Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

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Rutiger
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Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by Rutiger »

I heard this Bill Hick's audio clip on Viceland TV. They are using it as a commercial for their cable TV channel as if it's some universal truth. It's an interesting sound bite. I don't know anything else about Bill Hicks except he died at age 32 from cancer. And I do get the last part about governments stopping all money on defense and war and use it for more humane endeavors. Can't argue with that. Count me in.

It's the part I underlined below about " No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love" that I don't quite get. While I guess it would be nice to be a confident free-spirit and never worry about work and jobs and saving sof money, I don't see how that is considered wise advice. "A choice between fear and love?" Is that the real choice? I dunno. How does Bill Hicks imagine all these no-jobs-no-money people will feed and house themselves? No fear? Nice slogan, but a little fear makes you prepare. Prepare for possible hard economic times...prepare for old age and retirement...prepare for your childrens' health and education. Bill Hicks death at age 32 meant he never had time to worry about much of those things very long.


Bill Hicks wrote: Bill Hicks - It's Just A Ride

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”
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crummyjuggler
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by crummyjuggler »

Illogical ramblings. No defense spending? You will be conquered and enslaved. Feed the poor? You will only create more mouths to feed. No work? Somebody has to work. Not to be a dick, but he sounds like someone with a basic education trying to grasp socialism plus he is totally stealing George Carlin's style.
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by Red Ops »

'I wish I was dead. I wish I could be forever judged on 3 hours of material' -stewart lee

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... bill-hicks
Rutiger
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by Rutiger »

There are several Bill Hick's standup comedy clips on youtube. He could be funny at times. I don't know if this one dip into a serious topic was typical of his style or just a one-off. I had never heard of the guy before seeing the TV ad. I only brought it up because Viceland TV is playing that audio clip every 10 minutes on their TV channel as an advertisement to promote their shows and they reported a lot of interest from viewers about where that uncredited clip came from and raving about its "inspiring message". I don't quite get it myself, but the masses seem to eat up that kind of naive, feel-good logic. He has a good delivery, I'll give him that much.
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by tdanjones »

Hicks was actually pretty good... He was a very dark humor kind of guy. I saw him in LA back in about '91. Seeing a set of his is good, but after a while it can get a little old. Sometimes he got a little too dark and angry for me, but for the most part was good.
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by Rutiger »

tdanjones wrote:Hicks was actually pretty good... He was a very dark humor kind of guy. I saw him in LA back in about '91. Seeing a set of his is good, but after a while it can get a little old. Sometimes he got a little too dark and angry for me, but for the most part was good.
Yeah, like i said, his delivery style was quite good. So good that even his "It's just a ride" bit made me stop and think how I approach things and try to find some real meaning from it. But the more I thought about it, the more problems I saw with his logic. Taking everything too seriously in this world is probably a mistake you might regret some day. But as the "desperate, destitute Brit with leg ulcers" thread points out, not taking certain things seriously enough and taking "no effort, no savings, no job" literally can cause more immediate and devastating impacts on one's short life as well. It's all about sensible balance, but no one goes to a comedy show or plays youtube clips to hear about sensible balance. It's not really about fear vs. love at all. They are not mutually exclusive.
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by tdanjones »

Ironically he died of lung cancer! Proof God is laughing at us! LOL
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

Rutiger wrote:I heard this Bill Hick's audio clip on Viceland TV. They are using it as a commercial for their cable TV channel as if it's some universal truth. It's an interesting sound bite. I don't know anything else about Bill Hicks except he died at age 32 from cancer. And I do get the last part about governments stopping all money on defense and war and use it for more humane endeavors. Can't argue with that. Count me in.

It's the part I underlined below about " No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love" that I don't quite get. While I guess it would be nice to be a confident free-spirit and never worry about work and jobs and saving sof money, I don't see how that is considered wise advice. "A choice between fear and love?" Is that the real choice? I dunno. How does Bill Hicks imagine all these no-jobs-no-money people will feed and house themselves? No fear? Nice slogan, but a little fear makes you prepare. Prepare for possible hard economic times...prepare for old age and retirement...prepare for your childrens' health and education. Bill Hicks death at age 32 meant he never had time to worry about much of those things very long.


Bill Hicks wrote: Bill Hicks - It's Just A Ride

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”

you might understand this if you saw more of this stand up show, this is my favourite quote by Bill Hicks...
“Always that same LSD story, you've all seen it. 'Young man on acid, thought he could fly, jumped out of a building. What a tragedy.' What a dick! Fuck him, he’s an idiot. If he thought he could fly, why didn’t he take off on the ground first? Check it out. You don’t see ducks lined up to catch elevators to fly south—they fly from the ground, ya moron, quit ruining it for everybody. He’s a moron, he’s dead—good, we lost a moron, fuckin’ celebrate. Wow, I just felt the world get lighter. We lost a moron! I don’t mean to sound cold, or cruel, or vicious, but I am, so that’s the way it comes out. Professional help is being sought. How about a positive LSD story? Wouldn't that be news-worthy, just the once? To base your decision on information rather than scare tactics and superstition and lies? I think it would be news-worthy. 'Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we're the imagination of ourselves' . . . 'Here's Tom with the weather.”
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by TheGrinchSR »

tdanjones wrote: Ironically he died of lung cancer! Proof God is laughing at us! LOL
No, he didn't die of lung cancer - he died of pancreatic cancer (which as far as anyone can tell has no relationship with smoking whatsoever).
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." - George Orwell
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Re: Bill Hicks - Life is Just A Ride

Post by TheGrinchSR »

Rutiger wrote:I heard this Bill Hick's audio clip on Viceland TV. They are using it as a commercial for their cable TV channel as if it's some universal truth. It's an interesting sound bite. I don't know anything else about Bill Hicks except he died at age 32 from cancer. And I do get the last part about governments stopping all money on defense and war and use it for more humane endeavors. Can't argue with that. Count me in.

It's the part I underlined below about " No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love" that I don't quite get. While I guess it would be nice to be a confident free-spirit and never worry about work and jobs and saving sof money, I don't see how that is considered wise advice. "A choice between fear and love?" Is that the real choice? I dunno. How does Bill Hicks imagine all these no-jobs-no-money people will feed and house themselves? No fear? Nice slogan, but a little fear makes you prepare. Prepare for possible hard economic times...prepare for old age and retirement...prepare for your childrens' health and education. Bill Hicks death at age 32 meant he never had time to worry about much of those things very long.


Bill Hicks wrote: Bill Hicks - It's Just A Ride

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”
He's not saying that you don't need to work, or need a job, etc. He's saying you don't need these things to make a choice between a life lived in fear and a life lived with love. He's saying it costs nothing to have a better life when you let go of your fear. Because it is all a ride, we get born and eventually we die, there's a show in the middle that's all.

I loved Bill, he was one of my teenage heroes. His angry, aggressive humour was delivered without fear or favour and designed to get people thinking about a better world. His early death was a genuine tragedy.
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." - George Orwell
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