What song would break your spirits and have you cry mercy? I woke up to an NPR report this morning that Manuel Noriega had passed away. I’m old enough to remember him playing a starring role opposite Peter Jennings on ABC News. My family ate dinner together every night, from 6-7pm, with the ABC Local and then National News Broadcasts every evening. I realize more and more these days that I learned so much from even the ambient noise the news provided. I also learned that the most important time — quiet time — was from about 6:21-6:25 when they covered the weather forecast. With no internet around, if we missed that forecast, hell broke loose. Nevertheless, I digress. The biggest thing I think of when I think of Noriega is how we broke him with Rock music. Almost 30 years later, I wonder what songs would we be able to use to have our competitors cry uncle these days?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40090809
(Note: It’s also hard not to think of what Daryl went through on last season’s walking dead, listening to Easy Street over and over again.)
#iamgrateful and #iamthankful for what I hope turns into a discussion around the most torturous songs ever written; knowing full well that my passion for pop of all sorts means that my iTunes playlist is probably torture for the rest of the world.
Suneet Bhatt 
