Born in the U.S.A.

Back when I didn't know a single English song, one of my then friends used to sing, "Born in the U.S.A." in front of an imaginary mouthpiece, and sometimes accompanied by an air guitar, in full throttle. To him, it was the best way to identify with the U.S.A. (either really or just to irritate me). To him, this song represented American superiority (and indirectly, its arrogance) and its superpower status.

It would take 15 years before I would slowly get into listening to English music, and would start understanding lyrics. Only then did I understand that the lyrics of "Born in the U.S.A." were, far from being a mouthpiece of American superiority, actually scathing attack on the U.S.-Vietnam war.

But then I was an ignorant kid growing up in a remote part of the world, where people did not speak English. However, The same cannot be said of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who used it as the theme song for his 1984 presidential campaign. Now that says something, and that's the topic of this write-up, viz., misinterpretation.

I remember Sting of the band Police talking in an interview about newlyweds using his song, "Every breath you take", as a marital vow. Accroding to Sting, this song was written by him just after a break-up with his then wife, and this song merits to being, as he menitoned, a stalker's song. Sting was amused by this interpretation of his song, he said.

However, recently, I read the one of the most hillarious outcome of such misinterpretation. This involves a quote from the book, "One hundred yesrs of solitude", By Gabriel Garcia Maruqez. I have read almost all of his books that have been published in English, and "One hundred yesrs of solitude"is not one of my favorites among his books. I found this book repeatitive and boring to a large extent.

However, what I loved about the book is the innumerable interesting statements and dialogues. One of such statements is (more or less): "Outside the village, the outsider places two signs. On one sign is written: "This is the village of Macondo". A sign posted above that reads: "God Exists"."

I was trying to find the exact words of this quote, and some of the hits Google gave me were useful. However, I also landed at a site where a preacher uses this quote to tell that remembering God is one of the foremost duties of everyone.

And nothing could have been a better example of misinterpretation!

Everyone who read Gabo would know that he has consistently attacked the Church (official religious institutions) in almost all of his books. In his "One Hundred....", he talks about a priest who sneaks away at night to have sex with donkeys; in "Of love and other demons", he brings in a character named Abrenunncio, a Portuguese Jewish doctor, who is actually qualified and whom the Church hates, because he can do what they consider miracles: curing people. Gabo also makes a character in that book, a 36-year old devoted priest, fall in love with the 12-year old central character, whom he comes to exorcise.

Marquez has remained an ardent supporter of communism over the decades. Many critics say that he has actually supposrted almost every dictator in the Latin America, who came to power using the color of communism. I can not judge the merit of such analyses; but what I know is that it would be Gabo's last intention to glamourise God, when he wrote that sentence.

And that's what amuses me!
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Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen
http://www.anglicanslistening.org/6087_7387_ENG_HTM.htm