Middle-Aged Emo

"And if you don't know now you know

I'm taking back the crown
I'm all dressed up and naked
I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)

The crown...
So close I can taste it
I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)"
- Lyrics from "Emperor's New Clothes" by Panic! at the Disco, Brendon Urie Lyricist

I've listened to a lot of emo/rock group Panic! at the Disco lately. The group is thirteen years old but I was just turned on to them when they released "Hallelujah" last year: "All you sinners stand up, sing Hallelujah (Hallelujah)/Show praise with your body/Stand up, sing Hallelujah." Sinners, song, praise, bodies - what's not to like? At Panic's outdoor concert on Fiddler's Green, Rob and I watched them perform the song as the sun set over the Rocky Mountains, over the stage. Wonderful.

But I've tuned back in recently because the anger, outrage and progressive stance of Urie and the band match my current mood. It doesn't hurt that Aden and I went to another of their concerts on St. Patty's Day. The crowd at the Pepsi Center was passionate and younger. Sure, there were a few fogies my age - mostly chaperoning teens and tweens - but the vast majority of the crowd was young and energetic, focused on freedom and dance (and Urie).  

Urie is famous for proclaiming that sexual fluidity and freedom should be the right of all people. In his lyrics to Girls/Girls/Boys, he writes "But girls love girls and boys/And love is not a choice."  The fans created a new ritual for the last leg of his tour in which they cut out colored hearts and stuck them in front of the light on their iPhones during this song. When thousands did this, it created a rainbow of light in the crowd. Light and love.

With the terrible events of the past week, the nerve gas and the bombing in Syria, I've latched onto lyrics from another Panic! song, "Emperor's New Clothes." The words aptly describe 45 and the sudden, possessive, selfish manner of his actions. I'm deeply concerned for our country, for all of our sons and daughters and  for the women and children in countries where we take an aggressive stance. Fiifty-nine tomahawk missiles in sixty seconds?  That's aggression like I've never seen, the result of an abrupt about-face in policy, in choice of allies, in strategy. In the words of Urie, "If you don't know, now you know," people. Be wary, be watchful, be passionate and angry, be brave. The young people of the world need us on their side.