DEBATE DECEMBER 14. IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL, BUT I LIKE IT (or not)
December 14, 2005
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." - Saint Paul
LIKE IT'S ANCESTORS, jazz and R&B, rock and roll is quintessentially American. While the phrase “only in America” may be trite, with rock and roll, it's also true. With its merging of a European emphasis on melody and an African emphasis on rhythm, rock and roll transformed popular music not only in the United States, but the world over.
And it's fun to listen to. The free market has made many rock and roll millionaires because people actually enjoy it. Orchestras need subsidies and donations. Rock and roll pays for itself, making conservatives who criticize it only contributing to our killjoy reputation. Lighten up.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the phrase “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” is redundant. (The phrase “to rock and roll” is itself is slang for (how shall we put this?) “doing the grown up.” The idea that there's anything deep or worthy of study (as in the plethora of Beatles anthologies) is as laughable as watching geriatrics prance on stage to the delight of their $200 a ticket paying, bic-lighter lighting, woohooing, geriatric audience. This is simply another example of the most narcissistic generation in recorded history (the baby boomers) deciding that if they experienced something, it must be important. Except as anthropological study of how societies can decay, rock and roll deserves the fate of the 8-track tape.
The Chairman, who mostly believes we should be rolling out of Iraq, has called for a debate to settle the question:
RESOLVED: IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL, BUT I LIKE IT.
The Debate will be held on Wednesday December 14, 2005 at the Pool & Yacht Club, 1600 Lilydale Road, Lilydale MN. (Click Here for an interactive map to the location.). The Chancellor will preside over drinks beginning at seven o'clock p.m. The debate will begin at half past seven. While there is no dress code for attendance, gentlemen who wish to speak must wear a tie; ladies should adhere to a similar sartorial standard. For those gentlemen who arrive tieless yet wish to speak, fret not: the Purveyor of Ties will keep on hand at least one of his quite remarkable ties for just such an eventuality. Questions about debate caucus procedures or about the John Adams Society itself may be directed to the Chairman at (651) 494-6698 or the Secretary at (612) 204-5615.
www.johnadamssociety.org
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." - Saint Paul
LIKE IT'S ANCESTORS, jazz and R&B, rock and roll is quintessentially American. While the phrase “only in America” may be trite, with rock and roll, it's also true. With its merging of a European emphasis on melody and an African emphasis on rhythm, rock and roll transformed popular music not only in the United States, but the world over.
And it's fun to listen to. The free market has made many rock and roll millionaires because people actually enjoy it. Orchestras need subsidies and donations. Rock and roll pays for itself, making conservatives who criticize it only contributing to our killjoy reputation. Lighten up.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the phrase “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” is redundant. (The phrase “to rock and roll” is itself is slang for (how shall we put this?) “doing the grown up.” The idea that there's anything deep or worthy of study (as in the plethora of Beatles anthologies) is as laughable as watching geriatrics prance on stage to the delight of their $200 a ticket paying, bic-lighter lighting, woohooing, geriatric audience. This is simply another example of the most narcissistic generation in recorded history (the baby boomers) deciding that if they experienced something, it must be important. Except as anthropological study of how societies can decay, rock and roll deserves the fate of the 8-track tape.
The Chairman, who mostly believes we should be rolling out of Iraq, has called for a debate to settle the question:
RESOLVED: IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL, BUT I LIKE IT.
The Debate will be held on Wednesday December 14, 2005 at the Pool & Yacht Club, 1600 Lilydale Road, Lilydale MN. (Click Here for an interactive map to the location.). The Chancellor will preside over drinks beginning at seven o'clock p.m. The debate will begin at half past seven. While there is no dress code for attendance, gentlemen who wish to speak must wear a tie; ladies should adhere to a similar sartorial standard. For those gentlemen who arrive tieless yet wish to speak, fret not: the Purveyor of Ties will keep on hand at least one of his quite remarkable ties for just such an eventuality. Questions about debate caucus procedures or about the John Adams Society itself may be directed to the Chairman at (651) 494-6698 or the Secretary at (612) 204-5615.
www.johnadamssociety.org
posted by Scribbler de Stebbing | 12/13/2005 09:49:00 PM
Are the baby boomers “the most narcissistic generation in recorded history”? That is quite a claim, considering we have thousands of years of recorded history. The claim’s lack of humility tends to support its accuracy, but is that enough to prove the claim?
Surely, if the baby boomers actually researched all the generations of recorded history, and somehow measured this quality in each generation, that feat alone would disprove the claim. Narcissus only had eyes for himself, so any generation willing to study all the others is unlikely to be the most self-absorbed in all recorded history.
Should we take lack of proof as evidence for the claim? That could start us on the slippery slope that leads to actually watching movies made by Oliver Moore and Michael Stone.
Perhaps the claim would sound even more self-absorbed if it didn’t make any comparisons to other generations. Shouldn’t the most narcissistic generation exhibit Mohammed Ali’s “I am the greatest” attitude without having to compare itself to anyone or anything else? After all, what else is there to compare yourself with if you never take your eyes off your own reflection?
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