This is how the music industry and the Democratic party lost control of the national consciousness. Both remain in the past, when today's world is all about the present.
Twenty years ago it mattered what Eminem had to say. Ditto Springsteen back in the last century. But they no longer impact the culture. They're both edifices, locked into an old paradigm. You know, the release schedule! We put on an album, market it to high heaven and then go on the road. And then repeat.
But this does not happen fast. This happens over YEARS!
In a world where today's headline doesn't even make it into tomorrow's paper.
That's how fast the cycle spins.
Taylor Swift? What's the message here, what is she selling other than herself? She's a billionaire, great. She's been hurt by men, fine. But where is the leading, where is the nougat? This is what rock stars used to embrace and no longer do, embody and sell the message, which has got nothing to do with dancing and stage effects.
Ditto BTS. So the K-pop act has an army. Big deal. Their main effort is to defend the objects of their desire, young Korean men who Frank Zappa would label dancing fools, puppets controlled by a master. This is the antithesis to what the modern music business was built upon.
In a much longer cycle.
Everything's been slowed down for the money. We've got to figure out a way to make the most money. That's the number one concern.
Meanwhile, you've got Elon Musk spewing willy-nilly, constantly on X/Twitter, and he's completely unrestrained, like the rock stars of yore.
Did Musk ask the government if it was legal to give away a million a day in his constitutional sweepstakes? OF COURSE NOT! He's already given away money, meanwhile the lawmakers and the enforcers aren't sure if it's legal and aren't sure what to do and...
Yes, move fast and break things. Those damn techies.
But that's why they became heroes to the youth to begin with, that's why they usurped the power from the musicians and other entertainers. They acted like they owned the world, like there were no limits.
Like rock stars used to.
We all need something to believe in.
Quaint boomers may believe in the Beatles, but Paul McCartney hasn't released a hit record, something worth listening to day and night, for decades.
Mick Jagger is better known today for his lifestyle than his pronouncements.
And Eddie Vedder may have something to say, it's just that the number of people listening is not very large. Pearl Jam's hits are in the distant past. Sure, they do great road business, kudos, but as far as affecting popular culture? Not much.
So what you've got here is rich and powerful men, they're essentially all men, all of them smart, some of them educated, who have thrown off the reins and are doing what they feel is right, to a great degree acting on instinct. Do you know how exciting, what a beacon this is to younger men?
Let's see... They've been hearing for decades that they're the problem. They don't know how to behave. They're too rough, they need to be on Adderall, the girls get all the compliments. And if you dare say something negative about a girl or a minority, other than Jews, you're excoriated, you're done. One strike and you're out. Talk about feeling boxed in.
That's one thing that has never been acknowledged post #MeToo. It hasn't changed male conversation, it's just that they know not to say it in mixed company. Men are the enemy.
Whew, you don't agree with that!
Well, that's why Trump may win the election.
And there's a good chance Musk will put him over the top.
Musk is spewing his thoughts 24/7. Are all of them right? OF COURSE NOT! But Musk is showing that you don't always have to be right, you don't have to employ a filter to survive. He's who young men want to be like they wanted to be rock stars in the past. Today their aspiration is to be Elon Musk, not a musician. Who'd want to be a musician? It's nearly impossible to make it, you've got to deal with so many censors, whereas on X/Twitter you can go directly to the people. As for money... Isn't that what Robinhood and meme stocks is all about?
People are more excited about the stock market than the music market.
Because we are not minting new rock stars. Oh, we're minting successful acts, that can sell tickets, but they're not rock stars.
Meanwhile, the Democrats are living in the pre-internet era. Instead of Biden being available 24/7, they hid him, and when we finally got to see him...they told us to deny what was on our TVs. You're supposed to believe in these people?
And these young men don't think Harris's ascension was fair. It's fine with me, anything to get rid of Biden, but I get their point. Isn't their vote supposed to count? The Democrats make themselves vulnerable to all the criticism the right has endured over the past two decades.
And everything Kamala says seems filtered, rehearsed. She's the anti-Musk. She's not letting her freak flag fly, god forbid she make a mistake. And sure, the mainstream media is unfair to her vis a vis Trump, who's lying and committing faux pas 24/7, but the election won't be decided by the mainstream media. The ratings for cable news are anemic, even Fox. Ditto on every newspaper but the "New York Times," and the Gray Lady's reach is nothing compared to every social media platform. Want to reach the people? You go direct to them online.
It seems like the Democrats completely missed this memo.
Online is rough and tumble, you've got to defend yourself. Do I approve of this? That's irrelevant, that's the world we live in.
We're looking for leaders. Harris isn't one. And Trump isn't one either. But Musk most certainly is.
We do have one equivalent on Harris's side, Mark Cuban, and he's making inroads, but until very recently, he didn't even consider himself a Democrat. Cuban bites back, Harris smiles and says nothing.
If Trump wins it won't be about him, but hatred of the left. Which has allowed itself to be defined as elite, woke...the list goes on and on. Such that if you're oppressed, if you're having trouble making ends meet, who you gonna blame?
THE DEMOCRATS!
Biden a man of the people? Maybe in the last century, not today. He doesn't know how to communicate today.
Everybody's upset. Everybody doesn't like the way the country is going. But rather than own this, Harris and the Democrats keep telling us how good things actually are, not knowing we live in a world of perception, not facts. If I feel broke, you're not going to convince me otherwise by doing the math.
And Biden and the damn Democrats can't even keep Musk from talking with Putin? You know this wouldn't happen under Trump. Because he punishes his enemies.
Which is exactly why the Democrats don't want him elected, but people admire those with balls, metaphorical balls, women can have them too.
God, if I was Kamala Harris I would lean into my days as a prosecutor. That's what resonates with so many. You're out there fighting crime, preserving order, so I can raise my family in peace. Oh, don't quote crime statistics, you're missing the point, it's how people FEEL, which may have nothing to do with the truth.
But Harris is so afraid of offending the minorities she put into prison that she's running away from her days as D.A. How does this evidence power?
Who knows, Harris could still win. But the reason the Democrats can't gain power and hold it is they refuse to look into the mirror, refuse to question themselves, continue to run with an old playbook. I mean how big is the difference in society between the twenty first and the twentieth centuries? HUGE! Hell, you didn't even have smartphones back then.
Do you think the bros, the young men, want to put down their smartphones? Disconnect? This is the only way they can feel good, by conversing online. Their idea of escape is video games, where the music is secondary, not primary.
Meanwhile, Tesla's numbers went up, Musk has more power with X/Twitter than essentially every other news outlet. And he's got an agenda and he's proud of it, he's not pussyfooting. He's got his enemies, he's got his wants and desires.
Like the rock stars of yore.
Not the wimps, the brands of today.
Yell at me all you want, that does not mean I'm not right. How many e-mails have you gotten from the Trump bros? How much time have you spent on TikTok, Instagram Reels and X/Twitter? If not a lot, you live in a bubble, you don't know what you're talking about.
But you don't believe that, because you went to a good college, have a good job and know better.
OH YEAH?
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Saturday, 26 October 2024
Friday, 25 October 2024
Political Endorsements-SiriusXM This Week
Do musician endorsements help or hurt political candidates?
Tune in Saturday October 26th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
Phone #: 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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Tune in Saturday October 26th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
Phone #: 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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The WaPo Non-Endorsement
They call it a chilling effect.
That's the terminology in constitutional law. What influence, what change in behavior will the statute or decision have.
AWS was the pioneer in cloud computing, and is still the market leader. Yet under Trump, the government contract was given to Microsoft.
Bezos does not want to let that happen again.
Let me bring it closer to home... Anybody who has ever blown the whistle re sexual abuse in the music business has never worked again. They may have gotten a big check, they may have some minor job in a private office, but working for the big boys, and it's usually boys, that's history.
All of which is a good reason not to vote for Trump.
But none of these messages are reaching those not already converted.
So how do you change minds?
Trump going on Joe Rogan is a master stroke.
Joe Rogan has 14+ million listeners to each of his podcasts.
Think about that, Harris was on CNN the other day and reached 3.3!
You see everything today is about identity. Joe Rogan's podcast is not successful because of the guests, but because of the host. Ditto "Call Her Daddy." And this same paradigm explains why you can have a hit and be unable to sell tickets. And it's also a reason why Harris's campaign is challenged.
