Chart a New Course!

Thank you for your serfdom to the Microsoft United States of America, brought to you by United Parcel Service!

I’ve had it. I’m tired of fitting in, being just another face in the crowd, and playing by the rules that society dictates. I’m not talking about law-breaking behavior. I’m talking about putting up a standard. I’m talking about not letting the large corporations make the rules.

I’m a capitalist. I believe that people should be free to earn as much money as they want. Likewise, I am a believer in and practitioner of the First Amendment. People should be able to say whatever they want. I also, however, advocate that with freedom comes responsibility. With First Amendment freedoms comes the responsibility to not speak lewdly or offensively in front of others, especially children. Although people should be able to create the kind of life they desire through their hard work, those people need to be responsible with the money they have been given. There is so much money in this world, and so much need. There is an incredible disparity between the two. In fact, these multi-billion dollar corporations hoard a great deal of this money. Their profits are larger than the GDP of some small nations. Yet, what do they do? They take their phone queues and manufacturing business out of the country to hire workers that work for pennies on the dollar. They encourage slave labor in China that no one will speak out against. They hire illegal aliens that have driven down the wages of hard-working Americans, because these companies can do business cheaper. Truck drivers, landscapers, roofers, and other blue collar jobs are paying less and less for Americans to do these jobs. The large corporations are not people. They are entities that hold money for their own purposes. Corporations care about the bottom line, not all of the children in Africa with A.I.D.S. I do not side with entities. I side with people. Unfortunately, we have enslaved ourselves to them because it’s easier to work for someone else rather than ourselves.

These corporations put their name on everything. Everything is an advertisement. Stadiums, music festivals and tours, buses and bus stops, clothes, banners on television shows, banners on web sites, etc.; everywhere we look we see advertisements. People are willing to advertise for free for these corporations. Most people have nothing. They owe more than they own. Banks have traded us the promise of money for our actual cash! The banks and companies we do business with walk away with everything, leaving us with junk and still in the hole. We’re told what’s trendy. We’re told what we need to have. We’re told what type of music to listen to …and we listen.

Music is the most accessible bridge between the physical and the spiritual. Popular music has effectively conditioned people to listen to the beat, and that music, outside of music where there are lyrics, is undesirable. The expression of music, in and of itself, has been covered up. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eagles, and others made records their way. They made records that people would sit down and soak in the music for many hours. Friends got together and listened, paving the way for deep discussions. Bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, Coldplay, and others have tried to put the music first. Rock and Roll was about rabid independence. Now every last “star” has sold out to corporations and political platforms. Each performer is a complete cookie-cutter imprint of the preceding one (except maybe Ted Nugent). Music isn’t about advertising for multi-billion dollar corporations. Music isn’t about form, at least strict form. Music has had verses and choruses since before the madrigals of the medieval period. Now, however, it’s the same form for every song, each song clocking in around 3:00 to 3:30 in length. What happened to a long bridge or outro in which the song takes a completely different turn? How about a decent intro? The instrumental?

People got tired of the strict sonata form, and drifted toward more fluidly composed works. I believe that we’re close to a change. We are ruled by minimalistic music that says nothing, mega-corporations that turn everything and everyone into advertisements, and banks that hold our money, while we trade it for junk. The music, the junk, it’s all designed to pacify us, to keep us from thinking, condition us so that we do not put up a standard. The time has come to change direction. The time has come to let them all know that they serve at our pleasure. They do not rule our lives.

Once upon a time, I used to worry about the trends of music and how a song I wrote fit in to those trends. I’m done worrying about that kind of stuff. Each song I write, I am looking for that song’s identity. What can I do, what can the guys I am playing with bring to the table to unlock the mystery of the song? We are people of value. This is not a one-size-fits-all world! We each have individual identities! We can not all be herded into the same pen! Stand up and change direction! Look for music that makes you think, makes you feel. Read things that broaden your world, not allow you to escape to another. You can not face the injustices of this world until you look this world in the face and see it for what it really is. You can’t say you want to see starvation end, and go home after work and bury yourself in your nightly television ritual. How many times can you watch Sports Center in one night? Do you really care about South Bumblebeetuna St. vs. East Pigsknuckle U? Why watch it?!? Did last week’s Desperate Housewives do anything to make your life better? I’m sorry if I hit a nerve. But you know what? The time is now! The sleeping masses need to open up their eyes! Choose a different course! I’m here waiving large orange flags in front of your face and screaming your name. Do not avert your eyes to the reality in front of you. Soak it in, no matter how painful. It will birth a purpose inside of you. Nothing is more urgent right now, than you awake, and your purpose discovered.