Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen
Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen on HackerTube: recommended by 3 Hacker News commenters across 3 separate months, 2011–2026.
The original music video for Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen, a spoken-word piece built on Mary Schmich's 1997 column of life advice, produced by Baz Luhrmann.
What HN commenters said
10 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
MarkoffMar 2026Strongly recommends
The real question is why do you care? Why you worry today about something which may not happen in the future? My job most likely won't exist in ten years, do you think I'm worried? You might die in car accident, from heart attack or cancer in those ten years, some lost job is absolutely irrelevant compared to your health, there are and always will be jobs available, just adapt. We have saying in my country "There were, are and (always) will be the money", which basically means you should not worry too much about money, just find a way to get them when you need them. I strongly recommend LISTENING to this song - Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen ▶ this video I quote one of the most important part regarding the article (especially 2nd sentence): "Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4:00 pm on some idle Tuesday."
in “I don't know if my job will still exist in ten years” · View on HN
samiragebOct 2011Strongly recommends
I never really post on HN (even though I should) and saw this post and had to respond. First, if you ARE VERY SERIOUS about suicide, please seek help as others have mentioned. I suspect you're simply very sad and venting, but please don't do anything rash. Next, please listen to/watch this: ▶ this video And then this: [link] Perspective is the first thing you lose when you're depressed and when you're under 25, it's so easy to do. Don't put so much pressure on yourself, you took some chances, it didn't work out, life is far from over. Let me say I envy you. That's right, ENVY. You've learned at 20, what I learned at 31. You are VERY ahead of the game, and have SOOO many options because you have youth on your side and the pain today will guarantee your 20s are more productive & fruitful than they would have been had you not gone through this experience. The most important thing you can do at this time is seek advice from someone you trust and respect, and begin taking baby steps. Don't try to tackle your whole life at once, just 1-step at a time. Surround yourself with supportive people, and strip the negativity out of your life at this time. Friends that kick you when you're down are either not real, or immature. They are useless to you at this time in your life, so stay away from them. Be honest with your parents, and tell them you need their emotional support to help you through this time. Parents make mistakes, and ultimately their emotions often get the best of them when they
in “I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.” · View on HN
aqw137Nov 2018Recommends
"If I could offer you only one tip for the future, Sunscreen would be it" A lot of wisdom in a 5min song: ▶ this video
in “Ask HN: How to accept that life is unfair?” · View on HN
juntoNov 2023Cites it
Learn to recognize kindness and do not mistake it for niceness. Kind people are always nice. Nice people aren’t always kind. Before entering into a relationship with someone else, make sure you understand and own your own traumas, have accepted yourself and are content with who you are. You cannot do that easily with the added complication of a relationship. It adds a dynamic that will trigger every single unrecognized negative personality trait you have, and that will trigger theirs. People move large distances to live somewhere else for love, work or to escape. Be careful you aren’t running away from yourself. Your children will grow up quicker than you think. Those moments at every step of their development you will never have again. Before you know it you won’t be able to lift them up on your arm. Before you know it they spend most of their time with their friends and think you’re old and dumb. Before you know it they’ve moved out and are living far away. Before you know it you get to speak to them once a month on the phone. You parents won’t always be around. If your parents are 65 and you see them once a year, you’ll see them an estimated grand total of 10-15 more times if you’re lucky. Practice analyzing risks before making crucial decisions, but do not become paralyzed by your risk analysis. Choosing not to do something is also a decision. Your health is the most important valuable thing you ever have. And use sunscreen. ▶ this video
in “Life lessons from a 44 year old (2022)” · View on HN
mathisfun123Aug 2023Cites it
> Everyone who offers advice is just telling you their life story, dressed up as a simple directive. "Work harder" often means they wished they worked harder in some part of their life. Treat it like any other life story: learn the lessons they did, but don't let it become baggage that you irrationally follow. I don't know how old you are but bravo - it took me a very very very long time to realize this. The converse to this is to always be very transparent and very careful when giving novices advice - when junior PhD students ask me about some kind success I've had I always make sure to emphasize the ways in which I got lucky first and only after talk about how I applied myself. Edit: and in full transparency, I believe i had this epiphany after at some point listening to the funny poem/song/thing (from the 90s): Everybody’s Free (to Wear SUNSCREEN): THE SUNSCREEN SONG (Class of ’99) ▶ this video which has a lyric >Be careful whose advice you buy but be patient with those who supply it >Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past >From the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts >And recycling it for more than it's worth I'm not one for sentimentality but that nicely captures it.
in “G. Polya, How to Solve It” · View on HN
jk7tarYZAQNpTQaFeb 2021Cites it
Every time I read some list of advices on life I can't help but remember Mary Schmich's apocryphal speech "Wear Sunscreen" [1] (and made famous by Baz Luhrmann [2]), from way back when the Internet was young and wild. Even though I think "Wear sunscreen" is not a great advice. [1] [link] [2] ▶ this video
in “The days are long but the decades are short (2015)” · View on HN
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ronilanFeb 2019Cites it
The obligatory and timeless “Wear Sunscreen” for those not familiar. Original text [link] And late 90s pop hit: ▶ this video
in “Ask HN: Developers aged 50, how have you gotten around age discrimination?” · View on HN
braveheart1723Dec 2012Cites it
"Life without enquiry is not worth living for a man", think that's Socrates. Good luck, I remember doing a 3 months internship at Agilent Tech yeeaaaarrss ago where at the end I was like - "No way am i ever working in this Dilbert socially backwards environment" Not to say it was a bad place, just not for me. Since then, I've had 6 or 7 real jobs, in 4 or 5 different industries, travelled round the world, asked loads of questions, tried loads of things and still not satisfied. It's a tough one, everybody's different and very few people figure 'it' out, hence why you most advice is stupidly simple, short and unhelpful like 'be yourself', 'do what you love', etc... the list goes on. 'Wear sunscreen' ▶ this video there is a good line in there "Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't." My 2 cents: - try everything while still young and while your responsibilities are small, and monthly nut is small. It's much more difficult to have a mid life crisis when you need $4000 a month for mortgages, cars and kids. - don't chase the $$$ - you'll never be as good as the guy who's doing it cause he loves it - most people aren't satisfied with what they do, which is why books by Tim Ferris and Chris Guillebeau sell so well, they sell the 'dream' - as far as happiness... others have already said this, purpose tend
in “Ask HN: I’m not cut out to be a programmer. What are my alternatives?” · View on HN
nntwozzDec 2024Critical
“Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.” — Baz Luhrmann from Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) ▶ this video I haven't found the above advice to be true, I'm 40 now. I moved off grid after living in a city for 20 years. I don't have a lot of friends but I'm happy, my nearest neighbor is 5km away. I enjoy the dark nights, the silence and the solitude. I think friends are a really arbitrary thing to plan your life around. Friends can also be a burden, more isn't just better; shoutout to social media. "If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company." — Jean-Paul Sartre Words to live by.
in “Should more of us be moving to live near friends?” · View on HN
ronilanFeb 2015Joke
1. That people would prefer a piece of advice to be given by Kurt Vonnegut at an MIT commencement speech rather than for the same advice to be provided by Mary Schmich in her Chicago Tribune column. Even if she wrote the original and he never gave the speech. 2. That people will always prefer the YouTube video over all other alternatives: ▶ this video 3. That meta is convoluted.
in “Ask HN: What do you wish you had known before you turned 40?” · View on HN