My Gen X Playlist: Einstein on the Beach – The Counting Crows

My brother loved Calvin and Hobbs growing up. He was such a big fan, he started creating his own Calvin and Hobbs Christmas cards. He’s been sending them out to family and friends for over 25 years, each with a new message for the holidays. His comic strip illustrations have become pretty good and we look forward to them every year.

My brother and his family were visiting and my sister in law shared a fun fact. Bill Watterson created Calvin and Hobbs based upon two different philosophers: John Calvin (French philosopher) and Thomas Hobbs (English philosopher). While Calvin grapples with ideas of fate and the arbitrary nature of life, Hobbs serves as the voice of reason and common sense. Hobbs embraces rules and order that balances Calvin’s chaotic nature. Watterson’s inspiration was surprising and incredibly interesting. I went back to read a few comic strips with a new lens and now see them in a different light. Who knew Calvin and Hobbs were so deep.

If I had to choose, I’d place myself in the Hobbs camp. I’ve been nicknamed the voice of reason on more than one occasion. I’m not sure that inspires me to run out and print that tag line on a T-shirt, nor do I feel the urge to wear it as a badge of honor, either. It just is.

There’s always a hint of me that wants to be something that I’m not. Do I wish I had a little more Calvin in me? Sure, who wouldn’t. While I remember being more carefree in my twenties, Hobbs still tipped the scale between the two, even back then.

There is a thought that recently crossed my mind. It’s OK to be me, even if the me in this season of life doesn’t resemble the me of my past. I realize I just mentioned welcoming a change, but I also find comfort knowing there will always be a Hobbs’ undercurrent running through me. Although I wish I could ignore the rules and colorfully paint outside my lines, I’m also accepting that I’m a guy that will forever color the sky blue and my painted portraits will never be mistaken for Picasso. That’s just not my style. And to quote another deep comic strip philosopher,

I yam who I yam and that’s all that I yam.

I guess it’s true what they say. You really can’t change a tiger’s stripes.

I thought about songs and philosophers. Was Galileo a scientist or philosopher? What about Einstein? Turns out, both were both. So that narrowed my choices down to the Indigo Girls and the Counting Crows. Looks like it’s Einstein on the Beach for the win.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Albert's always sincere, he's the sensitive type
His intentions are clear, he wanna be well-liked
But if everything is nothing, then are we anything?
Is it better to be better than to be anything?

And Albert's vision's blooming uncontrolled
All his wings are slowly sinking

The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
All the king's men reappear
For an eggman, falling off a wall
He'll never be together again

Einstein's down on the beach, staring into the sand
As everything he believes in is shattered
What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway
We all get burned as

One more sun comes sliding down the sky
One more shadow leans against the wall, and

The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
All the king's men reappear
For an eggman, falling off a wall
He'll never be together again

Albert's waiting in the sun
On a field American
For the cause of some inflated form of hit-and-run

One more sun comes sliding down the sky
One more shadow leans against the wall, and

The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
All the king's men reappear
For an eggman, falling off a wall
He'll never be together again

Albert's fallen on the sun
Cracked his head wide open

The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
All the king's men reappear
For an eggman, falling off a wall
He'll never be together again

The world begins to disappear
The worst things come from inside here
All the king's men reappear
For an eggman, falling off a wall
He'll never be together again

No, never be together again
No no, never never never again, uh huh
What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway