“everything is everything”

I happened to catch a snippet of a conversation this afternoon that got me thinking about a number of things. No, I wasn’t eaves-dropping — I told you I feel creepy about doing that, but when people are speaking in their outside voices near me, well, I tend to be able to hear what they are saying, right? So this conversation went the usual route of generic greetings:

first woman: How’s everything with you?

second woman: Oh, you know, everything is everything.

Whoa. Everything is everything? Everything is everything. I love it. I don’t know what it means, but I love it. I could call my friend Jeff and use my cultural void card, but somehow, I don’t think this is an American idiom. Still, it stayed with me because there was something familiar about it. So of course, I used it as part of the poetry unit I’m currently teaching. The students have to put together a presentation, and I did a little search for some samples. I found it!

It’s a line in a Bruce Springsteen song, post 9/11, that speaks to the missing in the aftermath. It’s a pretty amazing song:

Well, here’s the exceptional part. The students loved the video, but pointed me in the direction of another song, this one by Lauryn Hill > Perhaps, dear reader, not your style here? Probably not, but I invite you to broaden your horizons a bit:

My favorite part of the whole exercise? They drew the following conclusion: “everything is everything” is the bridge, in the present, between the first video which mourns the past, and the second video, which is hopeful about the future.

How ’bout that?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share This

Share this post with your friends!

Shares