Death Was Predicted

Three major figures of culture died the last week of 2006. They died after most publications put out their "in memorium" issues. The funny thing to me was they had something in common with each other.

So, what could an innovative singer/performer, an accidental U.S president, and a Middle Eastern dictator possibly have in common? Well, Each one of these guys "death" were fodder for pop culture in the 90's, years before their death.

In !991, the group L.A. Style (who were Dutch) released the song "James Brown is Dead" an early techno hit. Like the Moody Blues song that said Timothy Leary was dead, James Brown was alive at the time the song came out. So, when James Brown died my mind immediately conjored up the song.

Gerald Ford was 93 when he died. He had been in poor health throughout 2006 but hung in to become the longest living ex president of all time. His age alone made his death imminent but ten years ago, and twenty years after Chevy Chase made his mark playing a clutzy Ford, a hilarious skit featuring Dana Carvey as Tom Brokaw doing spots about an 83 year Gerald Ford possibly dying when Brokaw was on vacation. It covered a number of contingencies including being eaten by wolves. I watched that the day of Gerald Ford's death, and felt it was in good taste because Gerald Ford was considered delicious by the wolves.

Saddam Hussein's death came shockingly quick after a trial that really did not go into much depth of the atrocities he committed over the years. Anyway, back in 1999, "South Park The Movie" featured the irrelevant has been dictator in Hell as Satan's lover. It was amusing in the South Park fashion and when I read right wing blogs celebrating Hussein's death, "burning in Hell" was uttered a lot and therefore I thought of the movie.

So that's it, I will always find pop culture references linked to people. Homer Simpson lost his neighbor Gerald Ford. James Brown don't feel good anymore and Saddam Hussein was well hung.