"Goooooooood morning Vietnam! It's 0600 hours. What does the "O" stand for? O my God, it's early! Speaking of early, let's hear it for that Marty Lee Drywitz. Silky smooth sounds, making me sound like Peggy Lee..."
Adrian Cronauer
- Good Morning, Vietnam 1987
Those three words.. yep, Good Morning Vietnam! Why are they still in my head some 20 plus years later? Did I even know what the message was from such an energetic disc jockey back then? Was he sent to entertain those armed troops, bring the reality to a halt, and make the obvious; less obvious?
When we think of entertainment, we think of an act. Someone who gets up in front of you and sings a little song, tells a funny joke, juggles a few bowling pins, dances with confidence; or even falls over repeatedly and finds humor in people's insecurities. When we come to be entertained; we succumb to be enlightened.
Yet, the alarm is going off again. I feel like its Groundhog's day, yet I know its not and still the routine kicks me into gear. At least in Groundhog Day, he woke up to a staple voice; reminding him of the weather, the news and the headlines. In Jerry Maguire; Dicky Fox offered up some words of encouragement; secrets of success in business. Yet, what distraction woke up these troops in Good Morning, Vietnam? Was it this off the wall personality that made the reality less realistic?
I find value in those people that can light up a room. Whether it is their charismatic montage, or their vivacious appeal; their stage presence became the reason we all took a second look; the reason we offered to listen even more closely.
A radio disc jockey may hide behind the camera, and an actor up on a stage belting out the most intense monologue may hide behind their ability to interact with people in day to day conversations . Is it just because they don't know any less different? Or maybe they use their stage as their mask? But, think about this; what is in a voice? What draws us to hear someone speak?
Are we conversationalists? Do we seek to have someone listen, or better yet, have someone react?
I tend to feel alive when I speak in front of a crowd; I want to feel entertained with imagination when I have no visual; yet, I seek to know what is behind a person's voice and realistically, their story? Stories, even histories have some importance to someone at specific moments of time. Why we re-tell stories, and why we re-negotiate humor is really up to the intended listener. It's up to the performer to compel a reaction.
We live in a free country. We get to choose from different radio stations, television shows and even movies each time we want to distract ourselves from the obvious reality. We are more intrigued with what keeps us humble, than what someone else forces us to see, hear, or listen to. The dynamic of a DJ is like the dynamic of the ocean. The water has to pull you in when you want to experience the depth. Yet, the tide might be high when its time to admire sitting waist-side from the beach.
We spend our days with interaction; yet we spend our mornings with others people's dialogs.
The choice we make to apply an auditory distraction to our day; makes the world empowering. We as people like to hear other people's insights. We as people, like to feel compassion for words and their messages, especially if it touches a soul close to home.
News is a daily reminder of the nosy people in our world. Someone always wants to know something about someone else. We tend to tune out the less important jargon for the most relevant information. When a story is told through the radio waves; we must imagine the environment; set ourselves in the surroundings. When a story is expressed via visuals and background noise; we are left with less imagination, or surrounding perception; so the commitment to listening is less evasive.
So the question is: Are you a radio seeking information junkie or a visual news, dog and pony show participant?
We eloquently use high pitch tones, and extended pauses to create such an effect on the way a message is delivered. When we actualize which way we want to process the message; we are basically re-talking the purpose into our heads. When the words... "Good Morning, Vietnam" were used on a consistent basis...the recalling moment in time due to repetition; provides us a visual of the fast talking, quick wit of an person just trying to cheer up a group of troops?
When you got up this morning, who greeted you? Was it your dog, your spouse, your significant other... maybe a child, maybe it was the sound of someone digressing through the radio waves. If you had a choice to record your "wake-up" call.... what would it say?
Hmmm... what would it say? Let me think about what I'd say to myself each day. Your thoughts?
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Comments
I might want to snag your wake up call!!!! Thanks for the rating.
"N. Jordan.. you there; hey, the world is your oasis.. get busy living; because its not worth missing the taste of adventure".....