The last two cycles were about social media. But X has turned into a right wing cesspool and only oldsters who know who they're going to vote for are on Facebook and all the Democrats are doing is complaining. Is this any way to win an election?
Now the power is in podcasts.
To tell you the truth, I think Bruce Springsteen appearing at a Kamala rally hurts her more than helps her. The non working man working man is abhorred by those on the right. They see him as a left wing shill. The media is controlled by Springsteen fans. Kenny Chesney can sell out stadiums across the country, Bruce does not even go clean in every arena.
We're living in a changed world and all those in control of the narrative refuse to acknowledge this, because then they'd have to look at themselves and change course.
Seth Godin wrote a brilliant column this week:
"How to Avoid Strategy Myopia"
https://t.ly/2sThz
The route to future profits does not always go up, up, up! Adobe changed from a sales model to a subscription model and revenue went down before it went up.
"But polishing yesterday's work isn't useful if the world is in flux. When we focus on improving the efficiency of our current plan, we inevitably miss the opportunity to develop a new strategy in response to new conditions."
This is today's record business. Contracting to make Wall Street happy. Polaroid made Wall Street happy before it went out of business. Instant photography was a gigantic market until digital photography came along and killed it. The indies are eating the majors' lunch these days. How are they reacting? BY PUTTING OUT FEWER RECORDS!
And with less money, the indies are making more urgent recordings, nailing a feeling as opposed to reworking a song written by committee to fit a radio format that doesn't mean much anyway.
The WaPo is not the only paper that has refused to endorse a presidential candidate. The "Los Angeles Times" has taken the same route. The paper wanted to endorse Harris, but its owner said no. Because he sees pulling away from Harris and leaning towards Trump by the other tech titans, and that's how Patrick Soon-Shiong made his money, in medical tech, and he doesn't want to end up on the wrong side of the divide.
Elon Musk is talking to Putin! How powerful does that make Biden and Harris look? Not very.
Now is the time to let your freak flag fly, now is the time to be an individual, now is the time to own your identity. Joe Rogan may have been boosted by TV and the UFC, but Alexandra Cooper doesn't have this CV. She started at Barstool Sports and has risen to the top on her identity, her personality. That's a star, not someone who has a hit record and then tries to rip their audience off with perfume and overpriced merch.
And Elon Musk knows that controlling the narrative is everything. That's what he's got with X. Unlike the owners of the "New York Times," Musk is a mega-billionaire. Used to be publishers' power was in the ink, not their bank account. And more people are rooting for Musk than either the Yankees or the Dodgers. He's playing his own game. That's today's world, you invent the game, then you play it. This is why Trump is so successful. He's not playing the usual game, he's not playing the Democrats' game, and therefore he can't be beaten in his efforts. Every day there are articles in the news about Trump's heinous behavior. If anything, that EMBELLISHES his image. It's the opposite of Springsteen for Kamala. Springsteen is a shill adding his imprimatur to a traditional candidate. And sure, Trump is only for himself, but everybody knows it. What you see is what you get, unvarnished.
Trump controls the narrative. Because he refused to play the old game and made it all about him. How do you compete with this? By creating your own identity and establishing your own narrative. Instead, we were told by Democratic insiders that Biden was up to the game, when nothing of the sort was true. They were hiding him in a world where everybody is exposed all the time. Biden and his wonks were showing their age, they're still living in the last century.
There is a lot up for grabs in this election. But somehow, the Democrats and the "New York Times" have not done a good job of convincing people this is so. And therefore tech titans are hedging their bets, even publishing icons. They don't want to go down with the ship. And it's all in plain sight.
That's what Trump ushered in. Nothing is taboo anymore. If your handler says not to do something because it will offend people...chances are they're living in the past. You've got to lead, and if you're trying to appeal to everybody, you lose. I don't listen to Rogan, I've tried him out, he's not my thing, but that does not mean double digit millions are not tuning him in every day.
The politicians have become pawns. Trump wouldn't even have become president without the salesmanship of Mark Burnett.
And despite her insanity, Marjorie Taylor Greene keeps getting elected.
Good for Kamala for going on Howard and being on "Call Her Daddy" but the problem is Howard has left the bros behind, he's got a more upscale audience these days, more intellectual, to his credit. If you want to reach the bros, you've got to go into the lion's den, and be unafraid in doing so.
Everybody's so scared. Bezos, Soon-Shiong. This is where politicians can shine, because it's not about the money, it's about control of the narrative, policy, power.
But just like everything else in America politics is solely about the bucks today. Bezos and Soon-Shiong don't want to sacrifice any, don't want to risk any.
You know these people. The ones who won't take a chance, who won't lead.
Don't be afraid. Own your identity. Evidence it.
It's the only way to win.
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That's the terminology in constitutional law. What influence, what change in behavior will the statute or decision have.
AWS was the pioneer in cloud computing, and is still the market leader. Yet under Trump, the government contract was given to Microsoft.
Bezos does not want to let that happen again.
Let me bring it closer to home... Anybody who has ever blown the whistle re sexual abuse in the music business has never worked again. They may have gotten a big check, they may have some minor job in a private office, but working for the big boys, and it's usually boys, that's history.
All of which is a good reason not to vote for Trump.
But none of these messages are reaching those not already converted.
So how do you change minds?
Trump going on Joe Rogan is a master stroke.
Joe Rogan has 14+ million listeners to each of his podcasts.
Think about that, Harris was on CNN the other day and reached 3.3!
You see everything today is about identity. Joe Rogan's podcast is not successful because of the guests, but because of the host. Ditto "Call Her Daddy." And this same paradigm explains why you can have a hit and be unable to sell tickets. And it's also a reason why Harris's campaign is challenged.
The last two cycles were about social media. But X has turned into a right wing cesspool and only oldsters who know who they're going to vote for are on Facebook and all the Democrats are doing is complaining. Is this any way to win an election?
Now the power is in podcasts.
To tell you the truth, I think Bruce Springsteen appearing at a Kamala rally hurts her more than helps her. The non working man working man is abhorred by those on the right. They see him as a left wing shill. The media is controlled by Springsteen fans. Kenny Chesney can sell out stadiums across the country, Bruce does not even go clean in every arena.
We're living in a changed world and all those in control of the narrative refuse to acknowledge this, because then they'd have to look at themselves and change course.
Seth Godin wrote a brilliant column this week:
"How to Avoid Strategy Myopia"
https://t.ly/2sThz
The route to future profits does not always go up, up, up! Adobe changed from a sales model to a subscription model and revenue went down before it went up.
"But polishing yesterday's work isn't useful if the world is in flux. When we focus on improving the efficiency of our current plan, we inevitably miss the opportunity to develop a new strategy in response to new conditions."
This is today's record business. Contracting to make Wall Street happy. Polaroid made Wall Street happy before it went out of business. Instant photography was a gigantic market until digital photography came along and killed it. The indies are eating the majors' lunch these days. How are they reacting? BY PUTTING OUT FEWER RECORDS!
And with less money, the indies are making more urgent recordings, nailing a feeling as opposed to reworking a song written by committee to fit a radio format that doesn't mean much anyway.
The WaPo is not the only paper that has refused to endorse a presidential candidate. The "Los Angeles Times" has taken the same route. The paper wanted to endorse Harris, but its owner said no. Because he sees pulling away from Harris and leaning towards Trump by the other tech titans, and that's how Patrick Soon-Shiong made his money, in medical tech, and he doesn't want to end up on the wrong side of the divide.
Elon Musk is talking to Putin! How powerful does that make Biden and Harris look? Not very.
Now is the time to let your freak flag fly, now is the time to be an individual, now is the time to own your identity. Joe Rogan may have been boosted by TV and the UFC, but Alexandra Cooper doesn't have this CV. She started at Barstool Sports and has risen to the top on her identity, her personality. That's a star, not someone who has a hit record and then tries to rip their audience off with perfume and overpriced merch.
