Bieber Fever
When staying for a few days this summer at LMB (Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, CA) I visited the small room of an old nun friend. At one point she put on a Justin Bieber song and asked me if I might have Bieber Fever. At that point I poo pooed the idea as I had sampled a couple of his songs and found his young voice to be high and thin…he’s not exactly a Pavarotti or even a David Bowie so at that point I had more Biever flu than fever. I mean, I come from the 60’s generation of musical heavy weights such as Joplin, Dylan, L. Cohen, Pink Floyd and so on. But she suggested I see the documentary about him, “Never Say Never” so last night I finally broke down and watched it, curious to see what all the fuss is about.
In the doc, the home movies show him as a small child rhythmically drumming anything he could bang on and his obvious love of music and singing and performing… even bosquing on the streets in Canada as a young boy. I was duly impressed and felt my Bieber fever rising with each minute as the film went on.
The kid definitely has talent, charisma and unbounded energy. What’s especially attractive is the sense of innocence and sweetness that comes through his music, dance and expression. So far he hasn’t fallen under the influence of rap that’s imbued with foul language, sex and violence that’s unfortunately so prevalent these days. His songs and dance routines are rather sweet and just plain fun. They remind me of the amazing routines of the Backstreet Boys and the young Timberlake and seem to be influenced by Michael Jackson’s style as well. But he has his own style and charisma and some great karma happening!
There’s just something about him and now I see why his millions of (mostly young girls of course) fans are so devoted. And his fans now include a Buddhist monk and at least two of us Buddhist nuns.
I can see why he chose to team up with Usher, who I had never seen perform before watching the doc last evening. Usher’s music and dancing also came off with that sense of fun and innocence…I’m not sure if this is the usual flavor of his routines or if he’s also come under the Bieber fever spell, which everyone around the little fella seem to do. Which I think is a good thing, as Bieber seems to overflow with good will and as I said, a sense of warmth and innocence which is so refreshing.
Some time ago I watched a YouTube message from the Buddhist monk, Losang Yeshe (Michael) to the Biebs in which he admonishes Justin to use his popularity to spread messages only of goodness and to avoid the temptations that so many young rock stars fall under, especially drugs. To be a good example and inspire his fans to make the world a more peaceful and happy place. I wonder if Justin has seen that video.
So I salute you dear Justin and may you have a long, successful career and do as the Gelong Michael suggests…stay clear of the pitfalls of a world famous star and do only do good things with your power, wealth and fame.
Wongmo
