The Dark Side of Daft Punk aka. The Evolution of Ben

“Some things should never change.”

What sounds like the cliché slogan of conservative grandmothers and grumpy grandfathers complaining about “youth nowadays” or how “everything was better when they were young” can also be seen as the human desire to preserve things in the face of change - the way are now. Even if we complain about taxes, our boring jobs, our demystified relationships and long for more excitement in our daily lives: the new is unknown, and the unknown is just outside our comfort zone. But why are we sometimes so adverse to change? Because we’re afraid of losing what makes the now special, unique and, most of all, familiar.

But life is not static, au contraire - the only constant in life is change. Be it the weather, the amount of money in your bank account, your “favourites” playlist on your mp3 or who you are as a person, we and everything around us are are constantly transforming.

Don't get me wrong: change is a good thing. I love discovering new things. But I also like to know that the old is still there, that I can still appreciate it and recognize it as something I once loved. I need to know that some things are kept holy and are not corrupted the way a classic soul ballad is corrupted into a cheap cell phone ringtone.

Where is this all going, you may ask? Well, today, October 14th, is my friend Schlomo’s birthday. And since I am in Börlin and he is in Arcelona-Bay, I can’t tell him all the things I would like to on the first day of his new year. So what I want to say is this:

Dear Schlomie Mahomie,

For the coming year I wish you the courage to face new challenges in your new life, the guts to embrace unknown territory as your new home, the curiosity to discover unfamiliar customs as your own and lots and lots of sushi.

I’m so happy you’re happy where you are now. And because I'm sure many things will change this year for you, I hope you retain your naturally positive outlook on life, your wonderful taste in music and your appreciation of good food. Like I said above: even if you delete old songs in your playlist in favour of new ones, never forget why you loved them in the first place, and who you were when you first put them on a 7-day listening binge on repeat.

This song is a rework of Daft Punk’s already iconic “Get Lucky” - the song of everyone’s summer this year. And while the original version is - let's face it - a classic, this remix is the evolution of something that will always be valuable to us as listeners in its untouched state. The remix is the more grown up, more mature, savvier version, and it represents embracing change without forgetting the song’s original flavour.

Happy Birthday, Schlomo.