And Elon Musk knows that controlling the narrative is everything. That's what he's got with X. Unlike the owners of the "New York Times," Musk is a mega-billionaire. Used to be publishers' power was in the ink, not their bank account. And more people are rooting for Musk than either the Yankees or the Dodgers. He's playing his own game. That's today's world, you invent the game, then you play it. This is why Trump is so successful. He's not playing the usual game, he's not playing the Democrats' game, and therefore he can't be beaten in his efforts. Every day there are articles in the news about Trump's heinous behavior. If anything, that EMBELLISHES his image. It's the opposite of Springsteen for Kamala. Springsteen is a shill adding his imprimatur to a traditional candidate. And sure, Trump is only for himself, but everybody knows it. What you see is what you get, unvarnished.
Trump controls the narrative. Because he refused to play the old game and made it all about him. How do you compete with this? By creating your own identity and establishing your own narrative. Instead, we were told by Democratic insiders that Biden was up to the game, when nothing of the sort was true. They were hiding him in a world where everybody is exposed all the time. Biden and his wonks were showing their age, they're still living in the last century.
There is a lot up for grabs in this election. But somehow, the Democrats and the "New York Times" have not done a good job of convincing people this is so. And therefore tech titans are hedging their bets, even publishing icons. They don't want to go down with the ship. And it's all in plain sight.
That's what Trump ushered in. Nothing is taboo anymore. If your handler says not to do something because it will offend people...chances are they're living in the past. You've got to lead, and if you're trying to appeal to everybody, you lose. I don't listen to Rogan, I've tried him out, he's not my thing, but that does not mean double digit millions are not tuning him in every day.
The politicians have become pawns. Trump wouldn't even have become president without the salesmanship of Mark Burnett.
And despite her insanity, Marjorie Taylor Greene keeps getting elected.
Good for Kamala for going on Howard and being on "Call Her Daddy" but the problem is Howard has left the bros behind, he's got a more upscale audience these days, more intellectual, to his credit. If you want to reach the bros, you've got to go into the lion's den, and be unafraid in doing so.
Everybody's so scared. Bezos, Soon-Shiong. This is where politicians can shine, because it's not about the money, it's about control of the narrative, policy, power.
But just like everything else in America politics is solely about the bucks today. Bezos and Soon-Shiong don't want to sacrifice any, don't want to risk any.
You know these people. The ones who won't take a chance, who won't lead.
Don't be afraid. Own your identity. Evidence it.
It's the only way to win.
--
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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The Postcard
https://t.ly/sBx9m
This is a stupendous book.
We're watching this Apple TV series "Women in Blue," not that anybody's e-mailed me about it, not that there's a buzz, but it has great RottenTomatoes ratings, 100/86. It's a Mexican series inspired by real events about a killer and the government's decision to hire women on the police force to improve the administration's image. And in one scene, one candidate, one cadet, accuses another, her sister, of always coloring inside the lines, always doing what she's told to do. Would you?
That's the essence of education. Regimentation. By following the rules you get to ascend to the top of the ladder, get into a good college and then a good graduate school, even though those who change the world oftentimes drop out.
So...
So, Germany took over France in 1940, and Jews had to report their identity, wear clothing that reflected this, and then had to report to the government of their town to be sent away. Myriam's parents did what they were told, to earn brownie points, favor with the administration, believing dividends would be paid when the war was over. And...they were sent straight to the ovens. And this was after two of their children were taken previously.
But through a quirk of registration, Myriam escaped. Truly. Her father told her to run away.
And this is the story of her survival.
But even more it's the story of how her past haunts her daughter Lélia, and Lélia's daughter Anne, the author of this book, and Anne's daughter Clara, they can't escape their Jewish heritage, even though they don't practice the religion, Anne has no idea what goes on at a seder.
Sounds like a book only for Jews.
But that is not the case whatsoever. I recommend "The Postcard" to everybody who is able to read. For the first sixty percent it is unputdownable. It's a bit confusing for the subsequent twenty or thirty percent, when Myriam is in hiding, on the run during World War II, and then there's a strong finish, just when you don't expect it.
The reason I'm not just raving about the book from start to finish is to preserve my credibility. Too many people tell you stuff is great that is not. I want you to trust me. It's not that the second half of the book is bad, indecipherable, not whatsoever. And it's a necessary part of the story. And I couldn't put the book down during this section either, it's just that what comes before...
You're drawn into someone's world, a whole family's world, you're taken away to another place and another time...
That has too many parallels to today.
So, we've got the family. They have to leave Latvia. Are you willing to leave everything behind, sacrifice all you've built, to survive? This is a question that is asked in this book again and again. Myriam's grandparents decamp to Palestine and despite their hosannas when Myriam's family gets there they find out it's hot and desolate and you need to work hard and you can't really make any money so after a few years they decamp to Paris.
And then comes the war.
But in the twenty first century a postcard arrives listing the names of the deceased, those sent to the camps. This is a mystery. WHO SENT IT!
That's the underlying story. And you'd be surprised how many people don't want to talk about the past. You'll also be surprised how artifacts of the past, looted from the houses of those deported to their death, are now residing in the houses of their neighbors, who pilfered said items.
It's living history. And it never ends.
I mean I'm reading the book and I'm not thinking it can't happen here. On some level, it already is. Did you read the "Wall Street Journal" article?
"Jewish Students at UCLA Were Harassed, Threatened and Assaulted on Campus, Report Finds - UCLA antisemitism task force says the university prioritized free speech over stopping protests, which were among the most violent of the pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations"
Free link: https://t.ly/M5_EE
That's only a couple of miles from where I live. I go to the hospital on campus and my doctor tells me the latest. He feels the oppression.
And this is where Elon Musk's absolute free speech leads you. Not that I want to get deep into a discussion of that, but I will say that if students can't attend classes because they're Jewish... Isn't that a problem?
Appears not.
If you're Black or Palestinian or of some foreign ethnicity the institutions will protect you, but if you're a Jew...
My point here is how I feel. And if you're not Jewish, you may not feel it. But if you read "The Postcard" you will.
You'll also read about those who joined the Resistance, fighting for what was right as opposed to being sheep herded by the Germans and their French proxies. And you'll also learn about the clergyman who was a double agent who told on them and then these people who were working against the Germans were killed. This was not America, there was no trial. Cross the Germans, hide those against the regime, and you're gonna die if you're found out, and it ain't gonna be pretty.
So reading "The Postcard" you're taken completely away from everyday life. Talk about a respite from the election and obligations. Then again, in some ways it's just like life today.
Clara asks her grandmother if she's a Jew. Not in the forties, but in this century. And when Clara finds out she is she responds:
"They don't like Jews very much at at school."
She won't get picked for a team because she's Jewish.
Now "The Postcard" is translated from the French. And occasionally you can tell, the words, the passages...they don't flow, but this is very occasionally.
I guess what I'm saying is "The Postcard" is very readable. You'll start and you'll keep reading, you won't want to put it down.
You'll be pinching yourself, is this really a true story?
It is.
Get back to me when you've finished it.
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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This is a stupendous book.
We're watching this Apple TV series "Women in Blue," not that anybody's e-mailed me about it, not that there's a buzz, but it has great RottenTomatoes ratings, 100/86. It's a Mexican series inspired by real events about a killer and the government's decision to hire women on the police force to improve the administration's image. And in one scene, one candidate, one cadet, accuses another, her sister, of always coloring inside the lines, always doing what she's told to do. Would you?
That's the essence of education. Regimentation. By following the rules you get to ascend to the top of the ladder, get into a good college and then a good graduate school, even though those who change the world oftentimes drop out.
So...
So, Germany took over France in 1940, and Jews had to report their identity, wear clothing that reflected this, and then had to report to the government of their town to be sent away. Myriam's parents did what they were told, to earn brownie points, favor with the administration, believing dividends would be paid when the war was over. And...they were sent straight to the ovens. And this was after two of their children were taken previously.
But through a quirk of registration, Myriam escaped. Truly. Her father told her to run away.
And this is the story of her survival.
But even more it's the story of how her past haunts her daughter Lélia, and Lélia's daughter Anne, the author of this book, and Anne's daughter Clara, they can't escape their Jewish heritage, even though they don't practice the religion, Anne has no idea what goes on at a seder.
Sounds like a book only for Jews.
