Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
I just SawJoe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten tonight. I had to go see it tonight because it was one of those movies that plays at one theater for a week. Tonight was my last chance to go see it. I'm so glad I did.
I forget sometimes how powerful and influential Joe Strummer & The Clash's music has been on my life. London Calling is one of the greatest records to ever be recorded. Period. And it always makes me feel better. Even if I'm already in a good mood that record make me even happier.
Beyond that Joe Strummer was a celebrity with a social consience. It's been said that when punk broke in England in the Seventies The Sex Pistols would come in and smash everything up, and then the Clash would come in and talk about how to fix things. It was very interesting to see celebrities like Bono, Johnny Depp, Flea, & John Cusak all talking about listening to The Clash and saying that they felt the same things I felt. Talking about how listening to The Clash opened their eyes to a larger world. I never thought of myself as very political when I was writing music, but when I look back at some of my lyrics, I really did have some political & social overtones to my lyrics. I owe that to Joe Strummer.
The documentary talked about how Strummer went from a Rockabilly Hippie to a Punk and ultimately back again. It helped re-enforce what most real (in my opinion) punks already knew, which is the punk movement did spawn out of the hippie movement. And a lot of the goal and ideals in both movements have always remained the same. Social Progress.
I remember in 2002 when he died. I was watching VH1 for some reason and I had picked up the phone to call Kat to see what were were going to do later. The news went by on a ticker at the bottom of the screen and I literally dropped the phone. I was in shock. it was like a punch to the gut. Fast forward to 2004 when Joey Ramone died. Mandy was talking to me and said something like "You must be sad that Joey Ramone is dead huh?" and my only reply was "Not like when Joe Strummer died."
Anyway. Joe Strummer was a great man and truly an icon.
I forget sometimes how powerful and influential Joe Strummer & The Clash's music has been on my life. London Calling is one of the greatest records to ever be recorded. Period. And it always makes me feel better. Even if I'm already in a good mood that record make me even happier.
Beyond that Joe Strummer was a celebrity with a social consience. It's been said that when punk broke in England in the Seventies The Sex Pistols would come in and smash everything up, and then the Clash would come in and talk about how to fix things. It was very interesting to see celebrities like Bono, Johnny Depp, Flea, & John Cusak all talking about listening to The Clash and saying that they felt the same things I felt. Talking about how listening to The Clash opened their eyes to a larger world. I never thought of myself as very political when I was writing music, but when I look back at some of my lyrics, I really did have some political & social overtones to my lyrics. I owe that to Joe Strummer.
The documentary talked about how Strummer went from a Rockabilly Hippie to a Punk and ultimately back again. It helped re-enforce what most real (in my opinion) punks already knew, which is the punk movement did spawn out of the hippie movement. And a lot of the goal and ideals in both movements have always remained the same. Social Progress.
I remember in 2002 when he died. I was watching VH1 for some reason and I had picked up the phone to call Kat to see what were were going to do later. The news went by on a ticker at the bottom of the screen and I literally dropped the phone. I was in shock. it was like a punch to the gut. Fast forward to 2004 when Joey Ramone died. Mandy was talking to me and said something like "You must be sad that Joey Ramone is dead huh?" and my only reply was "Not like when Joe Strummer died."
Anyway. Joe Strummer was a great man and truly an icon.