Netflix trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNp85HGJtoo
This is the one you've got to see. Kathryn Bigelow's "A House of Dynamite" is the one getting all the hype, but "The Perfect Neighbor" will get to you. This is America.
My favorite story about a bad neighbor was told to me by Al Kooper. I was complaining to him about my problem neighbor and he interrupted me to tell me about his. He was living in the Hollywood Hills and his next door neighbor left their garbage cans blocking his driveway again and again and again, there was nothing he could do or say to stop them. So I asked Al what he did...and he said "I MOVED!"
Entitlement. That's the scourge of America today. The people who feel that they alone rule their space and they're entitled to live sans interference. But last I checked we live in a society. And we all have to get along. But we don't.
So what we've got here is a lower class area in Ocala, Florida where everybody is a renter and most people are Black. But there's this one elderly white neighbor who believes she's entitled to peace and quiet. She doesn't want the kids playing in the empty lot next door, even though they have permission to do so. And she keeps calling the cops.
Know how many times I've called the cops in my life? ZERO. NONE! That's just not what you do. If you can't solve the dispute, if you can't back off, back away, extricate yourself... Who cares if you're right. Can't you learn that life is not about being right? Life is about getting along. So you pussyfoot around the bad actors until...
It just becomes too much. You can only poke people so many times until they get angry. And then you've got to stand your ground.
My next door neighbor couldn't believe I blocked her online. But if I even dropped the needle on a record she contacted me to turn it down. Even if I had all the windows shut. I mean can't you be reasonable?
But too many cannot. They're bugged by the behavior of their brethren.
I just don't get it. I mean if your neighbors are partying to four a.m. every weekend, maybe go over and speak to them, nicely. Even better, if you're having a party, invite your next door neighbor, show that you're aware of them. Because as soon as you take to the mattresses, as soon as you start calling the police, as soon as you start causing trouble...there's no turning back.
People just want to live. Kids just want to be kids. Don't want any interruptions? Go live out in the country, alone.
And be aware of where you're moving anyway. I'm never going to move next to a school, I'm never going to live on a main drag, I don't want to tolerrate that noise. But if you choose to live there...come on, that was part of the bargain.
So not everybody in America is a star, not everybody is an influencer. Can you have sympathy/identify with those less fortunate who have kids or are you going to judge them right off the bat?
You'll be faced with this question right away in this film.
And are you the type who is duplicitious. Never telling the truth... You've got to know, others have your number.
And there's only so much the police can do anyway... Never mind when you bring in the police you ratchet up the contention to a new level, and the odds of calming the situation down to nothing are nil.
So something happens.
And you realize the people involved...the victims, are really no different from you and me. One false move and your entire future is compromised, can be in an instant.
Now this is a fascinating documentary in that the story is not told by talking heads, there are no recreations, it's all bodycam footage. So think what you want, but we can't argue over the facts.
Everybody in America should see this film, so we can have a national discussion about getting along.
But instead, we demonize our enemies, believing that they must comport with the behavior we desire, that they have no choice, that we rule.
And this is patently wrong.
And ten percent of the country is positively insane anyway.
And you don't want them involved in a dispute.
"The Perfect Neighbor" is not a huge commitment. It's barely longer than an hour and a half. And you my not be gripped for a while, might think it's repetitive, BUT HANG IN THERE!
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Sunday, 2 November 2025
Forever Young
Live long enough and all your heroes disappoint you. Van Morrison? The anti-covid backlash made it so his hard core fans stopped streaming his music. He, like Elon Musk, didn't realize who his audience was. Even Eric Clapton has been hurt. Then again, scuttlebutt will tell you that the vaccine hurts and the virus started in a lab, and neither could be further from the truth.
But don't let the truth get in the way of your emotional beliefs.
Today's hit artists are stars first and foremost, whereas back then that came second. Seemed that they were true to themselves first. Doing what they wanted to do, screw the audience.
