Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Springsteen

parisikov · Post by **parisikov** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:33 am

[quote="chlamor"]There are literally thousands of artists who have not or did not sell out. If you don't know any of them then you might wish to tune out the pop dial for a minute and look around. Great art will speak truth to power rather than pander and glorify it.

God, how easily you serve up this tedious pap. Your lack of irony, Clamor, is only surpassed by the insufferable righteousness in this and your other 38,000 messages. You preach to the choir and imagine the affirming noises are some evidence of absolute correction. My stray comment was essentially a reference to the ease you and some others have with dismissing anyone of note as a stooge, a plant, a pawn, because they lack your mighty vision and courage. Embracing the delusion that you are keeper of the truth and champion of the masses might be a fine internet hobby, but its bludgeoning character evokes the same spirit of control you contend to oppose.

compared2what? · Post by **compared2what?** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:53 am

MacCruiskeen wrote:Springsteen: The blandness of his message is matched only by the cheesiness of his 'product'. This is music as work, sweaty and effortful, reeking of testosterone and after-shave. The arrival of "The Boss" marked the birth of Classic Rack and placed a ten-ton tombstone on the grave of the Sixties. It's no wonder Obama Inc. chose him to provide the live* soundtrack to their perfectly-staged simulation of change, their smoothly-engineered commodification of hope.

barracuda wrote:He was born to sell out
When he made his first British appearance in 1975 I was a young teenager, and I can still remember the gazillion-dollar publicity campaign unleashed by Columbia Records at the time. There were screaming full-page ads in the NME and the MelodyMaker, asking (they thought rhetorically): "IS BRITAIN READY FOR BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN???"

By 1975, he'd been playing out for ten years, starting when he was sixteen, and for most of that time with little or no reward. He signed to Columbia in 1972, and released two records that bombed before the one you're referring to. It is therefore not so surprising that the publicity campaign was not the label's doing, but rather the work of Springsteen's new personal manager, Jon Landau, a true believer and former rock-critic who turned Springsteen's career around at the point in time to which you refer.

I'm not much of a fan, personally. Though I do like some of the singles quite a bit, I'll happily admit. Especially....Oh, you know. The one that's a really good single. But never mind. Maybe it will come to me on edit. My point is that broadly speaking, I've got no dog in this hunt. Nevertheless, Mac, I've gotta make a pro forma objection to your assessment of him. On the grounds that it's totally wrong!!!!! I declare a thumb war!!!!

Not really, of course. I'm actually just respectfully dissenting again.

Boring, I know.

OP ED · Post by **OP ED** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:27 pm

(its funny y'all are so damn old that what bruce springsteen does is relevant to you)

...

[sorry]

MacCruiskeen · Post by **MacCruiskeen** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:51 pm

OP ED wrote:(its funny y'all are so damn old that what bruce springsteen does is relevant to you)

Young at heart, me lad, young at heart. At least I still have my hearing. Apropos: The Beef Jerky of the Airwaves is only "relevant" to me when he's being shoved in my face, or (even worse) in my ears, and it keeps being done to me against my will. Technically, that's assault, you know.

Bruce Springsteen, available from Wal-Mart.

Cosmic Cowbell · Post by **Cosmic Cowbell** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:01 pm

I'd thought you would have rather preferred...

MacCruiskeen · Post by **MacCruiskeen** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:28 pm

Oh, thanks for reminding me, CC: I'm a Nazi Jazz Snob, just cos I spoke back to The Boss...

Well, Big Jerky may be wildly popular in the Heartland (or Homeland, or Vaterland, or whatever you call it over there these days), but frankly, heartburn and constipation have never been my idea of a good time, so I'll pass. Now please excuse me while I seek out a decent French restaurant.

- Meanwhile, here's some Anti-Nazi Anti-Jazz:

Einstürzende Neubauten: Yu-Güng (Futter mein Ego)

"Egal!"

Cosmic Cowbell · Post by **Cosmic Cowbell** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:18 pm

Um...I hope I didn't imply you a "Nazi Jazz Snob". Just snobbish - see your "music means something " comment. Real hipster insight...