But that is not the case whatsoever. I recommend "The Postcard" to everybody who is able to read. For the first sixty percent it is unputdownable. It's a bit confusing for the subsequent twenty or thirty percent, when Myriam is in hiding, on the run during World War II, and then there's a strong finish, just when you don't expect it.
The reason I'm not just raving about the book from start to finish is to preserve my credibility. Too many people tell you stuff is great that is not. I want you to trust me. It's not that the second half of the book is bad, indecipherable, not whatsoever. And it's a necessary part of the story. And I couldn't put the book down during this section either, it's just that what comes before...
You're drawn into someone's world, a whole family's world, you're taken away to another place and another time...
That has too many parallels to today.
So, we've got the family. They have to leave Latvia. Are you willing to leave everything behind, sacrifice all you've built, to survive? This is a question that is asked in this book again and again. Myriam's grandparents decamp to Palestine and despite their hosannas when Myriam's family gets there they find out it's hot and desolate and you need to work hard and you can't really make any money so after a few years they decamp to Paris.
And then comes the war.
But in the twenty first century a postcard arrives listing the names of the deceased, those sent to the camps. This is a mystery. WHO SENT IT!
That's the underlying story. And you'd be surprised how many people don't want to talk about the past. You'll also be surprised how artifacts of the past, looted from the houses of those deported to their death, are now residing in the houses of their neighbors, who pilfered said items.
It's living history. And it never ends.
I mean I'm reading the book and I'm not thinking it can't happen here. On some level, it already is. Did you read the "Wall Street Journal" article?
"Jewish Students at UCLA Were Harassed, Threatened and Assaulted on Campus, Report Finds - UCLA antisemitism task force says the university prioritized free speech over stopping protests, which were among the most violent of the pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations"
Free link: https://t.ly/M5_EE
That's only a couple of miles from where I live. I go to the hospital on campus and my doctor tells me the latest. He feels the oppression.
And this is where Elon Musk's absolute free speech leads you. Not that I want to get deep into a discussion of that, but I will say that if students can't attend classes because they're Jewish... Isn't that a problem?
Appears not.
If you're Black or Palestinian or of some foreign ethnicity the institutions will protect you, but if you're a Jew...
My point here is how I feel. And if you're not Jewish, you may not feel it. But if you read "The Postcard" you will.
You'll also read about those who joined the Resistance, fighting for what was right as opposed to being sheep herded by the Germans and their French proxies. And you'll also learn about the clergyman who was a double agent who told on them and then these people who were working against the Germans were killed. This was not America, there was no trial. Cross the Germans, hide those against the regime, and you're gonna die if you're found out, and it ain't gonna be pretty.
So reading "The Postcard" you're taken completely away from everyday life. Talk about a respite from the election and obligations. Then again, in some ways it's just like life today.
Clara asks her grandmother if she's a Jew. Not in the forties, but in this century. And when Clara finds out she is she responds:
"They don't like Jews very much at at school."
She won't get picked for a team because she's Jewish.
Now "The Postcard" is translated from the French. And occasionally you can tell, the words, the passages...they don't flow, but this is very occasionally.
I guess what I'm saying is "The Postcard" is very readable. You'll start and you'll keep reading, you won't want to put it down.
You'll be pinching yourself, is this really a true story?
It is.
Get back to me when you've finished it.
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Thursday, 24 October 2024
The New Billy Squier Track
Spotify: https://lnkfwd.com/u/LAZeDiUL
YouTube: https://lnkfwd.com/u/LAZt4nmT
1
Well, not exactly new, as a matter of fact Billy released the same song last year to crickets. But now it's been remixed to sound like Billy in his heyday, the "Don't Say No" era.
And what an era it was.
How do I know Billy was in Piper?
That's how hungry we were for information back then. We read incessantly, the key was to be comprehensive, to know everything. Furthermore, the acts inspired this curiosity. I mean how did Billy Squier come out of nowhere to top the chart? And it wasn't only "The Stroke." No, it was one hit after another, "In the Dark" was fantastic, "My Kind of Lover" as good as what it preceded it and "Lonely Is the Night" phenomenal too. But having said that, my favorite song ended up being "Too Daze Gone."
I didn't buy the LP upon release. I didn't love the ubiquitous "The Stroke," but then came "In the Dark" and then one day I just had to pop for the album and I played it just like everybody else on my powerful stereo that could blow the roof off not only my house, but my next door neighbor's.
This was just before MTV. When rock ruled. AOR ruled. Disco had been killed two years before by Steve Dahl at Comiskey Park, even though in truth it just went underground, and Prince released the heavy beat "Dirty Mind" in the interim. But only aficionados were aware of that well-reviewed album, it was the next album, "Controversy," that got the public to pay attention to the man from Minneapolis, if for no other reason than he opened for the Stones and...
Well, you know the story.
Just like you know the story of Billy jumping on the bed in that video and...
1981. Even though the mainstream didn't truly embrace Bryan Adams until 1984's "Reckless," with "Run to You," in July of that year, just before the launch of MTV on August 1st, Adams put out the best album of his career, "You Want It You Got It," with "Lonely Nights" all over FM radio, if not "Fits Ya Good." Play "Lonely Nights," it will bring you right back, to when most of America was on the same page. It was white and it was rock, but country was still considered twangy and like I said above, disco had been squeezed off the main highway and...
In 1981 AC/DC followed up their breakthrough "Back in Black" with "For Those About to Rock..." Which was nowhere near as good, but we played it.
And ZZ Top had switched to Warner Bros. and followed up "Deguello" with "El Loco."
And Rush put out "Moving Pictures" and Genesis put out "Abacab" and Van Halen released "Fair Warning" and Foreigner put out "4" and Hall & Oates released "Private Eyes" and Ozzy put out "Diary of a Madman," with the FM staple, my favorite Ozzy track, "Flying High Again," as well as "Over the Mountain"...
Everything was groovy.
And along comes this interloper.
Billy Squier had no history. Was unknown, whereas most of the acts burning up the airwaves had history. But there was this sound on the record, which was produced by Mack, who'd streamlined the Queen sound on "The Game," an album which ranged from the undeniable acoustic rockabilly hit of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" to "Another One Bites the Dust" and you could hear the through line, the punch in Billy's album.
Haven't heard much from Mack recently.
Nor Billy Squier.
I heard Billy was back on the road, but it all seemed a bit off the radar.
And then...
I got an e-mail about Billy's new track.
2
This guy knew Billy, despite living in Oz. I told him I wanted to do a podcast with Squier. Could he hook me up.
Took a while, but ultimately I got into conversation with Squier himself and he said no. Even though this was contradictory to the title of his breakthrough LP.
Let's be clear. I would have to ask him about that video, Billy in the pink top jumping on the aforementioned bed, that tanked his career overnight, took Billy from big time star to has-been nearly instantly. He just didn't display the proper macho.
Didn't matter what Squier said, how it wasn't his decision. It rarely was in the video days, at least at this point, but it was too bad. The public decided that Billy was...
Not for them. A wuss.
And it was not long before you never heard from Billy again. He got a bit of airplay thereafter, but it didn't sustain, and at that point you were either on MTV or off. And Billy was off. And ultimately he became a footnote.
But why was this new track so GOOD?
3
Rock has come a long way since Billy Squier's heyday. Well, let's just say there's a huge distance between where Billy was forty years ago and where we are today. Today, if it hints of mainstream, of sellout, Active Rock doesn't want to play it. Active Rock is all about edge, the other. If you play mainstream, straight ahead rock, there's no place for you. Metallica is the model. Loud, thrashy, angry. That foursome used to be considered fringe, and then ultimately mainstream with "Enter Sandman," but then hip-hop truly triumphed and the acts that followed Metallica were angrier and noisier and faster and...the mainstream checked out, and now rock is niche.
But sometimes to come back you've got to go back to the garden.
4
So I figured that's the last I'd hear from Billy, I told him a podcast would not be gotcha, but he was not going to say yes, yet he kept e-mailing me about this new release.
He'd given it away on his website. I told him that was an antique strategy, files were for the Active Rock crowd, no, you had to be on streaming services.
Then Billy told me he'd made a deal with UMe and...that's why I'm writing about it now, it's just a click away, everywhere.
And if you were ever a fan, you should listen.
