I say: "Yeah, what are all the celebrities saying about Syria? Are any of them talking now?" They loved to love Obama on the issues they loved to love him about. They helped America love him, and they looked so lovable loving him like that. But they won't look so pretty talking up a war, so I think they're off somewhere else. La la.
What was the song Meade sang? It wasn't Bruce Springsteen. I've got zero Springsteen in my iTunes. In that earlier post, we were listing our songs that begin with "Oh," and American Liberal Elite, tweaking the rules, said "Ohio." So here at Meadhouse, it was tin soldiers and Nixon coming, we're finally on our own....
And what does Neil Young think about Syria? Neil did have an Obama-era song about war. Guess what? War became complex and nuanced. He sang: "When I sing about love and war/I don’t really know what I’m saying." He explained that love and war are "very deep subjects."
You can’t possibly know what it means to somebody else. War to one person may mean a justified thing that’s happening for a very good reason, and another person may think that’s a terrible thing and never should have happened. And another person will be thinking that he lost his sister or his brother or his mother in the war and it was a waste of time. And another person could be thinking the exact opposite: that his brother went to war and gave his life for our country. So you can’t really have an opinion, although I have opinions and I’ve had them and I’ve made very loud statements about things. But that’s the way I felt at the time.Back in the Bush administration, when he did an album called "Living With War"...
I was very outspoken about the anger I felt about certain things that were happening at that time in history. But again, I was no more right than the people who believed in it because it was such a big thing — how can you know? How can you know all of the reasons and everything that’s happening? I just don’t enjoy war. I’m not like a fan of war. And love can be very damaging, and it can be very good. So you just don’t know where to go with these things....There's always Obama good, Bush bad. Love Obama. Hate Bush. Everything becomes so deep and complex when you're contemplating the one you love.
So I wrote about that — the quandary of not knowing what to do with any of those things. It’s kind of a useless point of view.Oh! There's a little truth from a celebrity: It’s kind of a useless point of view.
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49 comments:
An "Ah" instead of an "Oh" but it seems apt:
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now
hmm, I seem to rememebr a Neil Young Bio-documentary on PBS that included his war protest concert during the Bush administration. It wasn't so complex for him then. His statement was a good try to gloss over the fact that now he can't criticize the current admin.
And yet, I still like his music.
Its amazing how eagerly people see the opinions of a fiction writer, song lyricist, or movie actress as having anything to contribute to these issues. Now that the emperor has no clothes, it turns out that nakedness is not attractive.
It is much easier to be antiwar with Republicans than Democrats in power.
Apparently.
Though it does make me wonder if they were antiwar at all.
Trey
Appropos of which . . .
http://cdn.pjmedia.com/instapundit/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/OBAMAWARSAREAWESOME.jpg
(Via Ace of Spades by way of Instapundit)
Has anyone ever written a Brechtian song about what a waste it is to die for a Marxist cause. It seems to me that the many millions of Vietnamese who died to establish a national government of crony enrichment for socialists should be memorialized in a protest song......In Syria some people are worse than others, but all are bad. This presents a moral quandary for artists and intellectuals who believe that the only evil people in the world are rich, white men in pursuit of further riches. They don't have the vocabulary or imagination to express indignation at third world douches.
Neil Young sounds very wise on this issue.
We all saw this with the feminists and Clinton. Progressivism (not unlike the American left and the Soviet Union) feels that any excess moves their causes forward is acceptable.
"There's always Obama good, Bush bad. Love Obama. Hate Bush. Everything becomes so deep and complex when you're contemplating the one you love."
The One I Love
This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love
Fire!!!
Fire!!!
This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
Another prop has occupied my time
This one goes out to the one I love
At least Neil Young admits that he might have been wrong before. I suppose that's progress.
I see this as more proof of the adage, choose your enemies well because they are the ones you'll become most like. For 8 years the Left warned us about a stupid leader who would trash the Constitution in order to wage war on the Middle East, among other concerns.
And yet, I still like his music.
Yeah, almost kinda sucks, really. Still can't turn off "Keep On Rockin' In The Free World".
"I say: "Yeah, what are all the celebrities saying about Syria? Are any of them talking now." They loved to love Obama on the issues they loved to love him about. They helped America love him, and they looked so lovable loving him like that. But they won't look so pretty talking up a war, so I think they're off somewhere else. La la."
I know the professor's point was to illuminate hypocrisy, so I'm not criticizing or refuting it at all. I actually agree with her point: Where are these folks?
That said, I'm almost glad celebrity society is not speaking up that much about it, the Alyssa Milano "Funny-or-Die" skit nonwithstanding. To me, it's a good thing a lot of them are quiet. Either we'd be subject to hypocrisy from people trying to defend Obama from the very criticisms they leveled at Bush, or we'd get angst at yet another group feeling sad that "their" President let them down. Nowhere in their involvement will real illumination occur.
