Late Night Thought....
So tonight at the studio, I found myself trying to explain Patti Smith to a bunch of kids in thier early 20's. Specifically, trying to explain her song "Rock & Roll Nigger". It's a great song. Very intense, *very* pointed social commentary. Also very much written in the late 70's, long before political correctness was introduced as a concept. As a result, there's that nasty n-word to contend with. She doesn't use the word as a racial slur but instead in its older definition of "one outside of normal society"- for example, she uses it to describe Jackson Pollack. So it's not just outsiders but outsiders as forces for cultural change. And of course, Patti Smith was very much a part of the early days of Punk Rock, which was largely focused on subverting the status quo (in contrast to today when punk rock is a bunch of angry teenagers who mostly aren't sure what they're so mad about & think punk is a certain type of sound a band has, which largely sounds like the Ramones only more produced. Which is why I love explaining to kids that that yes, the Talking Heads were a punk band, big suits & all. But I digress.)
Back to Patti Smith & her problematic song. See, the problem is that the song is really, really good. Good to the point that the first time I went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, they used it in one of their movie things with her spoken word intro, which is increadible. So you can't just dismiss it as offensive trash. But at the same time, it can be hard to listen to-- especially if you've never heard the song before & have no idea what she's saying so all you keep hearing is "that" word. For my part, I don't play that album at the studio unless I know the other people in the studio are going to be OK with it. The girl who played it at the studio tonight said she won't play it in class. The other kids in the studio had a hard time with it. And I'll admit, I have a really hard time singing along with it. I can sing along with "Piss Factory" (or talk, depending) & swear along with anything else she can come up with but that word is trouble.
And all of this is really just for me to say that I ended making the follow analogy, "If Debbie Harry (Blondie) is Punk's Aphrodite, Patti Smith is Punk's Hekate."
Back to Patti Smith & her problematic song. See, the problem is that the song is really, really good. Good to the point that the first time I went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, they used it in one of their movie things with her spoken word intro, which is increadible. So you can't just dismiss it as offensive trash. But at the same time, it can be hard to listen to-- especially if you've never heard the song before & have no idea what she's saying so all you keep hearing is "that" word. For my part, I don't play that album at the studio unless I know the other people in the studio are going to be OK with it. The girl who played it at the studio tonight said she won't play it in class. The other kids in the studio had a hard time with it. And I'll admit, I have a really hard time singing along with it. I can sing along with "Piss Factory" (or talk, depending) & swear along with anything else she can come up with but that word is trouble.
And all of this is really just for me to say that I ended making the follow analogy, "If Debbie Harry (Blondie) is Punk's Aphrodite, Patti Smith is Punk's Hekate."