Rock-n-roll and a little tragic

I was looking at comments on a Native American website. The conversation was about drinking (you know the stereotype… Indians drink their souls away… about that later). Somebody said, “But how can we teach our children to be sober if they turn on the TV and all the songs are about drinking and partying?”

Ha.

True, and there is no conspiracy theory. There could be one but who needs a bad guy when people from all walks of life–from bling-infested rap stars to worn-down rock’n’roll rebels to grass roots grandpas with banjos and balalaikas–have nicely internalized the fact that a bottle and a joint are bonding objects that will get them a ton of Instagram likes? It’s popular fucking demand 101, yo! I suspect that the underlying emotion, if it were to be verbalized in the language of a five-year old, would go something like this: “Square people are boring. I am not square. I am cool. I identify with a people who are cool, and I do what I want. Wild things. Yeah.”

And here is where I call mommy.

See, I am not against anything. I believe that everybody is built differently and everybody has a right and a responsibility to figure their shit out… but I also believe in inner freedom and genuine dignity. Makes me lonely, I know.

On the one hand, I’ve lived with a person with a severe addiction and I’ve seen things that I would prefer to not have seen. I’ve watched a dear person’s will power go for a walk on another planet, and beauty fall apart despite big love, amazing talent, and all the benevolence in the world. And I think it is utterly tragic, even though I am no longer impacted. C’est la vie and all. It’s just that I have this knowledge now, I cannot unsee it.

On the other hand, I think there are things that are even more tragic. I am talking about the hijacking of rock’n’roll. I am talking about brightest people on the planet acting like rock’n’roll is about doing a shot of whiskey, smoking a joint and being cool. What?!!!!! What do table service, the word “dope”, and a smokey room filled with semi-coherent people have to do with music?

Music is a sacred bridge between the worlds. Babies sucking on shiny pacifiers are not rock’n’roll, they are babies sucking on shiny pacifiers.