Despite my opinion of Obama being abysmally low, I'm almost pissed that the state of conversation regarding Syria is far less on the actual details of the issue and far more about Obama himself. Somehow, he's managed to achieve a personality cult status in that even criticism is all about him instead of the merits and problems of a given issue. To me, that's destructive of collective rationality and clear communication between people.
I'm off to Twitter to ask Bette Midler what she thinks about Syria.
Who is Obama's Eugene McCarthy?
"They don't have the vocabulary or imagination to express indignation at third world douches."
My guess is that artists and intellectuals more readily identify with the 'moral clarity' of the average third world dou(che).
Springsteen jumped the shark during the early Bush years. I took his songs off my iPod for a couple of years, but after a while, I realized that if I took every Bush-hating idiots music off my iPod, I wouldn't have much to listen to. I don't have anything of his after Devils & Dust, and really don't feel the need to. Springsteen excelled at telling stories in his songs, but after a while he became, as he put it in his own lyrics, "a rich man in a poor man's shirt." I saw him twice in concert, in 1984 and 1988, and enjoyed both shwos. I wouldn't pay to see him again, though. The Bruce of my youth was a pretty cool guy; it's a shame where the years took him, though.
Bushitler mongered a fly-paper war against al-Qaeda, the Nobel Peace laureate mongers peace between the freedom loving al-Qaeda and Kerry's Syrian buddy. He would have held a beer summit for them if they were not Muslims to straighten things out.
I have exactly one Bruce song in my 5000 mp3 collection - "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" from his album "The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle". It's his entire oeuvre in one song. And very much a classic. I liked Bruce so very much more when he was a poor skinny low life long haired greaser from the Jersey Shore. I'll attach it to an email and send it to you this evening...
I own and operate a limo company; I drove for Neil Young a few years ago. Now, as a result of that interaction whenever his music comes on, I turn off the radio. He was that much fun.
I agree. Bruce Springsteen is horrible, boring and needs to go away already. Big lefty who is a bizillionaire but cries about the working man's blues. Give me a break.
Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers sang "peace songs" as long as the German-Soviet pact held, and maintained the Communist party line that WW2 was a capitalist fraud. They changed their tune (pardon) when the Nazis invaded the USSR and started singing anti-fascist songs instead.
You could argue silence from pro-Obama celebrities is more honorable than hypocritically lining up to back his war.
The funny thing about musicians and stars- they don't realize that fame and money have nothing to do with being smart on the issues.
@SteveR...you hit it on the head. When I was a kid it was okay to take the song writers lyricism to heart because I was exactly an immature kid. Now, I shudder to think that people my age don't think, they just swallow it all-especially the ones that voted for the Pied Piper.
@ Clyde
I saw The Boss twice. Once for an Acoustic tour (Ghost of Tom Joad) and The Rising Tour. I tried really hard not to think of politics, until he thanked the audience and said, "everyone but you Dick Cheney" without laughter. The worst part is that the rest of the audience thought that was great. It was nothing but sheer disrespect and you've got to give it to get it. I will never buy another concert ticket for him.
Phil Collins on the other hand, was a smart cookie. He could talk about it thoughtfully and made jokes about both sides. Two times and two superb shows from Genesis.
Not sure this is fair. Bruce has been pretty busy helping his daughter at equestrian shows lately. Rumor was this horse cost over a million, ergo Bruce has to wear tattered jeans.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/ride-olympic-horse-springsteen-article-1.1164816
When we were at war in Iraq, for eight year, they could never shut the hell up, now they are silent,
"Who is Obama's Eugene McCarthy?"
Well, there was no space for such in 2012. However, there's a chance Howard Dean will be Eugene McCarthy to Hillary Clinton. She has been a tepid supporter at best, but she can't afford a break from Obama, I think, so she may get this tied to her, too.
And Dean may believe that he has a chance by running Left and tarring Clinton up with various Obama foreign affairs mistakes, which are becoming legion.
"To me, it's a good thing a lot of them are quiet. Either we'd be subject to hypocrisy from people trying to defend Obama from the very criticisms they leveled at Bush, or we'd get angst at yet another group feeling sad that "their" President let them down. Nowhere in their involvement will real illumination occur."
Well, yes, the silence is deafening, for those who have ears to hear. Which, naturally, does not include the suddenly muted ones.
One cannot expect integrity from commie bimbos.
I've always thought that Bob Dylan had the best word on Bruce:
"Some people call Bob [Seger] the poor man’s Bruce Springsteen, but personally, I always thought Bruce was the rich man’s Bob Seger."
As is typical of Dylan's putdowns, it gets meaner the more you think about it.
