decisions
I have presented my thoughts about this whole silly thing (60 seconds out of 30,000 seconds of music I've written, for four weeks out of a 5000-week period of playing music, on some tiny amount of TVs relative to however many TVs fill this crazy planet) so many times, and I always say it'll be the last, and people keep being curious about it. It's like my Monica-OJ.
I turned down Coke's offer for the US. In the end, it didn't feel right. That it aired in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand for four weeks was a technicality that no one (Jade Tree, me, the other New End guys) got much money for. Basically, it aired while I was making the decision about the larger US thing.
In hindsight, I regret letting them air it at all, but I'm okay with it. Hindsight is so easy. The only thing easier is judging someone else. Even more than the commercial itself, in some ways, I regret discussing it as publicly as I did all my thoughts around the decision. I'm naive enough to think that if I talk about things openly, people will deal with them in a similar way, and we'll have some neat conversation that broadens our understanding of what it is to make real decisions in a complicated world. I have learned a lot about that, but it's been sad to see the same silly arguments over and over again, no matter how much I try to talk about other things. I understand all the apparent hypocrisy inherent in letting that particular song be used, and in writing 'Livin Small' (which I wrote before the decision was made). In the end, for me, it wasn't about the money, it was about letting go of the vanity around ideals.
So many artists have done similar things (Modest Mouse, Dashboard, The Shins, Blonde Redhead, on and on...), so many artists that the people that come and make sarcastic, mean comments listen to, and buy the records and t-shirts of. It's just that most artists avoid publicly discussing about the decision, or offer some simple simple, vague rationalization. Which is fine, that's their way, and I'm learning mine. Beyond that, as has been pointed out, to live in this fucked up sweatshop world and have any ideas that you discuss publicly is to be a hypocrite, and I won't stop having ideals, and I won't stop making decisions that seem to fly in the face of them sometimes. Livin Small, ironically, is all about all of this, not about 'selling out', and Lukewarm was never about 'selling out' in such a one-dimensional way either. They're both about ideals, and living for yourself, even when you take shit for it. They were more prophetic than I could ever have understood.
I will continue to live in a way that aspires to being nonjudgmental, and making choices for myself without worrying about how it may or may not look to other people, and being proud and humble about what I've done. The people that get it will stay, the people that don't won't. It's always the way it's been, and I'm grateful.
I turned down Coke's offer for the US. In the end, it didn't feel right. That it aired in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand for four weeks was a technicality that no one (Jade Tree, me, the other New End guys) got much money for. Basically, it aired while I was making the decision about the larger US thing.
In hindsight, I regret letting them air it at all, but I'm okay with it. Hindsight is so easy. The only thing easier is judging someone else. Even more than the commercial itself, in some ways, I regret discussing it as publicly as I did all my thoughts around the decision. I'm naive enough to think that if I talk about things openly, people will deal with them in a similar way, and we'll have some neat conversation that broadens our understanding of what it is to make real decisions in a complicated world. I have learned a lot about that, but it's been sad to see the same silly arguments over and over again, no matter how much I try to talk about other things. I understand all the apparent hypocrisy inherent in letting that particular song be used, and in writing 'Livin Small' (which I wrote before the decision was made). In the end, for me, it wasn't about the money, it was about letting go of the vanity around ideals.
So many artists have done similar things (Modest Mouse, Dashboard, The Shins, Blonde Redhead, on and on...), so many artists that the people that come and make sarcastic, mean comments listen to, and buy the records and t-shirts of. It's just that most artists avoid publicly discussing about the decision, or offer some simple simple, vague rationalization. Which is fine, that's their way, and I'm learning mine. Beyond that, as has been pointed out, to live in this fucked up sweatshop world and have any ideas that you discuss publicly is to be a hypocrite, and I won't stop having ideals, and I won't stop making decisions that seem to fly in the face of them sometimes. Livin Small, ironically, is all about all of this, not about 'selling out', and Lukewarm was never about 'selling out' in such a one-dimensional way either. They're both about ideals, and living for yourself, even when you take shit for it. They were more prophetic than I could ever have understood.
I will continue to live in a way that aspires to being nonjudgmental, and making choices for myself without worrying about how it may or may not look to other people, and being proud and humble about what I've done. The people that get it will stay, the people that don't won't. It's always the way it's been, and I'm grateful.