5
It's the guitar. You can see the player in front of the amp, getting that big sound from the Marshall. And then Billy comes in sounding...
Exactly like he used to. How can this BE?
And if you ever liked this sound you're immediately in the groove. You're nodding your head involuntarily. The sounds are layered, there are changes, you can picture yourself driving your Camaro on the highway with the windows down blasting this number.
Which seems to have no place in today's music world.
But the funny thing is, unlike all the modern people, Billy is taking a stand.
"Molly's got a problem – what she gonna do
Took away her freedom – she can't believe it's true"
What's going on here?
Billy Squier has written a PROTEST SONG! Yes, in the wake of the Dobbs decision.
"Freedom takes a holiday – it comes as no surprise
Justice in America is dust before your eyes
And no man is your brother – it's all a bed of lies
Gotta fight for your rights"
When seemingly the harder you rock, the more you lean right, Billy Squier is standing up for women, against the elimination of their rights.
But the amazing thing is the track works irrelevant of the lyrics. We could argue for a stronger chorus, but there are so many changes, it's infectious, the song starts off a full throttle and then it goes into hyperdrive, and then all you can do is PLAY IT OVER AGAIN!
"Harder on a Woman" is completely out of time. I don't know if Generation Alpha could even understand it. Gen-Z would be flummoxed. This sound hasn't been on the airwaves, hasn't been fashionable for decades, to the point where it sounds fresh. If rock ever comes back it'll germinate from this sound, not what passes for rock today, whether it be that outside stuff on Active Rock or all the people who can't sing and can't write songs who believe they deserve attention.
6
And the funny thing is it was released a year ago.
But the remix is everything. Listen to the two side by side. Here's the old version:
Spotify: https://shorturl.at/q6ZjG
YouTube: https://tiny.cc/5twrzz
It's the same song, but it's different, it doesn't have the same PUNCH!
Here, I'll let Billy explain it:
The initial recording of "Harder on A Woman" was released on March 8, 2023. It was written in the summer of 22, as a response to the Dobbs Decision and the implicit threat it poses to our individual freedoms. Music is my mouthpiece - if I have something to say, I choose to speak through that medium. The song wasn't conceived as a "Billy Squier Comeback Record", but rather a musical call-to-arms that I felt compelled to put out on the street. It was recorded in a very straight-forward manner, with some of my great musician friends: Simon Kirke on drums, Mark Clarke on bass, and GE Smith as second guitar. I gave no real time or thought to "producing" the track - I simply wanted people to hear the song and focus on the message.
In the Fall of 2023, I got this idea to revisit the song as a proper "Billy Squier Record", that is, make it sound like a track I would have cut back in the 80's, with the production values and recording techniques I would have used in making "Don't Say No" and my other albums. You might say I put the original track into a WayBack Machine and set the destination for Power Station 1981. I added a few bits, but the original performances are pretty much intact.
If you listen to the two versions back-to-back, the sonic differences are readily apparent, with the emphasis more on 'Billy' in the later version. The limited feedback I've gotten on "Harder 24 - Don't Say No Mix" has validated my process. People identify with this as a Billy Squier Record, which is what they've been waiting for...
And now they'll have it.
Billy
--
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--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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YouTube: https://lnkfwd.com/u/LAZt4nmT
1
Well, not exactly new, as a matter of fact Billy released the same song last year to crickets. But now it's been remixed to sound like Billy in his heyday, the "Don't Say No" era.
And what an era it was.
How do I know Billy was in Piper?
That's how hungry we were for information back then. We read incessantly, the key was to be comprehensive, to know everything. Furthermore, the acts inspired this curiosity. I mean how did Billy Squier come out of nowhere to top the chart? And it wasn't only "The Stroke." No, it was one hit after another, "In the Dark" was fantastic, "My Kind of Lover" as good as what it preceded it and "Lonely Is the Night" phenomenal too. But having said that, my favorite song ended up being "Too Daze Gone."
I didn't buy the LP upon release. I didn't love the ubiquitous "The Stroke," but then came "In the Dark" and then one day I just had to pop for the album and I played it just like everybody else on my powerful stereo that could blow the roof off not only my house, but my next door neighbor's.
This was just before MTV. When rock ruled. AOR ruled. Disco had been killed two years before by Steve Dahl at Comiskey Park, even though in truth it just went underground, and Prince released the heavy beat "Dirty Mind" in the interim. But only aficionados were aware of that well-reviewed album, it was the next album, "Controversy," that got the public to pay attention to the man from Minneapolis, if for no other reason than he opened for the Stones and...
Well, you know the story.
Just like you know the story of Billy jumping on the bed in that video and...
1981. Even though the mainstream didn't truly embrace Bryan Adams until 1984's "Reckless," with "Run to You," in July of that year, just before the launch of MTV on August 1st, Adams put out the best album of his career, "You Want It You Got It," with "Lonely Nights" all over FM radio, if not "Fits Ya Good." Play "Lonely Nights," it will bring you right back, to when most of America was on the same page. It was white and it was rock, but country was still considered twangy and like I said above, disco had been squeezed off the main highway and...
In 1981 AC/DC followed up their breakthrough "Back in Black" with "For Those About to Rock..." Which was nowhere near as good, but we played it.
And ZZ Top had switched to Warner Bros. and followed up "Deguello" with "El Loco."
And Rush put out "Moving Pictures" and Genesis put out "Abacab" and Van Halen released "Fair Warning" and Foreigner put out "4" and Hall & Oates released "Private Eyes" and Ozzy put out "Diary of a Madman," with the FM staple, my favorite Ozzy track, "Flying High Again," as well as "Over the Mountain"...
Everything was groovy.
And along comes this interloper.
Billy Squier had no history. Was unknown, whereas most of the acts burning up the airwaves had history. But there was this sound on the record, which was produced by Mack, who'd streamlined the Queen sound on "The Game," an album which ranged from the undeniable acoustic rockabilly hit of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" to "Another One Bites the Dust" and you could hear the through line, the punch in Billy's album.
Haven't heard much from Mack recently.
Nor Billy Squier.
I heard Billy was back on the road, but it all seemed a bit off the radar.
And then...
I got an e-mail about Billy's new track.
2
This guy knew Billy, despite living in Oz. I told him I wanted to do a podcast with Squier. Could he hook me up.
Took a while, but ultimately I got into conversation with Squier himself and he said no. Even though this was contradictory to the title of his breakthrough LP.
Let's be clear. I would have to ask him about that video, Billy in the pink top jumping on the aforementioned bed, that tanked his career overnight, took Billy from big time star to has-been nearly instantly. He just didn't display the proper macho.
Didn't matter what Squier said, how it wasn't his decision. It rarely was in the video days, at least at this point, but it was too bad. The public decided that Billy was...
Not for them. A wuss.
And it was not long before you never heard from Billy again. He got a bit of airplay thereafter, but it didn't sustain, and at that point you were either on MTV or off. And Billy was off. And ultimately he became a footnote.
But why was this new track so GOOD?
3
Rock has come a long way since Billy Squier's heyday. Well, let's just say there's a huge distance between where Billy was forty years ago and where we are today. Today, if it hints of mainstream, of sellout, Active Rock doesn't want to play it. Active Rock is all about edge, the other. If you play mainstream, straight ahead rock, there's no place for you. Metallica is the model. Loud, thrashy, angry. That foursome used to be considered fringe, and then ultimately mainstream with "Enter Sandman," but then hip-hop truly triumphed and the acts that followed Metallica were angrier and noisier and faster and...the mainstream checked out, and now rock is niche.
But sometimes to come back you've got to go back to the garden.
4
So I figured that's the last I'd hear from Billy, I told him a podcast would not be gotcha, but he was not going to say yes, yet he kept e-mailing me about this new release.
He'd given it away on his website. I told him that was an antique strategy, files were for the Active Rock crowd, no, you had to be on streaming services.
Then Billy told me he'd made a deal with UMe and...that's why I'm writing about it now, it's just a click away, everywhere.
And if you were ever a fan, you should listen.
5
It's the guitar. You can see the player in front of the amp, getting that big sound from the Marshall. And then Billy comes in sounding...
Exactly like he used to. How can this BE?
