I don’t know a lot about Tom Morello. I know he went to Harvard (just like Mitt Romney!). I know he plays guitar and is a rich rock star. I’ve learned a little bit more about him recently, because I’ve been reading about him. I started investigating him after he wrote an op-ed piece in Rolling Stone attacking Paul Ryan for listening to Rage Against the Machine. (Ryan even has enough nerve to have them on his iPod!)
Morello is bothered by this because Morello is a socialist. Or some kind of ultra leftist. Or something. I’m not sure what he is, I just know he’s not a big fan of the GOP.
Morello attacked Ryan for listening to his music. This isn’t like Dee Snyder telling Ryan to stop using his music at campaign stops. That I can at least understand, because you can’t just use a song whenever you want, without paying for it, or reaching some agreement with the musician.
Morello is upset because Ryan is a fan of his music. Ryan claims he ignores the lyrics. Not a bad idea. Most lyrics are worthy of being ignored. Not everyone is John Lennon. Most lyrics are there so the singer has some noises to create with his voice that fits the melody of the music. Everyone knows how a political lecture lends itself to the enjoyment of music.
So this means Ryan is like everyone else with music. You enjoy the parts you like, and ignore what you don’t like.
I suspect this kind of thing drives Morello crazy. Here we have this man, so sure of his intelligence, and here someone is ignoring his lyrics! You mean someone is just rocking out to this and ignoring my great revelations? He doesn’t give a shit about my lyrics? HOW DARE HE?
Then the scary thought comes in: “How many of my fans are like this?”
Well, this sort of thing just isn’t going to do for Morello. He has made his feelings known that Ryan is, well, basically the kind of fan Rage can do without.
Now, from the perspective of a performer, this could be brilliant. This could be the start of a whole new relationship between fans and the objects of their admiration. For centuries, fans held the power. Alienate them, and your career is over. But can you imagine what it would be like if performers could “fire” their fans? This would really shift the power arrangement. You would really start to watch your step, lest your favorite rock star or actor discover that you donated some money to the GOP. Just imagine, you would end up having nothing to listen to besides Kid Rock and country music!
Because EVERYONE KNOWS that when you hear a song you like, the first thing you do is investigate the politics of the performer to decide if you agree with them, and therefore, are a suitable person to like their product.
It’s a cute little elitist idea that a band would have to “tolerate” its fans. (One I’m sure many hipster bands have already adopted.) In Morello’s world view (where of course he is right, all intelligent people thinks like him and how could be possibly be wrong?) it never occurred to him that Ryan might be the embodiment of many Rage fans, holding his nose over Morello’s lyrics, as much as Morello is holding his nose over having a fan like Ryan.
As for Rage, there’s plenty enough of that to go around for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment