Practicalmadness

Through a typically circuitous process of thought, inspiration and LimeWire glitches, I'm listening to "Philadelphia" by Neil Young.

I first heard the song on the soundtrack to the movie Philadelphia; it plays over the ending of the movie, the sequence right after the trial when Tom Hanks's character dies, his Gay Type friends are mourning him over fruit punch at his apartment and Denzel Washington's family comes to pay their respects.

I'm told I'm unusual in this respect, but when I listen to pop music I generally don't notice the lyrics. (This accounts for my irrational love for Tori Amos.) My reaction to the song has nothing to do with what it's about, but rather with that scene. It's not tragic, because Tom Hanks just took his Anti-Gay Type bosses to the cleaners to an extent that belies the existence of the appeals process.

And to be honest with ourselves, it's not a breathtakingly innovative sequence -- just a lot of characters, some we've met, some we haven't, remembering someone who has died and watching his childhood home movies. I think what makes it stick out is that song. The scene plays out with little or no audible dialogue, so that the Neil Young song is almost the only audio. And it's cheaply, pathetically effective.