And if you ever liked this sound you're immediately in the groove. You're nodding your head involuntarily. The sounds are layered, there are changes, you can picture yourself driving your Camaro on the highway with the windows down blasting this number.
Which seems to have no place in today's music world.
But the funny thing is, unlike all the modern people, Billy is taking a stand.
"Molly's got a problem – what she gonna do
Took away her freedom – she can't believe it's true"
What's going on here?
Billy Squier has written a PROTEST SONG! Yes, in the wake of the Dobbs decision.
"Freedom takes a holiday – it comes as no surprise
Justice in America is dust before your eyes
And no man is your brother – it's all a bed of lies
Gotta fight for your rights"
When seemingly the harder you rock, the more you lean right, Billy Squier is standing up for women, against the elimination of their rights.
But the amazing thing is the track works irrelevant of the lyrics. We could argue for a stronger chorus, but there are so many changes, it's infectious, the song starts off a full throttle and then it goes into hyperdrive, and then all you can do is PLAY IT OVER AGAIN!
"Harder on a Woman" is completely out of time. I don't know if Generation Alpha could even understand it. Gen-Z would be flummoxed. This sound hasn't been on the airwaves, hasn't been fashionable for decades, to the point where it sounds fresh. If rock ever comes back it'll germinate from this sound, not what passes for rock today, whether it be that outside stuff on Active Rock or all the people who can't sing and can't write songs who believe they deserve attention.
6
And the funny thing is it was released a year ago.
But the remix is everything. Listen to the two side by side. Here's the old version:
Spotify: https://shorturl.at/q6ZjG
YouTube: https://tiny.cc/5twrzz
It's the same song, but it's different, it doesn't have the same PUNCH!
Here, I'll let Billy explain it:
The initial recording of "Harder on A Woman" was released on March 8, 2023. It was written in the summer of 22, as a response to the Dobbs Decision and the implicit threat it poses to our individual freedoms. Music is my mouthpiece - if I have something to say, I choose to speak through that medium. The song wasn't conceived as a "Billy Squier Comeback Record", but rather a musical call-to-arms that I felt compelled to put out on the street. It was recorded in a very straight-forward manner, with some of my great musician friends: Simon Kirke on drums, Mark Clarke on bass, and GE Smith as second guitar. I gave no real time or thought to "producing" the track - I simply wanted people to hear the song and focus on the message.
In the Fall of 2023, I got this idea to revisit the song as a proper "Billy Squier Record", that is, make it sound like a track I would have cut back in the 80's, with the production values and recording techniques I would have used in making "Don't Say No" and my other albums. You might say I put the original track into a WayBack Machine and set the destination for Power Station 1981. I added a few bits, but the original performances are pretty much intact.
If you listen to the two versions back-to-back, the sonic differences are readily apparent, with the emphasis more on 'Billy' in the later version. The limited feedback I've gotten on "Harder 24 - Don't Say No Mix" has validated my process. People identify with this as a Billy Squier Record, which is what they've been waiting for...
And now they'll have it.
Billy
--
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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John Doe & Exene Cervenka-This Week's Podcast
Of X.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/john-doe-exene-cervenka/id1316200737?i=1000674276572
https://open.spotify.com/episode/30kUs1gTUtMKzFuMo36Kbc?si=63pJhoPuRki7QEviTm7hFw
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/john-doe-exene-cervenka-230782133/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/c9e759db-7a7d-492b-abc2-27c902af4e9d/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-john-doe-exene-cervenka
--
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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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/john-doe-exene-cervenka/id1316200737?i=1000674276572
https://open.spotify.com/episode/30kUs1gTUtMKzFuMo36Kbc?si=63pJhoPuRki7QEviTm7hFw
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/john-doe-exene-cervenka-230782133/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/c9e759db-7a7d-492b-abc2-27c902af4e9d/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-john-doe-exene-cervenka
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Wednesday, 23 October 2024
The Election
The Insane Clown Posse came out for Harris:
Free link: https://t.ly/g0TqA
And this is important, because the perception is the Juggalos are part of Trump's base. Uneducated, lower middle class white men.
Then again, you don't have to be poor to like Faygo!
And I won't say the ICP's endorsement is more important than Taylor Swift's, even though the mania over that, just like the mania over Harris herself, hasn't lasted, but it is more important than Springsteen's, even Eminem's. You see the Boss's audience is educated white people, who tend to vote Democratic, he may sing about the working class, but at this late date, the blue collar are more apt to follow Jason Aldean than the Boss. As for Marshall... In the ensuing decades, Mathers has been embraced by the educated elite, they now accept that his original work is satire, and Em has consistently weighed in on the left side of the political fence.
But the "Wall Street Journal" just said that Trump has taken a narrow lead:
"Trump Takes Narrow Lead Over Harris in Closing Weeks of Race - Voters remember Trump's presidency more fondly as negative views of Harris grow"
Free link: https://t.ly/b3a4F
Meanwhile, James Carville believes Harris is going to win it all, although he's ultimately relying on his gut:
"James Carville: Three Reasons I'm Certain Kamala Harris Will Win"
Free link: https://t.ly/7lfGR
But Nate Silver says not to trust your gut, but then he says:
"My gut says Donald Trump."
Free link: https://t.ly/v3gFl
Meanwhile, 17 million people have already voted.
And I still believe that the race will ultimately come down to get out the vote efforts.
But why is Kamala Harris not running away with this?
It's very simple. She's been tarred by Biden's record, and irrelevant of reality, many see it as negative.
And she's still not defined.
Let's be clear, I'm not talking about the issues here, I'm talking about her IDENTITY!
Bill Clinton played the sax on "Arsenio."
Donald Trump manned the window at McDonald's.
Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist. The left and right have spun the Mickey D's performance to their own benefit, but all I can say is Trump's stint at the drive-thru window is completely on brand. One thing we know about Trump is he eats McDonald's. Whereas the educated elites... They'll go on about how horrible the outlet is, talk about nutrition, taste and...
This is the same left that refuses to adhere to medical science.
Have you been following the Ananda Lewis story?
"Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis Says Her Cancer Has Spread After She Decided to 'Keep My Tumor' - The former talk show host reflected on her decision to go against her doctor's recommendation for a mastectomy after her 2020 breast cancer diagnosis: 'I thought I had this'"
https://t.ly/hyW1I
You don't see uneducated poor people rejecting western medicine.
In addition, Lewis graduated from Howard, Harris's alma mater.
Now don't e-mail me about vaccine conspiracies...that's all political. Cancer is not. You never know, ultimately it could be, but it's not yet. So you go to the doctor and they tell you what to do and you don't do it? These are the same people who'll quiz you on your diet when you're ill. Tell you to take zinc and other over the counter medications, anything but go to the dreaded western medical doctor. And I'm not making this up, my inbox is loaded with people excoriating me and my choices for every damn illness I've had.
So one thing we know for sure is Harris peaked too early.
Not that this was foreseen. But the air is out of the balloon. If anything, people are defeated. And one thing is totally for sure, everybody is burned out on election news other than those involved in the business of reporting it.
So Harris was bobbing and weaving, avoiding deep questioning. I thought she could have run this to the wire, not a bad strategy in my estimation. But ultimately acceding to the wishes of the political pundit class, she's gone on to answer the tough questions, even on Fox.
And it hasn't moved the needle.
She just called Trump a fascist on CNN, and if you think that's gonna earn her any votes, you already think Trump is a fascist.
Attacking Trump just ain't gonna work. Didn't work for Biden, who employed it as his only strategy...remember, YOU'VE GOT TO SAVE DEMOCRACY! And it's not working for Harris.
No, the only thing that can move the needle is for people to truly get to know Harris, to understand her. Then again, the Democratic handlers are the same ones who hid Biden's mental deterioration, one thing is for sure, they're out of touch with the public, if not reality.
It's no longer about issues, once again it's about IDENTITY!
And Trump's is crystal clear. To the point where the constant parade of horribles makes no difference.
But Harris?
Now if Harris could get out the youth vote she would probably win.
All those ads on television... Only old people watch ads on TV, and they already know who they're going to vote for and they vote consistently.
So how do you humanize Harris for young people?
You send them in.
Harris has to invite, maybe even have a contest to find, a social media influencer to hang with her 24/7, maybe a man and a woman, but if only one, a woman.
