us, and then it shows a real life experiment that is both interesting and touching. Check it out. You can thank me later.

YouTube also has a behind-the-scenes look at this video as well as a sequel “The Science of Happiness – A Study of Cute Aggression.” In the meantime, like Alanis Morrisette at this 1999 performance in Rome, NY, remember to show your gratitude and say “Thank U.” It is good for you.

Alanis Morrisette reportedly wrote “Thank U” out of a personal experience after visiting India. She began looking inside herself in a different way, finding compassion for her self and gratitude toward others. Although the song touches on ideas of “terror” and “frailty,” it is ultimately a hopeful song about learning and thankfulness. And as found in the new study, a nice reminder to show gratitude as a small step toward increasing happiness.

Thanks to Carolyn for pointing me to the SoulPancake video.

Photo via public domain.

Do you think expressing gratitude makes you happier? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    The Big Chill Released in 1983

    In 1983, Columbia Pictures released “The Big Chill,” a film featuring an ensemble of great young actors (including a rising star cut out of the movie) as characters looking back on the 1960s with nostalgia, loss, and wonderful music.

    Big Chill Soundtrack

    On September 28, 1983, Columbia Pictures released The Big Chill. The film, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, featured baby boomer college friends reuniting around fifteen years after school for the funeral of a friend who committed suicide. The film perfectly encompassed the baby-boomer anxiety about selling out in life and a loss of innocence.

    And of course, there was the humor.  And the movie featured the great soundtrack with such performers as Marvin Gaye, Creedance Clearwater Revival, and Aretha Franklin.

    The move taught me an important lesson that had little to do with the lost idealism or the friendship of the characters. I learned how great it can be not to know anything about a movie before you see it.

    When I was in college, I went to a shopping mall with friends and we decided to see a movie. As we debated what to see, none of us had yet seen any advertisements for The Big Chill. I only knew that my sister had seen it and liked it, but I had no idea about the story or the actors.

    Well, we decided to see The Big Chill based on my sister’s vague recommendation. By the time the movie got to the scene with the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” I was hooked.

    For the time period, with MTV only about two years old, the movie seemed like something new and refreshing, using rock music to explore the 1980s nostalgia for the 1960s. I do not know if I would have loved the movie so much had I known what to expect. So I learned the best way to see a movie is without expectations. Now, before I see a movie I try to learn only as much as I need in order to decide whether or not I want to see it.

    Thus, in case you have not seen the The Big Chill, I will not say much more about the plot. Many have fond memories of the movie, which had a great ensemble cast of Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams.

    Much later, we would read that the dead friend Alex, who we never see in the film, was originally played by a young Kevin Costner.  In this reunion video, you may hear more about a deleted flashback scene featuring Costner.

    Critics are somewhat divided on the film.  I understand how looking back at the movie through today’s lens, one may see too many clichés.

    But for the time, seeing the movie through my own innocence, it helped connect me a tiny bit to thinking about how I might one day look back on my own life. And today, I find myself older than the characters in the film looking back nostalgically at where I was when I first saw The Big Chill during my own college years.

    What is your favorite scene in The Big Chill? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Volkswagen Salutes A-ha’s Famous “Take on Me” Video

    aha

    If you were around in 1985, you could not miss the Norwegian band A-ha and their video for “Take on Me.” The cutting edge animation by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinge in the video directed by Steve Barron is still amazing even after decades of technological advances. The video won six MTV Awards.

    More recently, Volkswagen incorporated the song and the animation style in a new commercial “Feeling Carefree.” The animated story features a Volkswagen Passat winning a race and then it goes into its own twist ending of sorts. David Shane directed the new ad. Check it out.



    What is your favorite animated ad? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “Jungleland” Makes Louis C.K. Sad

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    Previously, we discussed how Bruce Springsteen similarly wanted his children to understand a certain sadness in life as revealed in his song “Racing in the Street.” Louis C.K., however, used another Springsteen example for his existential crisis, “Jungleland,” even singing a few bars.

    So if you are the mood for that kind of sadness, put away your cell phone and sit back and listen to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band live.

    What is your favorite song that makes you feel alone? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Is Chipotle’s “The Scarecrow” Pure Imagination?

    chipotle animated commercial

    Like its earlier animated ad featuring Willie Nelson singing a Coldplay song, the restaurant chain Chipotle‘s new ad uses animation and music to attack the evils of factory farming. Of course, they do so in the context of highlighting their own commitment to fresh food.

    The new ad, “The Scarecrow,” features a factory-employed scarecrow discovering a new way of living, set to Fiona Apple singing “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). The short film was co-directed by Brandon Oldenburg and Limbert Fabian and created by Moonbot Studios. Check it out.

    The ad, which also has a tie-in phone app game, is getting a lot of attention. Salon argues that the ad featuring the vegan Fiona Apple is not just anti-farming but anti-meat. Others like AdWeek are praising the Chipotle ad, saying it is “magic.”

    Funny or Die takes another approach with its parody of “The Scarecrow.” The new words to the song argue that the original ad is not pure imagination but “pure manipulation.”


    What do you think of “The Scarecrow” and the parody? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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