Redneck

David Bowie

~ Cave_Guy ~ 6 Comments

redneck-stardust-1112

Ziggy Stardust

ziggysd

I was 11 and I was a little boy in England — I was not a happy child – I was an intense and deep thinking young dude.

Music was not a thing to me.

I sorta liked the Beatles and T-rex and Slade (ok, I did like Slade)

But – I didn’t have anything to really connect me.

——– Until the day I would not forget

“Spiders from Mars” arrived at the house.

And it was the Album Cover that mesmerized me.

This was a weak-artsy–deep-thinking-cool-dude. And he had arrived.

The impact of this cover and that day stays with me.

And it had nothing to do with the music – it was this persona – this image —– This ballsy statement of — “I am here, deal with it”

We were waiting for you – This was my pied piper moment – I was hypnotized.

It was my streets with some amazing shift of culture.

If this was ok then I could be ok — We, the new generation had arrived.

This is my last good memory of England; we would soon move to the United States – Ironically – I now live within striking distance from where David Bowie had a home in Woodstock.

This is my upstate NY homage to my hero – yeah…I am not a young dude anymore – And I live in a redneck land.

We become ok with our surroundings and our place in this world or we do not.

David Bowie helped me understand that.

Cheers from the cave!

Just in case you missed what a sublime sense of humor he had.

 

Accidental Racist- We all agree- It’s just a bad song.

~ Cave_Guy ~ 6 Comments
I had Starbucks coffee on a Friday night
I had Starbucks coffee on a Friday night (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wow…that is one awkward song to listen to. It may be the most uncomfortable filler song that has ever been produced. I get what they are trying to do and I respect them for giving it all they had-but this was doomed to fail for many reasons….Now maybe rich rednecks (like duck dynasty rednecks or country music stars) hit up Starbucks for a mocha cappuccino on the way down to the creek for some bluegill fishing. But I am not thinking that is too typical. And I have a tough time picturing L.L. Cool Jay as a barista. It seems like the Skynyrd shirt is the least of the things that could go wrong with this song.

You have two very rich and famous men trying to relate to the everyday man in this country. It is just too big of a jump to make. Again, I respect them both for taking a running start and doing a big cannonball into this pool of historical anger and guilt that no one else wants any part of.

This is the first time through and like all first times at everything- it is not going to be smooth.

Brad Paisley tends to write cartoony songs about all kinds of subjects and this is no exception to that style. What makes this approach usually work is his strong sense of humor weaving around the quirky guitar lines. LL Cool J tries to offer the clarifying view from the other side but can’t make the mis-written words fit. There is nothing worse than listening to an unfunny joke poorly delivered and this is how this song comes off.

I thank them for breaking the ice and getting the conversation going.

And to all the critics and distracters out there….Go write your own song about healing these wounds and see how it goes.

I for one am glad that representatives from country music and hip hop music have met and are starting talks. This is a complicated issue that cuts through many layers and generations and I hope this bad song starts the writing of some good songs. I would love to live in an America that lets music bring us together instead of driving us apart.

And maybe it is starting to work…because all the different cultures and sub-groups in this country have gotten together with one single voice to declare “This is a bad song”