Dyslexic Heart

Dyslexic Heart by Paul Westerberg



Fun! The lead song of "Singles"! And who doesn't love "Singles"? Despite "Reality Bites" efforts, "Singles" really is the defining GenX/early 90s movie. "Singles", while uneven and even over the top, doesn't get annoying like "Reality Bites". Therefore I give "Singles" the nod. The only lesson anyone can take from the movie is that every girl is looking for a guy who says "Bless you" after she sneezes. Oh, and that totally bizarre Xavier McDaniel cameo where he couldn't have delivered the line any worse... Who can forget that?



Plus I've always sort of wanted to live in that apartment complex in Seattle.

OK, so if "Singles" is the defining movie about GenX, that's a pretty poor representation of Generation X. I'm no GenXer, but I'd have to say the definite piece of art that fully captures GenX is David Eggers "A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius". Sure, people have their problems with it, but think back to when you read it (or go read it) and you can't help but feel the GenXness oozing out of the memoir, starting with the title (a somewhat ironic title that was probably lost on most people). I'm sure when we look back, 20 years from now, we'll view GenX the much like the lost generation. Stuck between the Cold War and the War on Terror. A generation lost in Seattle but who recolonized New York City at the same time (and to a lesser degree Chicago, and San Fran?).

But back to the song, what exactly is a dyslexic heart? It's not a heart that's backwards or understands people the wrong way. Westerberg, apparently is frustrated by all the single women out there giving him so many signals, and he apparently is always reading these signs incorrectly. Therefore his heart is dyslexic. This then makes pretty much every male on Earth dyslexic—we never read women correctly, especially early on. I've got to admit, a fun but disappointing song considering that Westerberg was the leader of the Mats.