You're the one (along with many others) that wants it to be something "more"...intellectually or otherwise.

while listening to Jazz....

barracuda · Post by **barracuda** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:38 pm

OP ED wrote:y'all are so damn old

Yeah, but we were young when it mattered.

Whippersnapper.

ON EDIT maybe this shot is more pertinent to the thread:

AlicetheKurious · Post by **AlicetheKurious** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:03 am

Cosmic Cowbell wrote:Um...I hope I didn't imply you a "Nazi Jazz Snob". Just snobbish - see your "music means something " comment. Real hipster insight...

You're the one (along with many others) that wants it to be something "more"...intellectually or otherwise.

while listening to Jazz....

How can you not want music to be something 'more'? When it can be so much more? Maybe I am too old, but a lot of the music on the radio bores me to death, it insults me to listen to it; some of it even frightens me a little, in the way it celebrates ugliness, mediocrity and mankind's basest instincts.

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent” -- Victor Hugo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ertdPfFyhOE

I'm not saying one shouldn't enjoy the occasional hot-dog, but a constant diet will make you sick.

professorpan · Post by **professorpan** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:54 pm

Springsteen spoke out at every concert appearance on his tour before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. During every single show, he paused to give what he called his "public service message" about the rush to war, the futility of all war, and how it would be a colossal mistake to invade Iraq. He got some boos from the crowd (no, they were not yelling Bruuuuuuce) and he knew it might hurt his sales, but his words were impassioned and real. It took guts, unlike posting on message boards.

I don't give a flying fuck what anyone thinks about his music because I don't rely on the validation of others when it comes to what I like to listen to. As Snoop Dogg might say, "Never have, never will." But unlike nearly every other mega-star in popular music, Springsteen has always put his words, energy, and money into causes I believe in.

But that won't stop halfwits who don't know what they're talking about from slandering him. Reason #267 why I can barely even skim the bulk of threads on this board anymore, and why even typing this little screed seems like a waste of time.

AlicetheKurious · Post by **AlicetheKurious** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:29 pm

professorpan wrote: But that won't stop halfwits who don't know what they're talking about from slandering him.

There's a huge difference between liking Springsteen's music and respecting the man, and critically analyzing the Superbowl extravaganza that he participated in.

Reason #267 why I can barely even skim the bulk of threads on this board anymore, and why even typing this little screed seems like a waste of time.

Maybe your time would have been better spent breathing deeply and listening to something beautiful.

OP ED · Post by **OP ED** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:30 pm

barracuda wrote:
OP ED wrote:y'all are so damn old
Yeah, but we were young when it mattered.

just keep telling yourself that.

professorpan · Post by **professorpan** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:45 pm

There's a huge difference between liking Springsteen's music and respecting the man, and critically analyzing the Superbowl extravaganza that he participated in.

Of course there is. But the original article is a hyperventilating piece of nonsense, and many of the comments only went downhill from there.

And yes, maybe my time is better spent doing something constructive and meaningful in the real world. Point taken.

barracuda · Post by **barracuda** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:45 pm

OP ED wrote:just keep telling yourself that

I was rocking out before you were even a sperm cell.

waugs · Post by **waugs** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:15 pm

How appropriate that you bring up Mr. Bargeld...There's a quote by him about rock festivals and how they serve the same purpose as the Nuremberg rallies.

MacCruiskeen wrote:Oh, thanks for reminding me, CC: I'm a Nazi Jazz Snob, just cos I spoke back to The Boss...

Well, Big Jerky may be wildly popular in the Heartland (or Homeland, or Vaterland, or whatever you call it over there these days), but frankly, heartburn and constipation have never been my idea of a good time, so I'll pass. Now please excuse me while I seek out a decent French restaurant.

- Meanwhile, here's some Anti-Nazi Anti-Jazz:

Einstürzende Neubauten: Yu-Güng (Futter mein Ego)

"Egal!"