with DeadSun

You've seen him in Fan Speak all around the antiMUSIC network, now DeadSun gets his big show as the host of his very own talk show,  The Not Quite-So DeadShow ! Forget Oprah and Dr. Phil, DeadSun knows how to liven up a talk show. 

disclaimer for lawyers and dumbasses: Please read the disclaimer before proceeding with this article. the disclaimer is included here-in by reference.

If you are under the age of 17, this article is not meant for you so please bugger off. For those too lazy to click what follows is parody and celebrity assholes are impersonated

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Not Quite-So DeadShow for this special Deaditorial from Dead Sun.

It could hardly be argued that the political climate has not leaked its way into just about everything in the world these days. There’s no escape--- turn on a radio or television set, or open a magazine, and chances are you’re going to catch a huge whiff of it. The political climate these days has turned pervasive, heated, and in some cases downright ugly. These things are simply unavoidable, for such are the times. But if man is truly a political animal, as Aristotle would have us believe, then evidently the political animal of today has gone rabid. 

Musicians and entertainers--- being only human--- aren’t insulated from this. 

Should they be? 

I’m trying to look at this from each side. They’re subject to the same signs of the times as the rest of us are. Perhaps even more so, if we’re willing to concede that if music derives so many of its expressions and ideas from the world around us, and politics is one of the main forces “turning” that world, it is completely unreasonable to expect music and politics to remain mutually exclusive of one another. I believe that. Nevertheless, in the kind of politically charged environment we’re living in, it should come as no surprise that many musicians these days are finding out that when the political stakes skyrocket, the operating costs of mixing politics with music do so in a like manner. There’s nothing unfair about that, either. 

At some point during the course of our schooling, most of us are required to take a course in physics. It is usually then that we learn about Newton’s Third Law--- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That has always stuck with me. Think about that. Physics aside, it seems to be found in just about every dimension of life that I have encountered to date--- and this is one law that is inviolable. Musicians : proceed at your own discretion, for just as you have the right to lace your goods with a little political sermonizing, the consumer reserves the right to pull away, if you do so in a way that is perceived as sneaky, brash, or transparent. Deal with it. When you chose to be a public voice, you took that step for better or worse. In the school of hard knocks, there is a saying : “Them’s the breaks, kiddo.” 

Some musicians are somewhat protected against a backlash from their fans, usually if they are a band who takes up the political torch in their SONGS--- as opposed to the ones who wait until they get you at the venue to expound their political views. No one is particularly alarmed to hear this stuff from Bono, Zack de la Rocha, System of a Down, Joan Baez, Jello Biafra, or Michael Stipe, are they? The Dixie Chicks ( to give a well known example ) are a slightly different animal though, aren’t they? If those three couldn’t muster the collective logic to realize that, given their fan base’s general demographic and the content of their music, Newton’s Third Law would bite them full force, then they are either unbelievably naïve, or need to retake Thinking 101. 

That having been said, things are evidently no better at the other extreme. Tearing down posters and damaging property? Please tell me there isn’t a soul among us who is willing to even BEGIN to justify this kind of garbage. What is wrong with us? I’m getting these visions of the legendary, en masse destruction of Beatles albums that ensued when John Lennon quipped that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. I feel like I’ve been zapped back to 1966, for Christ’s sake. Is this where we are heading? Remember the golden days, when purple-faced zealots were kept to the side as a kind of quietly acknowledged embarrassment? By all means, disagree. By all means, have a healthy debate. By all means, boycott. These are all fine. These are the earmarks of a free, healthy, CIVILIZED society. Just not as much foaming at the mouth, if you please.

Even boycotting would have to be selective. Not all protestations against the negative consequences of warfare come whining campus prats, either. How about a song like “War Pigs”, by the Mighty Black Sabbath? Anyone remember “Two Minutes to Midnight”, by Iron Maiden? How about Metallica’s “Disposable Heroes”? Food for thought, that’s all. If you decide you’re going to boycott every artist who has a beef with the political state of affairs, chances are there won’t be a hell of a lot left for you to choose from. Let’s face it--- artists are UTTERLY idealistic by nature. They strive for what is desirable, not what is practical, and “desirable”, while great in fueling the creative drive, rarely works well in the material world. That’s why they often find sanctuary with the utopian Left. No big deal. If you think that I’m ready to relieve myself of my Lou Reed catalogue because I don’t see eye to eye with his politics, then maybe it’s time you take a little vacation. I know of a smashing location, too--- nice, white rooms, soft, padded walls, great medication, and a friendly wait staff. To summarize :  you’re out of your tiny little mind. 

Let me know.

What is new under the sun? A-List artists will have to keep bashing conservatives, so long as they do not wish to be ostracized from the posh cocktail party circuit and miss getting the headlines. When you ride into Hollywood, Los Angeles, New York, etc, and don’t bring along the standard issue Leftist groupthink--- every person reading this knows what will happen--- the only work you would get would be at the frozen yogurt bar. You’d probably get the flip side of the coin in Nashville, Memphis or Branson. That’s just the way it is. Them’s the breaks, kiddo--- but if you’re anxious enough to dance, be ready to pay the piper.

In the meantime, I wonder aloud how possible it would be for the cameras and microphones to find their way past the witch hunters, and give reason a chance to prevail. Course, that doesn’t make for thrilling action news, does it? I look at the world around me, and I see political allegiances railroading us off to the fringes of blind hawkishness or perpetual pacifism--- neither of which will demonstrably, by way of history, sustain a people. It’s maddening. I suppose it’s a fair assumption to speculate that this is what’s presently happening in the music and entertainment industries. Just a little less foaming at the mouth, and a little more civilized opining is all I ask for.  

NOW who is being “utopian”? ( smirk ) 

Still : if your wish is to proselytize to the public with impunity, you will not succeed. 

Beware.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Thank you, Mr. Newton.

DS
 
 

Your turn. 

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