The Veldt (by Ray Bradbury)
The other day, my husband stumbled upon a video on Reddit featuring EDM artist Deadmau5. The video showcased how he came up with the lyrics for his song, “The Veldt.” Deadmau5 created the music while live-streaming as a tribute to Ray Bradbury’s short story, “The Veldt.” Chris James wrote the lyrics, recorded his vocals, and sent them to Deadmau5. Watching Deadmau5’s reaction to the perfect lyrics is incredibly amusing.
Needless to say, my husband and I decided we needed to read Bradbury’s “The Veldt.” It’s a clever story about a family with an advanced technological house called a Happy Life Home. This house has a nursery that can bring their children’s thoughts to life and essentially create any place they desire. The children seem to prefer Africa, but the presence of lions is concerning, prompting the parents to consider shutting off the nursery. However, the children throw tantrums and beg to keep the nursery active.
Published in 1950, “The Veldt” eerily mirrors contemporary society. While we may not have nurseries as depicted by Bradbury, the children’s behavior due to technology’s influence is spot-on. His foresight in envisioning how dependent families can become on technology is truly impressive. Let’s hope parents don’t meet the same fate as George and Lydia Hadley. “The Veldt” is a remarkable story, and we’re fortunate to have discovered it.
For your viewing pleasure, I’m including the video my husband and I watched of Deadmau5 that led us on this literary journey.
Here’s the music video for “The Veldt.” If you’ve read Bradbury’s “The Veldt,” you’ll notice how seamlessly the lyrics in the song align with the short story.
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