Not completely, but...
"Gasoline Alley" is one of my favorite albums.
Now the funny thing is fifty five years later, it's not only unknown to later generations, but those who were alive and supposedly paying attention back when.
"Going home, running home
Down to Gasoline Alley where I started from
Going home, and I'm running home
Down to Gasoline Alley where I was born"
"Gasoline Alley"? Wasn't that a comic strip? In any event, one thing is for sure, you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth in gasoline alley.
I dropped the needle on this record and was positively shocked. That voice? This is what all the music magazines were raving about? And then there was the instrumentation, closer to the folk revival of the U.K. than straight ahead rock. The third album, "Every Picture Tells a Story," yielded hits, but "Gasoline Alley" is the best.
Image. That's what killed music. MTV. All these years later we can admit it. It became about how you looked, the trappings, more than the music. But decades before... Rockers were outsiders. They gave the middle finger to society, they could not be co-opted. And it was this magic that drove hundreds of thousands to Woodstock, they just had to get closer.
Now there's no there there. If there's any gravitas at all, the act tells you so. Whereas you used to have to come to them, not vice versa. You discovered them, went to see them, and they were always at arm's length. Want to be completely creeped-out? Catch some of Ronnie Lane's videos on TikTok... This is the guy? He never talked before. Now he has and... But at least we now know where the phrase/album title "I've Got My Own Album to Do" came from.
I know, I know, I shouldn't be pissing on your heroes.
But this suspension of disbelief... I just can't do it anymore. Desperate for attention and success and money seemingly every act has compromised themselves, whether it be via endorsements/sponsorships or duets or recording lame material... You may hate Don Henley, but that's one thing he's never done, sold out, which is one reason the Eagles are still so big... It's funny, it's those who think they know better, the punks, who hate the Eagles, because they stole the punks' lunch... They made it on their own terms.
And Neil Young too. But Neil does need attention.
But Rod Stewart...
What did it for me were those execrable "American Songbook" albums made with schlockmeister Clive Davis. You're not a singer, you're an ARTIST!
At least that's what we used to think. But one false move... Then again, Rod Stewart made FOUR of these albums. For who? For the brain dead who weren't fans to begin with? You expect us to respect you with your poufed-up hair and skinny pants now? I can't. You were the coolest dude plying the boards, I believed in you, and now I don't.
And all of this has gone through my brain as I've heard "Forever Young" on SiriusXM multiple times this past week.
I barely liked it when it was a hit, but I've come to love it today.
And I know its draw is supposed to be the lyrics, but for me they're secondary to the sound. Like a musical circus rolling over hill and dale in the English countryside. When done right, rock sits above. It's something you reach up to the stars to grab. It's God, riding shotgun and keeping you warm.
The song has changes, which are anathema in today's world where one chord can suffice.
And sure, it's got guitars... But if you crank it a bit, you'll find it's got a pounding beat too, a big bass drum.
There's a lot in the track. This is not the rootsiness of the seventies, this is definitely eighties.
But what puts the track over the top is the changes, the melody, and Rod's voice. He's not shouting. He's not punching the clock, going through the motions like he is on the "American Songbook" albums, it's a late career victory lap, but it's completely in Rod's oeuvre. It was a return to form back then, and it still resonates.
The track FEELS optimistic. It just makes you feel good. It's a throwback to before income inequality eradicated hope in the youth. When a seventies rocker figured out how to participate and triumph in the eighties without compromising, without selling out.
And all these years later this is about as much as we can hope for.
Today's music is made on the cheap, made to appeal to a niche, but back then you spent a fortune in a studio to try and create something that dominated the airwaves worldwide...and if you succeeded, everybody knew you and your song.
So in 2025 everything is personal. It's what makes us feel good that counts. And "Forever Young" makes me feel good.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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But don't let the truth get in the way of your emotional beliefs.
