Used to be if you wanted to know which way the wind blew, you'd listen to a record. But we haven't had that spirit here since 1969. Why? It's cracking me up watching Washington, D.C. and the Democratic establishment and long in the tooth commentators flip out about democratic socialism. It's like parents reacting to Alice Cooper in the early seventies. Instead of seeing the lyrics and stage antics as a way to spark conversation, question precepts, they took the words literally. Dead babies can take care of themselves? Why are you singing about dead babies, do you want to kill children, do you want to eviscerate the next generation? What a laugh. It's like the establishment had never encountered Dadaism, any art movement of the twentieth century, which was about questioning the past as opposed to going blindly into the future. By declaring a urinal art, Duchamp raised the question what art was. Assuming you know who Marcel Duchamp is to begin with. Now it all comes down to the baby boomers, a bulge in the population that had not existed previously. First they embraced rock and roll, anathema to the fans of the big bands and crooners who came before. And then came the folk movement. Which was all about questioning and protest. And then came the Beatles, who were so different from what existed previously that they wiped all the old acts off the charts. And then the boys from Liverpool started questioning every precept in the book, both socially and politically. And this attitude burgeoned in the seventies until disco and corporate rock caused the music business to collapse under its own weight and then along came MTV to rescue it. Now if you thought the rock stars of the sixties and seventies were rich... They couldn't hold a candle to the MTV stars, who were exposed internationally. It wasn't long before it became about the money more than the music and then... Rap and Kurt Cobain came along to recenter the world. Hip-hop questioned conventions, yes, it was N.W.A. who sang "Fu*k tha Police" and Ice-T sang about being a "Cop Killer" and then the L.A. riots of 1992 showed that everything these guys were rapping about was true. And hip-hop became the voice of a nation. Funny how you could question the validity of the police thirty five years ago and it ruffled the feathers of the establishment but when you talk about abolishing the police today, the new oldsters truly believe that that is what those saying this want! Ice-T didn't want to kill all the cops, but he did want to illuminate their bad behavior. But now the boomers are the oldsters and they've lost their sense of humor. They don't want to be eclipsed in power. Did you read "The New York Times" about the chapter that was left out of the DNC autopsy? "The chapter raised pointed questions that were notably absent from the draft that the party put out, both about President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s ill-fated decision to run for re-election and the sway of an operative class that had become 'generationally wealthy off politics' while steering Democratic strategy." https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/us/politics/democrats-autopsy-2024-election-dnc.html The older generation is completely out of touch with the street, what youngsters truly think, and therefore they appear like Grandpa Simpson, berating the youth and telling them to get off their lawn. Never have the young been so disillusioned since the sixties. But this disillusionment is not addressed, the focus is on some of the out there statements by the democratic socialists and it's funny to see the establishment squirm. Now Kurt Cobain was ensconced in a musical genre that the Ramones brought to the forefront in the seventies, but was never commercial, certainly not in the United States, until "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Punk was a reaction to overblown rock, and were we really supposed to believe Joey was serious when he sang about beating the brat with a baseball bat? Yes, democratic socialism is punk, a reaction. To take it all seriously is to miss the point. Then again, it used to be that music was the bleeding edge, now it is mired in commerciality. Everybody wants to become a brand. And the record companies are complicit. Democratic socialists will take a stand against Trump, but the corporations of America are afraid of taking a hit to their bottom line, they're playing it safe. So if you want to know which way the wind blows... Music is about money, pure and simple. All the talk of Taylor Swift, it's about grosses more than message. As for her influence on women, she's all about living the Cinderella fantasy, with marriage to a jock and a wedding at Madison Square Garden. She is the establishment, with her multiple private jets. She won the game of music, demonstrating how empty it is. She sang about the angst of life in country and then she went Top 40 for mass success and devolved into a cartoon, just the way the establishment likes it. Imagine if she harnessed her art and power to react... But that would threaten her bank account. In the sixties, young people rebelled against the football team, now it's about marrying the captain. Frank Zappa sang about losing status at the high school, now it's all about status, it's vapid. Then again, how would you expect the purveyors of this drivel to know any better? Swift made it as a teen. You learn about life, question authority in school, that's what an education is for, to learn how to parse the issues, analyze the facts. But today we venerate child television stars. The big issue is Ariana Grande's weight, not her viewpoint on the world. In other words, the musicians don't have the roots, the skills. As for the educated classes, they see music