As for contests... Isn't this what Elon the Moron is doing seemingly every damn day?
We've got to get to the heart of Kamala Harris.
She's got to spend the not quite two weeks left sleeping in regular people's homes. Yup, in every swing state. Someone at random, she stays overnight. The cameras are there, the family gets to testify... This is reality television on steroids.
There has to be a short form documentary of Harris going to a Taylor Swift concert. Revealing backstage info that is presently unknown. STAYING FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW! EXCHANGING BRACELETS!
Don't tell me about safety...
As for Walz, he blew it during the debate. If anything, he's now a negative factor. Sure, he can campaign, go for it, but there's a reason why he's been pushed out of the spotlight... You're a heartbeat away and you're nervous and confused and...look like a high school student doing an oral report?
Don't defend him. We're way past this point.
How can we convince people that Harris is not a two-dimensional robot.
And how can we convince people she's up to the task of running the nation, never mind an international conflict.
This is when the Ross Perot strategy comes to mind.
People love a deep dive when they're interested.
Harris has to upload clips to YouTube with her going deep into the issues, showing her command of them.
One on the economy.
One on energy.
One on Israel.
Five minutes each. Maybe longer. Uninterrupted. Just her laying it all down.
That's one of the things that helped Clinton, he could talk about any issue in depth, extemporaneously.
We don't want a stiff, wooden Kamala, we want more of a Gumby Kamala.
And maybe even go on QVC. Go where the regular people are. Enough of appealing to those who have already decided to vote for her.
Today's world is run by the internet. And it's all about revealing your entire self, warts and all. That's what sells, that's what people want to see, even though the mainstream press and those who know better tell everyone to put down the smartphone and say all the influencers are a joke. BUT THEY REACH MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY NETWORK TV SHOW, NEVER MIND CNN!
You've got old farts running her campaign completely out of touch with the new world.
What do we know about social media influencers?
You've got to create content each and every day. You never know what will go viral.
Enough with the rallies. Like the attendees have not already decided to vote for her, they're just checking her out? HOGWASH!
As for the reporting on said rallies/appearances...I'm a news junkie and I'm burned out on it.
Can Harris DJ a party in Vegas, all by her lonesome?
Can she go to a World Series game and sit through the entire thing and then opine about it after, not in a mealy-mouthed way? Say she's a Dodger fan, or a Yankee, talk some smack. People live for this. That's the essence of sports talk radio! We all love to argue over our favorite teams, doesn't mean we hate those on the other side!
But it's got to appear authentic.
That's what Harris is missing, AUTHENTICITY!
Carville said it was about the economy, stupid! I'm telling you it's about authenticity, stupid! You've got to convince people Kamala Harris is authentic, that they know who she is as a person, irrelevant of her views. And sure, you've got to layer in competence, but I'm going to vote for Kamala and I still don't know who she is... If I ran into her what would I start off with? She says she's a hip-hop fan, is she a foodie? Does she exercise? Does she lift? Does she like to gossip? Can she publish some of her iMessage threads?
ANYTHING TO HUMANIZE HER!
It's never too late. Isn't that how we got here, Biden dropping out at almost the last minute?
Harris has to seize the momentum.
And you do this by breaking constructs, the rules. This carried Trump all the way to the White House once.
And if you don't want to see him there again...
--
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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--
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Free link: https://t.ly/g0TqA
And this is important, because the perception is the Juggalos are part of Trump's base. Uneducated, lower middle class white men.
Then again, you don't have to be poor to like Faygo!
And I won't say the ICP's endorsement is more important than Taylor Swift's, even though the mania over that, just like the mania over Harris herself, hasn't lasted, but it is more important than Springsteen's, even Eminem's. You see the Boss's audience is educated white people, who tend to vote Democratic, he may sing about the working class, but at this late date, the blue collar are more apt to follow Jason Aldean than the Boss. As for Marshall... In the ensuing decades, Mathers has been embraced by the educated elite, they now accept that his original work is satire, and Em has consistently weighed in on the left side of the political fence.
But the "Wall Street Journal" just said that Trump has taken a narrow lead:
"Trump Takes Narrow Lead Over Harris in Closing Weeks of Race - Voters remember Trump's presidency more fondly as negative views of Harris grow"
Free link: https://t.ly/b3a4F
Meanwhile, James Carville believes Harris is going to win it all, although he's ultimately relying on his gut:
"James Carville: Three Reasons I'm Certain Kamala Harris Will Win"
Free link: https://t.ly/7lfGR
But Nate Silver says not to trust your gut, but then he says:
"My gut says Donald Trump."
Free link: https://t.ly/v3gFl
Meanwhile, 17 million people have already voted.
And I still believe that the race will ultimately come down to get out the vote efforts.
But why is Kamala Harris not running away with this?
It's very simple. She's been tarred by Biden's record, and irrelevant of reality, many see it as negative.
And she's still not defined.
Let's be clear, I'm not talking about the issues here, I'm talking about her IDENTITY!
Bill Clinton played the sax on "Arsenio."
Donald Trump manned the window at McDonald's.
Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist. The left and right have spun the Mickey D's performance to their own benefit, but all I can say is Trump's stint at the drive-thru window is completely on brand. One thing we know about Trump is he eats McDonald's. Whereas the educated elites... They'll go on about how horrible the outlet is, talk about nutrition, taste and...
This is the same left that refuses to adhere to medical science.
Have you been following the Ananda Lewis story?
"Former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis Says Her Cancer Has Spread After She Decided to 'Keep My Tumor' - The former talk show host reflected on her decision to go against her doctor's recommendation for a mastectomy after her 2020 breast cancer diagnosis: 'I thought I had this'"
https://t.ly/hyW1I
You don't see uneducated poor people rejecting western medicine.
In addition, Lewis graduated from Howard, Harris's alma mater.
Now don't e-mail me about vaccine conspiracies...that's all political. Cancer is not. You never know, ultimately it could be, but it's not yet. So you go to the doctor and they tell you what to do and you don't do it? These are the same people who'll quiz you on your diet when you're ill. Tell you to take zinc and other over the counter medications, anything but go to the dreaded western medical doctor. And I'm not making this up, my inbox is loaded with people excoriating me and my choices for every damn illness I've had.
So one thing we know for sure is Harris peaked too early.
Not that this was foreseen. But the air is out of the balloon. If anything, people are defeated. And one thing is totally for sure, everybody is burned out on election news other than those involved in the business of reporting it.
So Harris was bobbing and weaving, avoiding deep questioning. I thought she could have run this to the wire, not a bad strategy in my estimation. But ultimately acceding to the wishes of the political pundit class, she's gone on to answer the tough questions, even on Fox.
And it hasn't moved the needle.
She just called Trump a fascist on CNN, and if you think that's gonna earn her any votes, you already think Trump is a fascist.
Attacking Trump just ain't gonna work. Didn't work for Biden, who employed it as his only strategy...remember, YOU'VE GOT TO SAVE DEMOCRACY! And it's not working for Harris.
No, the only thing that can move the needle is for people to truly get to know Harris, to understand her. Then again, the Democratic handlers are the same ones who hid Biden's mental deterioration, one thing is for sure, they're out of touch with the public, if not reality.
It's no longer about issues, once again it's about IDENTITY!
And Trump's is crystal clear. To the point where the constant parade of horribles makes no difference.
But Harris?
Now if Harris could get out the youth vote she would probably win.
All those ads on television... Only old people watch ads on TV, and they already know who they're going to vote for and they vote consistently.
So how do you humanize Harris for young people?
You send them in.
Harris has to invite, maybe even have a contest to find, a social media influencer to hang with her 24/7, maybe a man and a woman, but if only one, a woman.
As for contests... Isn't this what Elon the Moron is doing seemingly every damn day?
We've got to get to the heart of Kamala Harris.
She's got to spend the not quite two weeks left sleeping in regular people's homes. Yup, in every swing state. Someone at random, she stays overnight. The cameras are there, the family gets to testify... This is reality television on steroids.
There has to be a short form documentary of Harris going to a Taylor Swift concert. Revealing backstage info that is presently unknown. STAYING FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW! EXCHANGING BRACELETS!
