I'm having a last gasp attempt at getting through the syllabus, so I haven't had time to think of anything worth a dime to write about. Besides, I haven't had the time to write much either.
But I have been reading. Greil Marcus has come out of his hiatus (yeah, I know about his Dylan book) and interviews Patti Smith regarding the 30th anniversary of Horses for The Village Voice.
Patti has some views on music and society: "...rock 'n' roll is our cultural voice. I saw it evolve in my lifetime—I'm gonna be 59 in December—and it was revolutionary, in every way. It gave young people an outlet to channel all this new energy that didn't really compute with the generations before them". She goes on to talk about the riots in Paris, saying "I mean, look at what's happening in Paris right now. Part of me wishes I could just go into the streets and say, y'know, "What the fuck? Here—here's a Marshall; here's a Strat." That's the beauty of rock 'n' roll: It's a voice".
I agree that rock 'n' roll can be a voice and all that, but somehow I don't think it's the voice of choice to the kids in Paris. Their voice is more likely hip-hop (which, I suppose, can be as rock'n'roll as anything).
Nelson George is blogging again. It's been a while.
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