Today's hit artists are stars first and foremost, whereas back then that came second. Seemed that they were true to themselves first. Doing what they wanted to do, screw the audience.
Not completely, but...
"Gasoline Alley" is one of my favorite albums.
Now the funny thing is fifty five years later, it's not only unknown to later generations, but those who were alive and supposedly paying attention back when.
"Going home, running home
Down to Gasoline Alley where I started from
Going home, and I'm running home
Down to Gasoline Alley where I was born"
"Gasoline Alley"? Wasn't that a comic strip? In any event, one thing is for sure, you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth in gasoline alley.
I dropped the needle on this record and was positively shocked. That voice? This is what all the music magazines were raving about? And then there was the instrumentation, closer to the folk revival of the U.K. than straight ahead rock. The third album, "Every Picture Tells a Story," yielded hits, but "Gasoline Alley" is the best.
Image. That's what killed music. MTV. All these years later we can admit it. It became about how you looked, the trappings, more than the music. But decades before... Rockers were outsiders. They gave the middle finger to society, they could not be co-opted. And it was this magic that drove hundreds of thousands to Woodstock, they just had to get closer.
Now there's no there there. If there's any gravitas at all, the act tells you so. Whereas you used to have to come to them, not vice versa. You discovered them, went to see them, and they were always at arm's length. Want to be completely creeped-out? Catch some of Ronnie Lane's videos on TikTok... This is the guy? He never talked before. Now he has and... But at least we now know where the phrase/album title "I've Got My Own Album to Do" came from.
I know, I know, I shouldn't be pissing on your heroes.
But this suspension of disbelief... I just can't do it anymore. Desperate for attention and success and money seemingly every act has compromised themselves, whether it be via endorsements/sponsorships or duets or recording lame material... You may hate Don Henley, but that's one thing he's never done, sold out, which is one reason the Eagles are still so big... It's funny, it's those who think they know better, the punks, who hate the Eagles, because they stole the punks' lunch... They made it on their own terms.
And Neil Young too. But Neil does need attention.
But Rod Stewart...
What did it for me were those execrable "American Songbook" albums made with schlockmeister Clive Davis. You're not a singer, you're an ARTIST!
At least that's what we used to think. But one false move... Then again, Rod Stewart made FOUR of these albums. For who? For the brain dead who weren't fans to begin with? You expect us to respect you with your poufed-up hair and skinny pants now? I can't. You were the coolest dude plying the boards, I believed in you, and now I don't.
And all of this has gone through my brain as I've heard "Forever Young" on SiriusXM multiple times this past week.
I barely liked it when it was a hit, but I've come to love it today.
And I know its draw is supposed to be the lyrics, but for me they're secondary to the sound. Like a musical circus rolling over hill and dale in the English countryside. When done right, rock sits above. It's something you reach up to the stars to grab. It's God, riding shotgun and keeping you warm.
The song has changes, which are anathema in today's world where one chord can suffice.
And sure, it's got guitars... But if you crank it a bit, you'll find it's got a pounding beat too, a big bass drum.
There's a lot in the track. This is not the rootsiness of the seventies, this is definitely eighties.
But what puts the track over the top is the changes, the melody, and Rod's voice. He's not shouting. He's not punching the clock, going through the motions like he is on the "American Songbook" albums, it's a late career victory lap, but it's completely in Rod's oeuvre. It was a return to form back then, and it still resonates.
The track FEELS optimistic. It just makes you feel good. It's a throwback to before income inequality eradicated hope in the youth. When a seventies rocker figured out how to participate and triumph in the eighties without compromising, without selling out.
And all these years later this is about as much as we can hope for.
Today's music is made on the cheap, made to appeal to a niche, but back then you spent a fortune in a studio to try and create something that dominated the airwaves worldwide...and if you succeeded, everybody knew you and your song.
So in 2025 everything is personal. It's what makes us feel good that counts. And "Forever Young" makes me feel good.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
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If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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