Tahrir Square – Frissonic.net

First off, my hearty congratulations to the citizens of Egypt for their hard-fought take-down of Mubarak. Now we can begin to hope for a peaceful, switft transition to a democracy.

That being said, I think it’s time we start celebrating their victory with some party music! Here’s a list I’ve compiled so far, all appropriate for the day.

Muse – “Knights of Cydonia” What party is complete without this high-energy, soul-shaking, anthemic jump-around song?! “No one’s going to take me alive; the time has come to make things right. You and I must fight for our rights. You and I must fight to survive.” And fight they did! RAH!!!
Muse – “Uprising” I swearMatthew Bellamy is bringing back the fist-pump with raging style. You can’t NOT thrust your frist in the air while yelling “HEY!” during the bridge. It’s impossible. Hell, even when I’m *driving,* I still eke out a little non-damaging roof punch. “They will not force us. They will stop betraying us! They will not control us! We will be victorious!” HOLY shiver-inducing. MORE RAH!
Queensryche – “My Global Mind” I already touched on this yesterday, so I’ll leave it alone, except to say that it packs a huge punch.
Metallica – Don’t Tread on Me. As anthemic as it gets. “Love it or live it, she with the deadly bite. Quick is the blue tongue, forked as the lighting strike. Shining with brightness, always on surveillance. The eyes, they never close, emblem of vigilance. Don’t tread on me!”
The Bangles – “Walk Like an Egyptian” Come on … you knew this was gonna show up. Right? You had to know that. How can anyone pass up doing that whole arms-cockeyed thing while they strut around? And that whistling. How cool would it be to hear ALL of Tahrir Square whistle that? Eh? Think about that.
John Lennon – “Imagine” There has to be at least one lighter-lifting song in the mix. What better song than this? “You may say that I’m a dream, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one.”
The Beatles – “Blackbird” I love how this has such a “rise above” feel to it. Melodic, simple, but with *such* a powerful message.
Pink Floyd – “A Great Day for Freedom” And indeed it is. This song has the emotional punch of an Evander Holyfield shot to gut. Peace is such a noble goal, but how you achieve that peace is as important as the peace itself. And the vast majority of the demonstrators in Egypt pulled that off. How amazing is that!?
Not that this is a song, but how about that insane speech from Independence Day? Where President Whitmore takes the mic just before the last aerial attack and says, “… We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today, we celebrate our independence day!!!” Still gives me the chills just thinking about it.

I’m still in shock. I stayed up until 2:30 combing through tweets and news clips, hoping that the blood bath I severely feared wouldn’t happen. Thankfully, it didn’t, and it’s turning into an amazing experience for those who are over there. One twitterer who I’ve been following closely has indicated that there are a LOT of foreigners joining in the celebration. What an experience that would be. I mean, it’s hardly fair to come in at the end and say, “Yay! We did it!”, but in the spirit of joining the Egyptians who finally have their country back (hopefully permanently!), I would gladly join them, pat them on their backs, shake their hands, give them all a hug and say, “YOU did it!”

My next goal is to become more familiar with native Egyptian artists. I bet they have amazing music.

Party on, Egypt.

In light of the events today in Egypt, I feel that writing a post about something so subjectively ethereal as music just doesn’t seem fitting. There is a revolution taking place in the Middle East unlike any of us have ever seen, or possibly will ever see. Hundreds of thousands have gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo to voice their anger and rage over the Mubarek regime, and they are taking action for change.

While part of me is rooting like crazy for them to overthrow this evil despot who has literally pirated his own country (his net assets off-shore are reportedly in the billions, while his countrymen earn the equivalent of between $2-4 a day …), part of me is terrified of the world-wide ramifications. How will this sit with the rest of the Middle East? Will other countries with despicable leaders rise up and attempt the same? Not to mention the fact that no one knows where the Egyptian army stands. Will they stand with the revolutionaries? Or will they obey orders and turn on their own countrymen, if given the order? How is this going to play out long-term?

These are the questions I worry about today. I worry about the lives of people I’ve never met. I wonderabout how this could possibly de-stabilize that area of the world even further. What if the US doesn’t intercede? Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. For as much as the world hates us for Afgahnistan and Iraq, how will it be viewed if we don’t help Egypt? We’ve kind of shot ourselves in the foot in that respect.

Dear readers, we’re on the cusp of something large–something scary … something new. I hope and pray that this ends well for the citizens of Egypt and really for all of us. Truthfully, I’m less worried about what will happen to Mubarek and his vice president. I’m extremely worried about the possibility of the Tahrir demonstrators storming the presidential palace and attempting a coup, as has already been tweeted about by those I’m following from over there. Their tweets and re-tweets are enough to show that there is already a mob mentality that’s way past brewing; they’re formulating plans.

I hope like hell this ends well. My heart wants it so badly for them. My gut and my brain are singing a different song, and it’s not a pretty tune. God help them if they storm the palace. I don’t know if anyone else will …