24
Popular Culture Review
So take this to heart and let it sink in: you are going to die, it’s
true; and so is the universe and thus so is all possibility of meaning. But
you know what? It’s okay. Not only is there nothing we can do about it,
but it is truly the case that there is something wondrous in the entire
story, some deep hidden truth in the lesson of how change changes until
it simply doesn’t change anymore. And besides, what else did you
expect? What else do you really think you deserve? Meaning must be
had while it is capable of being had, and this is why ethics must always
proceed ontology, why even the death of the universe itself cannot erase
what it means to be and to have been. While there is time, there must be
change. While there are stars, they must bum. While there is life, it must
be lived. While there is good, it must be done.
The nugget of this tmth—like all tmths, we finally realize—was
there all along in 1988. It was there even in the number one song from
that year: the song that made the most money in CD format as well as
vinyl, the song that was played on the radio more than any other song
and stayed on top of the charts back in 1988 with a title Kasey Kasem
was glad to say out loud. The song that teaches us the depth of tmth that
is sometimes hidden in pop culture. Everything is going to end, my
fiiend. But smile. Love each other. Have a cookie. Do good. And don’t
worry. Be happy.
DePaul University
H. Peter Steeves
Notes
' This essay, in a different version, was originally