Something isn’t everything’s nice
I was substituting in an elementary school and all the kids could talk about was a new pop singer they all loved, whose name was Emma. I couldn’t stand her, and thought she was a revival of all of the worst elements of the early nineties. So I took it upon myself to teach the kids about good music.
I started to say “So, if Emma’s supposed to be so special…” but got interrupted by a bunch of kids, horrified, saying “supposed to be!?!” I started over, and said “If Emma’s so special, why isn’t she anywhere near as good as this?”
I pressed play on a little gray tape player that I had brought in, one of the round ones with a handle on top, and a David Bowie song started playing. The first lyrics were “See things right/Something isn’t everything’s nice.”
I couldn’t see the kids, but they must have been there, because I was standing in front of them facing them.
