Valedictory Address, 1994
Vice-Chairman of the Board of Education Schmidt, Principal Fenderson,
Faculty, Parents, Family, Honored Guests, and Graduates:
All this week my mom and my dad, along with Mrs. Trotter and Mrs. Ali,
have been telling me to finish my speech, and as I walked down the
aisle, I came to a startling conclusion: being the great
procrastinator, I still need to write my speech, preferably soon. But
being rather poor at public speaking, and having so little time, I
decided to collect suggestions from my friends, which they scribbled
on little scraps of paper and handed to me. The first paper that I was
handed said “write a speech on music.” And so I did.
Music is the international medium through which all facets of life can
be explained. This music throughout the ages can be used to explain
what happened over these past four years like no other medium can. And
anything that can explain the complexities of life must be something
very special indeed. As we remember and attempt to understand these
past four years-it’s all in the music.
During our eighth grade year all of the high schools came out to us
and said _Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be, as a
friend_. And so all of us came, to Louisville Central High School,
where we realized _a whole new world_.
Four hundred of us wild eyed freshmen came to a place where_big shot_
seniors generally accepted the fact that we were_Young, Dumb, and Ugly_
and we shouted such phrases as _we don’t need no education_.
Sophomore year continued much the same way with the seniors shouting
_Beat It_ and the cafeteria workers crying _Eat It_. Later we were entuned
to the fact that _we’ve got to get out of this place if it’s the last
thing we ever do_. In the words of the late great Jim Morrison I woke
up this morning and went to school. Yes we had discovered other people
and true love. Many people learned how to _bust a move_ and _give it
away_, and the phrase _people are still having sex_ became a buzz
word.
Junior year was a hard year for relationships and many people cried _I
want my baby back, gotta have my baby back, I miss her oh so much,
can’t live without her touch_. As the year wore on we said _another one
bites the dust_ as the droput rate continued to rise. _In the still of
the night_ we reflected that next year we would be seniors and could
truly say that_ we are the champions_.
As seniors we realized that we were reaching _the point of no return_
and we asked ourselves _is this the end_? As the year flew by senior
year was truly _one moment in time_. And looking back, _it’s so hard to
say goodbye to yesterday_, because it seems as if this is the _end of
the road_. _We didn’t start the fire_ that burns within us, beckoning us
to stay. _We didn’t light, but we’re trying to fight it_ because_this is
the end, beautiful friend, this is the end, my only friend, the end_.
Our graduation from Louisville Central High School. _It’s the end of
the world as we know it, it’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s
the end of the world as we know it, …and I feel fine_. Thank you.
—
* Nirvana – “Come as you are”
* Walt Disney’s Aladdin – “A Whole New World”
* Billy Joel – “Big Shot”
* “Weird Al” Yankovic – “Young, Dumb and Ugly”
* Pink Floyd – “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2”
* Michael Jackson – “Beat It”
* “Weird Al” Yankovic – “Eat It”
* Animals – “We’ve got to get out of this place”
* The Doors – “Roadhouse Blues”
* Young M.C. – “Bust A Move”
* Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Give It Away”
* Latour – “People are Still Having Sex”
* Jimmy Cross – “I Want My Baby Back”
* Queen – “Another One Bites the Dust”
* Five Satins – “In the still of the Night”
* Queen – “We Are the Champions”
* Phantom of the Opera – “Point of No Return”
* Whitney Houston – “One Moment in Time”
* Boyz II Men – “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday”
* Boyz II Men – “End of the Road”
* Billy Joel – “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
* The Doors – “The End”
* R.E.M. – “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”