as déclassé, they're all about selling out to the bank or making bank in tech. Art? It's too risky. In a world of income inequality you don't want to end up poor, and the scions of prep schools and liberal arts colleges that teach critical thinking know this better than anyone. As for the great unwashed masses claiming that they're speaking truth to power and not gaining the recognition they deserve, well... In the heyday, you had to be able to sing and play and you had to write a great song. When was the last time I encountered this trifecta amongst the plethora of underdogs? I can't remember. Only a very few are skilled enough to gain attention and triumph. But somehow today everybody believes that since they have access, they should gain attention and power. And in truth, those employing the new tools in a new way are the ones who are front and center today. The innovators on TikTok, on YouTube... The most remarkable film of the summer was the product of an unknown who honed his skills online. Sure, "The Odyssey" is a visual and financial triumph, but Curry Barker's "Obsession," made for $750,000, has more cultural impact. It's not like everybody's going to go back and read Greek tragedies. "The Odyssey" is a spectacle, a $250 million spectacle, that is fun to watch but is not inspiring young people to test the limits themselves, "The Odyssey" is not that different from "Ben-Hur" and "The Ten Commandments" from prior eras. Neither of which changed the underlying culture. So in order to solve a problem, first you have to acknowledge it exists. Something establishment Democrats have continued to refuse to do. They do use modern technology, i.e. texts, to ding us for money, but if you think youngsters want to give...you haven't checked the numbers, which are anemic. Younger Democrats have detached themselves completely from the DNC, and rather than acknowledge this and adjust, the DNC keeps throwing cash at dying candidates and it would be funny if not for the fact that the future of society hangs in the balance. Assuming the system holds, which I'm not so sure will be the case. The young revolted against Modi in India last month and he blinked. Not that I'd expect the capitalist tools gracing the stages in America today to even know this. Change is like a volcano, it rumbles until it overflows. Is America ready for the volcano to erupt? One thing is for sure, this story is not being tracked by either those now in political power or the media. The media is all about the horse race, they're enraptured by access to politicians the way fans are enraptured by musical stars. It's no different. Everybody wants to know somebody famous and hope that they can garner some perks as a result. So the truth is the bleeding edge is where all the action is, in what is now called democratic socialism. And if you dive too deep into the issues, you're missing the point. It's about attitude, frustration with the status quo, being histrionic to gain attention, no different from the rock stars of half a century ago. Whereas today's "rock stars"... They're too busy putting out multiple iterations of vinyl albums to top the charts, that's what they're focused on. In truth, it was only a brief moment when music had an insane amount of cultural capital. But those who were around back then still remember. As far as younger generations go, they want to be Mariah Carey, they want to compete on "American Idol," those are their roots, why would you expect them to be leaders, especially when they don't have the basic knowledge to do so? And then there are the promoted teen phenoms... We don't have these in politics, in tech, only in a backwater like music can we believe that a wet behind the ears kid has any wisdom to display at all. Usually, the offspring of someone wealthy to boot! With the combo of Chaotic Good and Stella Lefty if you ain't got money and connections you've got to feel pretty defeated in the music game. Better to gain attention and spread your word elsewhere, online and in politics. Isn't it funny that what the democratic socialists embody is just what the D.C. establishment abhors? Questioning authority and doing it online? Mamdani triumphed by playing by the new, internet rules. Knowing that emotional contact pays far greater dividends than throwing endless capital at TV ads. But that's how they used to do it. Young people don't vote. All the canards of the past are bedrock in D.C., nothing is questioned, change is anathema. But change has happened. And what kind of crazy f*cked up world do we live in where Zohran Mamdani is a bigger rock star than anybody making music, with more ink and more mindshare and more power... If you think it's about whether democratic socialists win in November you're missing the point. This is a cultural schism, a movement, that cannot be contained via ancient thinking. So will the system hold if youngsters continue to be denied? I doubt it. But if you want to know what is going to happen, you're better off reading the newspaper than listening to anyone in the Spotify Top 50. Hell, "The New York Times" grossed $2.82 billion last year, with a net income of $344 million. There are individual musicians who do almost as well, but what the "Times" has that they're lacking is power. The musicians are all concerned with money, but everybody knows the real wealth is in power, speaking truth, effecting change... The priorities are all screwed up. But to get your head screwed on straight you have to be educated, with the ability to parse the truth. And if you think that's prevalent in the music business... Then you've purchased too many t-shirts and perfume. -- 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 -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
