Everything's Inviolate

If I mention anything about Trump, I'm accused of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" from his acolytes. If I write anything about Taylor Swift, absolutely anything, I hear from her fans that I'm a hater.

This is the America we now live in. Black and white. Or should I say red and blue.

Everybody's got a tribe, everybody's got their beliefs, and you can't say anything negative about them or the pushback becomes unreal. And the problem with this is the chilling effect, the people shutting up because they're fearful of the blowback, and I understand this, completely.

I'm not talking about the trolls. Participate at all and your inbox or message thread will be inundated with comments from people who hate you in principle, who are mad that you have an audience and they don't. Their goal is to make you shut up. And if you do, they win.

Never engage, this is what these people want, attention, in a world where it's nearly impossible to get any.

But this means we live in a world where nothing can be gray, nothing can be analyzed, nothing can be poked over and evaluated.

Joe Biden? He's old. And he presents that way. My inbox is going to go berserk right now, from boomers, telling me I need to shut up and get behind the man. They tell me all the great things Joe has done. And the funny thing is I know, I voted for him before and I'll vote for him again. But he's far from perfect, even his administration is far from perfect. And I don't think he should be the candidate. If he is, will I vote for him? Yes. But in the eyes of the Biden tribe I must be quiet and get in line. And these are Democrats, the supposed Big Tent party.

As for getting in line... Look what that has done for the Republicans in Congress. Now nothing can get done. Do you call that governing? I certainly don't.

If Taylor Swift were a local without a deal who never got any press would I be writing about her? No. But Taylor Swift is the most famous woman in America today, and she operates in the music world, and therefore she and her career are worthy of analysis.

But not to the Swifties. Get in line, she's the greatest, the best there ever was, and if you say otherwise you're a pariah.

And the press has fallen in line with this, because it's a perfect old media story. Big star dominates. But that paradigm has evaporated. Where is the movie star who can open a movie? But we keep on reading the endless interviews, the endless hype about these stars and their flicks, which are oftentimes dead on arrival.

So how big is Taylor Swift? Isn't that a question for analysis?

My point is no one is as big as those of the past, because there are so many options, opportunities.

In the sixties we lived in a monoculture. AM radio was pushed to you and everybody knew the same songs. At the end of the decade and into the seventies there was an alternative, FM. And then in the eighties the monoculture reappeared, with MTV. So everybody knew Culture Club. Genesis became a mainstream act.

But those are not the days we live in now.

So what days do we live in?

Oh, you'd better not mention Taylor Swift, because you're a misogynist with an agenda.

Well, what about Morgan Wallen? He's a racist. Appealing to nitwits. Next!

Well, can Morgan Wallen ever be forgiven? Not according to my inbox. Even though these same people have never heard a note. He said the n-word and we live in a zero tolerance society. Well, he was drunk and he was using it as a term of affection. Does that make a difference? No, it's the third rail.

That's the world we live in. Either you stand on the platform and stay quiet or you risk touching the third rail and being electrocuted.

And beware of saying something about Teslas. Their owners and the right wing fans of Elon Musk will excoriate you. Yes, their software is the best, but their build quality is not. And Elon made some poor choices with self-driving. But we cannot say anything negative about heroes otherwise we're seen as having an agenda, trying to bring people down.

I subscribe to the Amplifier newsletter from the "New York Times." Today the author wrote about "8 upcoming albums to get excited about."

Here are the eight acts, do you know more than one? Have you even heard of one?

1. Waxahatchee

She's got two songs with double digit million streams on Spotify, one twenty and another fifteen. If you think that's a major star, you don't know numbers.

2. Sheer Mag

Well, there is one track with three million streams and two tracks with two million streams and one track with one million streams.

3. Brittany Howard

Well, we all know her. Right?

4. The Smile

One cut with sixteen million. Another with ten. A bunch more in single digit millions.

5. Mary Timony

One track has over fifty thousand streams, none other comes close.

6. Julia Holter

A handful of cuts with single digit million streams.

7. Helado Negro

One cut with ten million streams, a few with single digit millions.

8. Faye Webster

She actually has triple digit millions of two tracks, but I doubt you know her anyway.

Number 50 on Spotify's Global chart, "Rompe La Dompe," had thirteen million streams LAST WEEK! Number one, "La Diabla," had thirty four million.

Okay smartypants. Ask your kids if they've heard of these acts.

These are all cult items. Very small cults. And there are more cults than ever before. But we don't see an article about this in the "New York Times," just endless listing of acts that no one has heard of with no context. And sans context, we don't pay attention, we move on. To the detriment of music in general.

But it's not only the "Times," many publications do this. Hype acts with tiny audiences. And, unfortunately, when you listen to these records you don't find the new Joni Mitchell, at best you hear professional productions. Better to listen to the oldies.

And Taylor Swift is an oldie. She has an established name. Which is why she gets so much ink. Which is self-reinforcing.

So what is going on?

You'd better not ask any questions. Nobody asks any questions in the music business. There are endless awards shows, as if the public cares a whit. The majors promote their acts. There's a whole industry of hype but does it reach the public? Most of it does not.

And the public is not getting turned on by music on terrestrial radio, kids are not listening. Hell, if people were listening Audacy wouldn't have declared bankruptcy.

But let's keep shoveling the sh*t and never ask any questions.

Are Taylor Swift's songs in the ballpark of the Beatles? Of New Kids on the Block? Will they be remembered, will they have staying power?

For years we had to hear about all the chart records Mariah Carey broke. Other than her Xmas song, none of them are standards today.

Want a standard? Sublime's "What I Got."

So music today is heard by fewer people and it has less overall cultural impact. But you can't say that in the music industry, then you're seen as pissing on it. It's all up all the time, as the labels skim TikTok artists that are here today and gone tomorrow.

Can we ask any questions?

Like climate change. Half the country won't hear it, no way. And they always come up with some expert to the contrary. But the younger generation, which will inherit the planet, they're very concerned. But they've got very little power. So let's ignore them.

There are so many issues that can't be debated. That if you have an opinion on you must not verbalize it. You don't want to be ostracized, do you?

And this permeates all walks of life, every sector. There is an orthodoxy and it better not be questioned.

Then again, I went to a college with no objective tests, where we didn't discuss the reading in class. Analysis was everything. And that makes me part of a minority. Especially in today's world where college is seen as a glorified trade school. College is about getting a job, right? No one said that when I went to college.

And there's teaching to the test in elementary and secondary school.

And the average citizen can't discern a lie from the truth, never mind ask the questions that will tease out veracity.

I'm not telling you you can't listen to Taylor Swift, or go to her show. She's had more success on the road this year than any other act. Morgan Wallen had a bigger year with new music, but, once again, he's a pariah.

Therefore I start my analysis with acts you've heard of. So there's context. But you dismiss what I say out of hand. I'm not saying you must agree with me, but one thing is for sure, no act today, NO ACT, is as big as one from yesterday, in the pre-internet era. There are too many choices, too many niches, you pull your music, it is not thrust upon you, you don't have to listen to anything you don't want to.

And this is worth looking at. What is going on. Is this the way it's always going to be, or could a single act change the paradigm? And can't we at least accept the truth? That the acts you love might not be loved or even known by the vast majority of people, who don't give a sh*t.

This is the world we live in.

But all we're told is to get off our smartphones, that they're the devil.

Well, good luck getting an Uber, looking up facts, connecting with friends.

We need to accept the present. But that does not mean we can't question it, investigate it.

With knowledge comes power. Gain it. And you do this by looking beneath the surface, doing your best to find out what is really going on.

But today that's a lonely pursuit.

Now I'm going to STFU!


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