Ignorance Is Bliss

I live under a rock in a remote cave on the dark side of the moon. I am out of it. I have no idea what’s going on.

Apparently there’s some song called … “Gangnam Style”? By some outfit named … Psy? Or PSY? In some genre known as … K-pop? And there’s a video of this song on something called … You Tube? Am I getting that right?

This kind of thing buzzes at the peripheral edge of my consciousness but I have somehow managed to avoid it. The song is viral and is No. 2 on the Hot 100 and it’s racked up millions of You Tube views. (I always take You Tube as a measure of popularity with a grain of salt, at least in music. Of course popular songs will garner all these views because they’re free. Ask people to pay and see how “viral” the song is.) There are even parodies of the song. The Internet is always imploring me to “Watch kindergarten class parody ‘Gangnam Style’ video!” I’ll get right on that, Internet.

I am sure this video is great and have nothing against it but sometimes I take a perverse pleasure in staying completely in the dark about things. It can be restful sometimes to go through life with headphones on, ignoring the jackhammers tearing up the street around you.

How did this happen? How did I become so ignorant? This “Gangnam Style” has apparently been online for some time but I only became aware after it metastasized. I don’t get it. I’m online all the time. I read gossip columns and entertainment sites and even if I’ve never seen or heard the phenomenon in question, I at least am aware of it most of the time. So how do these things sneak up on me? It’s another thing that in the future, when people make references to it, I will stare like a deer in the headlights.

This actually doesn’t concern me overmuch.