What George Michael sang 36 years ago

What does it mean when you wake up the in middle of the night and have a song in your head that you haven't thought about in decades? How and why do the brain's electrical byways even dredge up something like that?   

That was George Michael's 1990 lament "Praying for Time" for me, two nights ago. It wasn't even part of a dream, to my knowledge. I just woke up around 3 a.m. when nature called and it was right there, rolling about:

The rich declare themselves poor ... 'Cause God's stopped keeping score

So weird. Yet so timely, perhaps? Michael's commentary was correct for its moment but also prescient about ours.

Speaking about "Praying for Time," he told The New York Times this in 1990: "It’s my way of trying to figure out why it’s so hard for people to be good to each other. I believe the problem is conditional as opposed to being something inherent in mankind. The media has affected everybody’s consciousness much more than most people will admit. Because of the media, the way the world is perceived is as a place where resources and time are running out. We’re taught that you have to grab what you can before it’s gone. It’s almost as if there isn’t time for compassion.” 

This is the year of the guilty man

Your television takes a stand

Fast forward from TV to the internet and endlessly scrolling social media.

Those who once called television a "vast wasteland" had no idea what would follow within a half-century.

Two nights ago I woke up to "Praying for Time." This morning I woke up to another unsurprising war.