By The Landlord
“No matter what you do or where you are, you're going to be missing out on something.” – Alan Arkin
“The fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything.” – Etty Hillesum
“When I was a child I wanted to be Pope. My greatest disappointment is missing out on that. I also wanted to be a tap dancer but I never fulfilled that ambition either.” – Peter Ackroyd
“Fear of missing out single-handedly caused every single investment bubble inhuman history. No other emotion is more powerful than FOMO.” – Naved Abdali
“At my age, each 24 hours becomes more and more precious. I hate to get through a day and think that I've wasted it.” – David Bowie
“Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day.” – Franz Liszt
“FOMO is the enemy of valuing your own time.” – Andrew Yang
“If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one.” – Cavett Robert
“The fear of missing out means that today’s media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack. In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no-one dares miss out.” – Tony Blair
“I just don't really listen to music. I'm probably missing out, but I don't want to know what everybody else is doing. Nobody is strong enough to not be influenced. And I don't mean influenced by copying - I'd be influenced because I wouldn't want to do what someone else is doing.” – Fiona Apple
“When I was 13, I was playing in the bars. I guess it's a changing world. Some things are better today, like the internet. But I actually think the kids are missing out on a lot of stuff.” – Ray Parker, Jr.
“I find that so many of my peers of my age don't listen to anything new. But I love the new, the energy of the new act. The young are so important. If you don't notice the young, and you don't give them credit and you don't listen to all sorts of music, then you're missing out on something.” – Elton John
“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.” – Barry Humphries
So, I would’ve been at the Sex Pistols at The Lesser Trade Hall.
But my mum made me I stay in – and paint that bedroom wall.
Yeah? I was earning pocket money from washing cars,
So missed the last night of Ziggy and his Spiders from Mars.
Oh, well I had so much on, and was in such a rush,
So I never got those tickets … for Kate Bush.
I missed a surprise visit to my work from Johnny Marr.
Trapped at the vending machine with a jammed Mars bar.
I had to call a plumber to replace our toilet ballcock,
So didn’t quite get round to be at Woodstock.
I should have really pushed for Glastonbury,
But there was no internet in the library.
Festival sheer choice makes for short attention span.
Perhaps the best place to be is … wherever you can.
In my day, I missed the cut to see Charles I lose his head.
Executions were the real gigs to get up early from your bed.
So? I faced eviction, and had a nasty skin affliction,
Missing out to catch a glimpse of Christ’s crucifixion.
Well, I missed the Big Bang because my gran rang.
And slept in for the dawn chorus, when the birds first sang.
Gah! I somehow missed that first group that crawled on land.
Something fishy with my cousins’ fins, when they hit the sand.
But I missed the moment of that meteor’s landing berth,
Mass extinction event tickets? Way too pricey. Cost the earth.
Oh, but if only I’d spoken to that smiling girl on the train.
I’ll probably never get that opportunity again…
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So what songs driven by these urges, or these fears,
Hunger of the eyes, the groin, the wallet, or the ears?
Peer pressure for products? Buying latest phones?
Anything at all to keep up with the Jones?
Emotions and scenarios? Investing in the tulip bubble?
Swayed by missing out, and other kinds of trouble?
Driven by greed or lust, or more, a mental affluenza,
Or simply show-off excellence, dance-craze or cadenza?
It’s a term coined in the online age, embellished by emoji,
And more … like fear of joining in (also known as FOJI),
But since banana envy, with not-so-sapiens homo,
Or other ape happenings, nothing’s new about FOMO.
So place your song ideas at our Song Bar joint,
There are always more. But maybe that’s the point …
FOMO: Driven to distraction …
So then, so you don’t miss out, please jump on the Song Bar bus and join in the FOMO fun with this week’s returning guest, the excellent Loud Atlas! Place your songs in comments below, before the journey ends on Monday night UK time 11pm, for playlists published next week.
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