I’ve had Space Cowboys on my mind, courtesy of a recent re-watch of Cowboy Bebop. The anime has a special place in my heart. I love the characters and the music choices. I’m not sure why disco comes to mind when the series relies on jazz and different musical genres. Cultural and social freedom, as well as revolution, are indicated by disco, which thematically fits with the series, even if the upbeat sounds might not.

Upbeat and revolutionary. Disco brought together people who weren’t supposed to be together in underground spaces, forbidden clubs, at a backdrop of criminal enterprises. The past meets the future, in the present (of the time) that the series was initially aired. We want to be more than our questionable circumstances, even more so now.

“See you Space Cowboy!” has the yesteryear feel of “tune in next week” to see how our enterprising adventurers are going to survive by their wiles, wits, and weapons at their disposal. The world feels more and more like that, recognizing that the first world areas are just catching up to what everyone else has seen, experienced, and had to overcome for some time. Are we all satisfied with others’ attempts to fix our community’s social, climate, or political woes?

Do we continue to bitch about the problems on our doorsteps or do we actually pitch in where we have influence? Or do we try to half-ass it and force change like we’re on some race for a bounty that everyone is clamoring for? There’s no monetary gain at the end of the journey, so our motivation has to be intrinsic. Like it or not, that’s really all the crew of the Bebop actually have. They’re rarely going to make more than it takes to have pepper beef for months and do the equivalent of duct taping the ship back together.

That’s life as I know it too. Simple food, good friends, music that you have to hear so that you don’t lose heart or forget who you are. And if ivory towers get destroyed along the way, well, that’s just an added bonus for living life as fully as having little left to lose permits us. If space is where the rich will go, what does that say about the planet we call home? It might be a boring dystopia, but it’s a dystopia nonetheless, with (at least in my case) the American Dream as the intended utopia. The nation lost the thread long before I was born, and I’m just doing what I need to keep my family and hopefully my community surviving, if not thriving.

Let’s put some music on and dance, even if the world decides to fall around our ears. Maybe we’ll see the stars again.