YouTube: rb.gy/idggbx
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"For you to think about me."
Meat and potatoes rock and roll flourished in the midwest, in the south, had a presence in the west but was pooh-poohed in the northeast. "Free Bird" caught on in New York after it broke elsewhere. I don't remember ever hearing Foghat on FM, nor did anybody own the records, even though I got hooked on the band hearing "Boogie Motel" and "Stone Blue" on FM when I moved to Los Angeles.
One of the reasons meat and potatoes rock gets a bad rep is the lyrics. Simple. Misogynistic. Anything but vulnerable.
But when I heard "Never Been Any Reason" on Spotify today...
I started with "Rocky Mountain High," I had a hankering to hear it. And from there the instant radio station slipped into "Listen to the Music" and then "Foreplay/Long Time," not that I saw the John Denver cut being aligned with the latter, but in truth we could be fans of all sounds back in the day. Today everything is available online, just a click away, but despite all the hoopla about the grazing of the youngsters it seems people end up in their silos.
Now I've heard "Never Been Any Reason" more as an oldie than when it was originally released in 1975. And it got a boost from its inclusion in "Dazed and Confused," back in 1993, seems just like yesterday. Teen exploitation films are no longer a thing, at least at the multiplex, they can appear on streaming outlets, but they used to be a ritual. First and foremost with the B pictures of the sixties and seventies, and even through "American Pie" in the nineties. Then again, are today's kids optimistic? Can they ignore the realities of climate change, income inequality and financial hardship? By time the seventies rolled around, politics was in the background, especially after Nixon was gone and Vietnam wound down. There was a level of hedonism boomers hadn't seen previously, the seriousness of the sixties was history, we were luxuriating in our achievements.
We had weed, whites and wine, and things were pretty good.
The concert business was built in the sixties and matured in the seventies. The sound was finally good, you expected it. And shows were not exotic, they were a ritual, you went on a regular basis, they were affordable. And the touring artists could live quite well on the income.
So you banged your head. Let go. Felt alive. Untroubled.
Of course this wasn't completely true, but the music got you through.
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"Have you ever been lonely, do you have any fun"
One thing about the over-criticized internet, it has brought the lonely together, you can go online and find your tribe. It seems like the only people testifying about the ills of the internet are those who had/have no problem functioning in regular society, going to prom, getting laid, being a member of the group. But that leaves plenty of people out. And for this group the internet has been a godsend. The fact that money and looks aren't everything online aids those who don't ring the bell regarding these criteria. Sure, there are social media influencers parading their assets, then again Mr. Beast didn't make it on looks. Nerds rule the internet and the cool people of yore don't like this.
So who is this person the singer is asking these questions of? It sounds like the underdog. But it's not. She's his heart's desire, she's the winner.
"Did you see any action
Did you make any friends
Would you like some affection
Before I leave again"
Typical macho rock star a*shole, right? I mean listen to the music, it's energetic, breezy, but in reality it's a cover-up.
"I've been walking behind you
Since you've been able to see
There's never been any reason
For you to think about me"
They grew up in the same neighborhood. She never took him seriously. He's got a crush. Girls talk about their crushes all the time, they share this information, plot strategies of connection. But boys...they josh and jive and rate the girls, it's all posturing, truth is never revealed, because you don't want to look weak. Your crush is secret. And if it comes out oftentimes you're an object of ridicule.
"Would you be my companion
Is there even a chance"
You know, go on the road, to live the rock and roll lifestyle, getting high, getting laid, getting paid. But if this is so, why do so many of these male stars get married so soon? For every Gene Simmons there are scores of stars who went on the road and came home and married their local sweetheart before leaving town again. You see the road is lonely. Sure, there's sex, not for everyone, despite the legend, but human beings crave connection, intimacy, and the road is antithetical to this.
"You've been talking in circles
Since I've been able to cry
There's never been any reason
For ever telling me why"
The lyrics are not clear, they don't make complete sense, but that's de rigueur for rock and roll. On one hand he's longing in isolation, but you can also argue that they've had intimate relations. In any event, whatever has happened, or not, she's not giving him what he wants. She's elusive.
We've all been there. Even if there are moments of connection you're never quite sure whether they're into you. You can't read the situation, and you can't get any answers.
She's so fine.
"Woman with the sweet lovin', better than a white line"
But he's holding the short end of the stick, if he's holding it at all.
So he postures.
"There's never been any reason
For me to think about you"
But he can't hold that position.
"Save my life, I'm going down for the last time"
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There's a vulnerability in "Never Give Any Reason" that I didn't catch until today.
And the truth is so many of the meat and potatoes rock tracks have unperceived depth.
But as the decades wore on...
MTV became about posturing, by the new wave of English bands.
And then Nirvana brought on the era of alienation. There'd always been alienation in rock, but this was the ethos of Kurt Cobain and the rest of the Seattle sound and then...
Hip-hop was all about posturing. Bragging.
Rock lost its way.
Pop gained inroads unseen since the sixties. Mariah Carey. The divas. The center of the universe moved from rock and roll to a blend of pop and hip-hop, and rock has never recovered.
Sure, we had Coldplay, but that band has a core of wimpiness, there's no edge. And Dave Matthews is not about edge. And Radiohead is its own spacey thing, and more of a cult than mainstream.
And all those acts broke before the old paradigm evaporated. They were boosted by music television and terrestrial radio. And once that died...
So did rock and roll.
Today's rock and roll is anti-internet. It's far from vulnerable. It's the uber-alienated playing for the uber-alienated. The rock audience used to be mainstream, but today's "Active Rock" appeals to the downtrodden, the blue collar, the left out. It's a bubble. It doesn't stream. It doesn't sync. It's a narrow construct. As for mainstream rock and roll...
It's dead.
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