"Wake Up"

The lyrics of the song, "Wake Up," 

by Arcade Fire, 

certainly my favorite group from the last decade, 

should be read by my generation.  

Win Butler, the lead singer songwriter, 

alternates between sadness and screaming, 

in this anthem for his generation.


Somethin' filled up

my heart with nothin'

someone told me not to cry.

But now that I'm older

my heart's colder,

and I can see that it's a lie.

Children wake up,

hold your mistake up,

before they turn the summer into dust.

If the children don't grow up,

our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.

We're just a million little god's causin' rain storms 

turnin' every thing to rust. 

I guess we'll just have to adjust.

With my lightin' bolds a glowin'

I can see where I am goin' to be

when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'

I can see where I am goin'

With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'

I can see where I am goin'

You better look out below.


The song is not merely about children waking up, 

but also about the need for their parents 

and their grandparents (my generation) to wake up.


Change waits on nothing, 

and change now happens on a logarithmic scale.

This song helped me realize 

that my eyes have not stayed wide open 

to the changes in the world around me.


The Internet is woven into the lives of 

the youth in Nicaragua, 

and they must be restless.


Daniel Ortega, 

a young revolutionary of my generation, 

started a successful revolution 

in a relative communication vacuum.


Arab Spring 
proves what is possible 
with restless revolutionaries
in the digital age.


I do not know whether Ortega 

has the pulse of the Nica youth. 

Are his eyes wide open? If not, 

the poverty and the discrepancy 

between what Nica youth live at home 

and what they see on the Internet, 

might herald spring in Nicaragua.