Popular Culture Review 30.2
to time , terrorist aggressors against each other . Other people are no longer constitutive of the self , but are back to being , at best , an audience for me or , at a Cartesian worst , a mere hallucination . No chance of being buried in the community , in those we love , as we had hoped earlier . Instead , we fear being buried in the floodplains�and being promptly forgot . This is the dream of being lost , one final and tragic nightmare before death , no king ’ s daughter to lead any of us out . “ Asa Nisi Masa ” �again . We affirm our martyrdom , though pray it needn ’ t be so .
The ultimate absurdity follows : life after life . The afterparty .
The alarm clock rang in Lennon and McCartney ’ s “ A Day in the Life ,” and we “ woke up ” and “ fell out of bed .” Now , the offering concludes with a postmodern “ SLEEP ” that ends our final day in the life�and ends the album of Offerings . As the guitar chords progress , soothing us while carrying us away , a major chord to a seventh , the acoustic strumming as percussive as it is melodic , the voice sweeter and yet sadder than it has ever been , we prepare to return to the abyss . It is true that life is full of sorrow and grief as well as joy and happiness . It is a mixed bag . It is as surreal as a Fellini film . And forgetting seems to be an act that destroys a world . But as the sleep of death arrives , we finally once and for all accept that we are not alone , even if we fear what comes next and beg to be held , to be held down to earth , to be held alive . If only the love of others could hold us down , keep us in place , and anchor us to this world so that we could never float away . If only we never had to sleep , to die , to be less than whole . So long . Adieu , adieu , but don ’ t so much remember me as agree to meet me�some other time . And then , as the falling asleep continues , as the song progresses , it does not remain the same . And the story does not conclude . Sliding past Lethe ’ s shores , fragments of past songs reappear and are forgot , the sounds of the liv-
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