BY JOHN DENSMORE
Bruce Springsteen hosted his 4th annual American Music Honors celebration on April 18th at the Monmouth University in New Jersey. In light of Trump taking over the Kennedy Center, resulting in many artists cancelling their participation, Bruce’s Honors seemed a fitting answer to Trump’s coup. Now, Bruce is participating in a “Power to the People” concert on October 3rd with the Foo Fighters, Dave Mathews, Public Enemy and a host of other rockers.
There’s a reason why Donald Trump threatened Bruce Springsteen for exposing the issues facing our country. There’s a reason Eddie Vedder backed Bruce. Because Rock n’ Roll is the absolute best advertisement for Democracy that we’ve got goin’. That doesn’t fit with the President’s authoritarian plan. My old next door neighbor in Laurel Canyon, Neil Young, had it right. His lyrics say it all.
There’s a reason Trump’s pal Kid Rock dissed Bruce as “Hollywood elite.” There’s a reason The Donald dissed Springsteen (& Meryl Streep) as lacking talent. The “Hollywood” folks are special because they are the very best at what they do. Kid Rock & the president aren’t.
There’s a reason Donald Trump tried to steal Neil’s song when “Agent Orange” (Spike Lee’s name for the prez) rode down that elevator years ago. He tried to co-opt the energy, and Neil sued for stolen property. This raucous, spiritual energy can’t be captured in a bottle. It is a call by the youth, for authenticity and truth telling – no BS. It started with Elvis (who copped it from and/or was inspired by Black people), and rode the train all the way to Kurt Cobain.
Along the way, this energy helped “kill fascists”(the phrase Woody Guthrie carved into the body of his guitar) during the McCarthy era, and it helped end the Vietnam War (Buffy St. Marie wrote “Universal Soldier” & Jim Morrison wrote “Unknown Soldier,” not to mention “(Four Dead in) Ohio” by Neil Young, “What’s Goin’ On” by Marvin Gaye, “Eve of Destruction” by PF Sloan… the list goes on and on).
The most dramatic and effective use to me was Vaclav Havel listening to the Velvet Underground while he was in prison – the writer, poet, and playwright was jailed for speaking the truth within his artistic endeavors. But he eventually became the first Democratic president of the Czech Republic, without a bullet being fired. Three hundred thousand people filled the streets of Czechoslovakia every night for two weeks. The Russians couldn’t take it, and finally left. It was dubbed the “Velvet Revolution”, in honor of the band. In gratitude, the Velvet’s lead singer, Lou Reed, told me that he was invited to interview Havel as a thank you for feeding the future prez with musical manna.
Back in the day (of Vietnam), when the Rolling Stones wrote “Street Fighting Man,” I was excited, because Lyndon Johnson’s “undeclared” war was “sucking up all the $$ for the War on Poverty like a demonic vacuum cleaner,” as Martin Luther King put it. Nixon was coming around the corner, and we needed a strong blowback. It wasn’t easy, but eventually the people stopped the war. Upon further investigation, I realized that the Stones song was only a metaphor.
(“After all, Mick went to the London School of Economics, so what did you expect, John?”)
I hit a few protest rallies, but was mainly on the road with my band.
(“Just like the Stones, John”)
Well, Mick & Keith did imply in the lyric that London town being sleepy was a bit boring, and it might be better to be where the action was. Let’s not forget that the U.S. tried to deport John Lennon because he was at the center of the action, and was extra vulnerable because he was an immigrant. Also a very provocative artist speaking the truth. His lyrics, “You say you want a revolution, we’d love to see your plan…but when you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out,” was an MLK kinda rap, but more than the lyrics, it’s the energy that’s important. An energy that “calls people on the rug.” Certainly there is some rock and roll that doesn’t have the “roll” – meaning it’s too rigid – meaning it’s primarily for the $$. The muse doesn’t always come around to bless when the energy is tainted.
The Doors are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year, and when I was a kid, the thought of someone being 60 meant they were almost dead. I’ll be 82 this year, and am feeling pretty strong. The Stones are out there kickin’ ass in their 80s, so maybe this energy we’re talkin’ about is life sustaining. I also think it’s good for the country. Very good. For a country that is trying to allow all voices to be heard, it’s not easy, but being inclusive is the only way to fly. That is if you want your rainbow to arc all the way across the sky. Jesse Jackson, years ago, called it “The Rainbow Coalition.” Without all the colors, it ain’t gonna happen.
Good luck, America. Keep listening to rock n’ roll. As Leonard Cohen wrote, “Democracy is comin’ to the USA.” In other words, it’s not fully here yet. But feeding off of this musical energy as the soundtrack, I believe we can do it!!
NYA Thanks John Densmore!