Posted by Whistler                                                                                          300 words

I was listening to this song on my way home and it brought to mind the people I had seen standing on the roadside waiting for a bus in the new subdivisions around Melbourne – bleak bus stops built on the edge of a barren construction wasteland in front of dozens of near- identical houses.

The opening stanza of the song sets the scene.

“On the outskirts of town where brutish new houses rush up to meet you

On treeless streets, a freeway wind blowing, no soul to greet you

Oh hell, it is here, if you open the door

But you won’t feel a thing if you shut the blinds and flick on the screen”

What sort of lives have we created for people living in these new suburbs? Why is it that peace comes with shutting out the world and turning on the TV? Continue reading →