But, just as Dylan goes on to say:
"Love 'em both, though"
Was it Alice Cooper who once said something to the effect that political advice from a musician is about as useful as musical advice from a politician? Yes Springsteen is more than a bit of a hypocrite but I judge him on his talent and ignore the rest. Hypocrisy isn't just confined to leftists, there are righties who are hypocrites as well.
I've never understood ed this "common working man" persona he has.The guy has lived in rock&roll la la land since the mid seventies. He has as much to do with the common working man as Paris Hilton. In fact come to think of it , Paris may have had more to do with common working men...
Instead of Springsteen, go to his Asbury Park compatriot, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (who were always underrated compared to Springsteen). On their Pills & Ammo album, the song "Cross that Line" has a line that captures the point: "It used to be you knew where you stood / Nixon was evil, makin' love was good / I guess MK Ultra has messed with my mind." He was never as big as Springsteen, but he's still making interesting albums, which Springsteen is not.
Clyde, check out The Voters at thevotersmusic.com - autoplays one of my favorites, "Blame it on Bush". Pointed political commentary wrapped up in catchy, driving rock and roll. Maybe you'll have something to listen to on your iPod after all. I don't have any connection except I like their stuff.
You mean NOW's principled stand during the Lewinsky affair wasn't lesson enough? There are only sides. Principles are for losers.
"Hate the sin, love the sinner" -- a biblical cross we are told to bear. In the case of entertainment stars (sports, music, film), "Ignore their hypocrisy, love their art" may be similarly distasteful, sadly too often.
To answer the initial question, though: "Where's is Bruce?"
I suspect he is selling Obamacare, no?
Atlantic City.
Meet him there tonight.
Rand Paul is the Gene McCarthy of the current era. Not an exact copy actually but some real similarities.
I have been predicting that there will be a significant third party candidate. My prediction is somewhat overripe, but the chances are doing nothing but increase. Ron Paul may be the man to do it.
defendUSA said:
"Two times and two superb shows from Genesis."
*******************
Sorry, simply CANNOT let that one go.
Genesis without Peter Gabriel is NOT GENESIS!
"I had a buddy at Benghazi
Fighting off the Muslim throng
They're still there
He's all gone..."
Songs Springsteen Never Sang
I think Springsteen paid his carrying-water-for-Obama dues in full with "Born in the USA" (b/w "STFU, Mick").
I do not listen to Neil Young or The Boss because of their politics. I listen to them because of their wonderful, heartfelt music. I expect them to be politically naïve and myopic. They are millionaires after all, and both the product of the 60s.
Honestly, I expect them to be commies. So what! I go to other sources for my political information.
Keep on rocking indeed.
Trey
I would hardly say that Springsteen helped to get Obama elected. He was obviously very reluctant to support him this time around and seemingly only did it as a choice of the lesser of 2 evils. I don't think anybody is required to comment on every single issue. Your comments are as close minded as the people you are complaining about.
You say where are these artists during mid-term battles? Have you ever listened to Bruce Springsteen? Just about every album he put out this decade deals with troubles and issues that are occurring. Also, did you ever think that since these musicians rally for Obama, they may believe in his decisions and don't see reason to speak out? Do some research on people in your articles before slamming them
has Rage Against the Machine put out an album since Obama has been in office?
Phx wrote:
"Neil Young sounds very wise on this issue."
now or then?
Debra Miller:
I don't think anybody is required to comment on every single issue
Except the left was so verbose speaking truth to,power and calling republicans evil neo con warmongers you'd think that issue like war would be something they'd want to talk about when its done by your guy.
What do you want from Bruce?? Do you want him to go and fight in Syria?? If he is Billionaire is because WE and millions of people around the world loved and love his lyrics and energy. Should he write about Beverly rich people because he is millionaire?? How stupid can you be to think that?? Now i know why he is not playing in USA..and he prefer the rest of the world. YOU are sooo idiots...,judging him for his politics comments, instead of his music. I don't think he loves Obama at all, but he is smart, and he knows that because of REPUBLICANS AND BECAUSE OF BUSH, ALL THE WORLD HATE U.S.A.
Where are all the cons that said we need to take the terrorists out before they become threats to the world at large? Where are the cons that said anybody that disrespects the President in a time of war (we're still in Afghanistan), is a traitor? Where are the cons who used to care about the world at large and supported Jr. through thick and thin with his disastrous foreign policy now when the President is actually supporting Your policies (just like healthcare)? Nice misdirection. I know cons are absolutely pathologically incapable of looking in the mirror at their own hypocrisy and failure. The group that once at least touted personal responsibility, even if they never practiced it, now have become professional victims and whiners. And anti-American. Conservatives hate their own country and people. It's sad and pathetic what's happened to you losers, but we will keep you buried and not allow you to win.
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