RE: Lost Lennon Interview ?
Hey, George W Bush has a new really good rap CD out! Go get it and listen to it!!! Ted Kennedy has a way cool hip-hop CD he has just created! Tony Blair has a new novel he wrote that is just published.
I wouldn't expect much artistic magnificence from our politicians. That isn't their bag, man, to quote Austin Powers. Similarly, don't expect much political insight from our pop artists. I don't know how pop artists became invested by the public as having some special insights into political issues. My observation is that (1) Bono, (2) Sting, (3) Barbara Streisand, (4) Robert Redford, (5) Marlon Brando, (6) John Lennon, (7) the Dixie Chicks show no greater insights, understanding, ability to think logically than a random selection of people at a state fair. This is NOT a recommendation.
I read just a bit of the Lennon interview. I'm not going to invest the time necessary to read all of that, let alone analyze it sufficiently to critique it cogently. I would say what I read was a disorganized hodge podge of personal experience, sloganism, and outright mistake. For example, I find it hard to believe that when John Lennon was growing up that the working class view of the Army was negative and that it chewed up and destroyed people. I think Lennon either lied or was mistaken when he said that. I think, rather, that when John Lennon was growing up the memories of the Nazi Blitz were extremely fresh in the minds of all the British adults and that the military services were viewed as the saviors of Britain. Remember, that country was under all out aerial assault by the Germans and that invasion was imminent. The threat was real and undeniable. The consequences of not resisting this threat militarily would have been subjugation under a Nazi regime with all attendant repressions and concentration camp solutions. Bear in mind that it was not only jews that were consigned to death camps. Political dissidents (and artists often get classified into this group)andgypsies, too, were done away with.
So . . . the Lennon interview is total BS. But the joke is on us for expecting something more rational, insightful than we could expect from engaging in a political conversation with any poorly dressed slob chewing on a corndogselected randomly at the annual state fair. Just listen to their songs and disregard their political poppycock. "Twist and Shout" is a great song, Lennon's bogus political drivel notwithstanding.
|
