Posted on 4.14, here’s a sologui remix of George Harrison‘s original 1969 demo with Nina Simone‘s 1972 version. You could argue that “Isn’t It A Pity?” is one of the most on-the-nose titles in history. There’s a whole community or genre of songs, films, plays and novels that follow the basic template by (a) describing or depicting some kind of tragedy or downish scenario of one kind or another and (b) asking “given how sad or awful things are, can’t we do better?” John Lennon‘s “Imagine” is another effort in this vein. The more artful song, film, play or novel bypasses the “can’t we do better?” part. Because it’s an unnecessary question. Simply presenting a bad/tragic situation is more than sufficient. One example of the latter kind (i.e., stark representation) is Cristian Mungiu‘s 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days. Mungiu just lays it out plain. Either you get it or you don’t.

This scene from A Hard Day’s Night is another good example of the right kind — no lamenting or messaging, just the stark, blunt truth.