Don't tell me about safety...
As for Walz, he blew it during the debate. If anything, he's now a negative factor. Sure, he can campaign, go for it, but there's a reason why he's been pushed out of the spotlight... You're a heartbeat away and you're nervous and confused and...look like a high school student doing an oral report?
Don't defend him. We're way past this point.
How can we convince people that Harris is not a two-dimensional robot.
And how can we convince people she's up to the task of running the nation, never mind an international conflict.
This is when the Ross Perot strategy comes to mind.
People love a deep dive when they're interested.
Harris has to upload clips to YouTube with her going deep into the issues, showing her command of them.
One on the economy.
One on energy.
One on Israel.
Five minutes each. Maybe longer. Uninterrupted. Just her laying it all down.
That's one of the things that helped Clinton, he could talk about any issue in depth, extemporaneously.
We don't want a stiff, wooden Kamala, we want more of a Gumby Kamala.
And maybe even go on QVC. Go where the regular people are. Enough of appealing to those who have already decided to vote for her.
Today's world is run by the internet. And it's all about revealing your entire self, warts and all. That's what sells, that's what people want to see, even though the mainstream press and those who know better tell everyone to put down the smartphone and say all the influencers are a joke. BUT THEY REACH MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY NETWORK TV SHOW, NEVER MIND CNN!
You've got old farts running her campaign completely out of touch with the new world.
What do we know about social media influencers?
You've got to create content each and every day. You never know what will go viral.
Enough with the rallies. Like the attendees have not already decided to vote for her, they're just checking her out? HOGWASH!
As for the reporting on said rallies/appearances...I'm a news junkie and I'm burned out on it.
Can Harris DJ a party in Vegas, all by her lonesome?
Can she go to a World Series game and sit through the entire thing and then opine about it after, not in a mealy-mouthed way? Say she's a Dodger fan, or a Yankee, talk some smack. People live for this. That's the essence of sports talk radio! We all love to argue over our favorite teams, doesn't mean we hate those on the other side!
But it's got to appear authentic.
That's what Harris is missing, AUTHENTICITY!
Carville said it was about the economy, stupid! I'm telling you it's about authenticity, stupid! You've got to convince people Kamala Harris is authentic, that they know who she is as a person, irrelevant of her views. And sure, you've got to layer in competence, but I'm going to vote for Kamala and I still don't know who she is... If I ran into her what would I start off with? She says she's a hip-hop fan, is she a foodie? Does she exercise? Does she lift? Does she like to gossip? Can she publish some of her iMessage threads?
ANYTHING TO HUMANIZE HER!
It's never too late. Isn't that how we got here, Biden dropping out at almost the last minute?
Harris has to seize the momentum.
And you do this by breaking constructs, the rules. This carried Trump all the way to the White House once.
And if you don't want to see him there again...
--
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,
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Sunday, 20 October 2024
Joni Jam
1
She did not sing the songs you wanted to hear, she sang the songs she wanted to play.
Normally, the act is on stage trying to convince the audience to love them, to entrance them, but the 17,000 in attendance at the Bowl were already sold, and they were afforded a peek into Joni Mitchell's psyche.
Not that Joni ever did what people wanted her to do. Sure, college students bought "Court and Spark" and imagined a flaxen-haired earth mother, warm and inviting to all. That was Mama Cass, that is not Joni Mitchell. All you need to do is meet her and talk to her.
Not that she would remember our conversations. But along with accusing me of trying to pull some girl with her music, she was incensed that I didn't love "Chalk Mark," as she put it. But that was thirty-odd years ago, when I was still a fan, when I still believed in the artists.
Now I only believe in the records.
That's the strange thing about passing seventy, everything is equalized. You are who you are, you either set the world on fire or you didn't. And you laugh at those still trying to climb the ladder of notoriety and success. Because at this point, you know it's meaningless.
Furthermore, the world has flipped. Now it's about the show, not the recording. As for the boomer acts, the classic rock acts, this truly could be the last time. You don't know when someone will unexpectedly pass. There's not going to be another Fleetwood Mac tour, unless hell freezes over and Stevie Nicks makes up with Lindsey Buckingham, and that is never going to happen, never mind Stevie's ability to make just as much cash on her own.
And we thought that Joni was done. She said she could no longer sing. That's what she said, even when she was given an award.
But what you've got to know is to Joni Mitchell art is everything. She refused to be sidelined, she did it her way.
And is continuing to do it her way.
Which is a blunt way of saying if you knew every song in the first set...you were probably on stage.
Sure, Joni appeared to rapturous applause, a standing ovation. And there were continued claps, but it was clear the audience was flummoxed, this was not what they came for, this was not what they expected.
It's a deal between the old acts and their fans. You pay an exorbitant price and they deliver exactly what you want them to. The hits. And maybe a couple of new tracks or obscurities so you can go to the bathroom, it's hard to sit through a show at our age.
Except for Bob Dylan. He legendarily rearranges the songs to make it interesting to HIM! Who wants to go out night after night and deliver the same renditions of decades-old numbers?
People who want the cash, first and foremost. And maybe the love. But it is truly artistic death.
And if you put out new material, no one embraces it, no one wants to hear it, you're a prisoner of your career.
But not Bob Dylan. I no longer want to go to his shows to hear unrecognizable versions of legendary songs, but I respect him for doing it.
And I respect Joni Mitchell for doing it her way last night. She was playing the Hollywood Bowl, in her own hometown, she'll be 81 next month, she doesn't walk so well, how many more opportunities is she going to get to do this?
Maybe none. So why deliver what the audience wants instead of doing what you want to do?
2
The turning point was "Mingus." Or maybe even "The Hissing of Summer Lawns," which was not the smooth rock the audience expected, it was more jazz-influenced.
And after "Mingus"... There was no longer any commerciality. Not anywhere near her peak anyway.
And she stopped doing what the audience expected her to. No one bared her soul like Joni, no one. And now she was looking outward, speaking of the world. She'd been there and done that, to repeat oneself...is artistic death.
But she was still a believer.
And I'm not saying she never hit the note. I was at McCabe's in the early nineties and she came on stage during someone else's set and performed an acoustic version of "The Three Great Stimulants" that I can still see in my mind's eye today.
But ultimately Joni stopped making new music. Said she was a painter.
And then had a huge health crisis.
How bad was it?
Scuttlebutt said she was nearly totaled.
But in the wake of her brain aneurysm came...
A reevaluation.
You see with today's singer/songwriters not coming anywhere near the level of what once was, everybody started to look back to the source, Joni Mitchell.
"Blue," sans hit single when it was released, was venerated.
Brandi Carlile performed it in its entirety at Disney Hall.
It was an endless victory lap.
And then Joni decided to play.
3
She did not stand up and wail on the guitar like she did at Newport.
She no longer has the crystalline voice of yore, cigarettes and age have coarsened and deepened her pipes. Not to the detriment of the delivery, it's just something different. She's gotten older. As have we. You could see on the big screen she had not had any work done. She was still playing by her own rules, and we were loving her for it.
And I'd say the audience was two-thirds women. And I don't think I've ever seen such a long line at the merch booth, even before the show began.
And you could not dart your eyes without seeing a celebrity. I was waiting at the Covid-testing tent and Melissa Gilbert was right behind me. Rosie O'Donnell entered right after I did. Helen Hunt was sitting right next to us.
Everybody was primed for that once in a lifetime event, a deliverance of that music they loved, that they knew by heart, and then Joni started with...
"Be Cool."
Okay, okay, she's making a statement, but she's going to get on track thereafter, right?
NO!
After that came "Harlem in Havana"...
And that's when you started to realize what was going on here. She was not giving us the middle finger...she really wasn't that concerned with us at all! She was comfortable in her skin, she knew her greatness, she had no doubts in her take, she was doing it her way, in a world where everybody sells out and does it the way...some fictitious god in the sky tells them to, so they appease corporate sponsors and hoover up that excess cash, branding perfume and clothing and...
Now the third song was "Hejira." Which is the title track of that album, but not one of its highlights.
But then came the opening cut from that record, which was played at the Last Waltz, which never got any airplay, but everybody now seems to know...
"Coyote."
Loved hearing it. Brought it all back. But this was not the first six albums, the ones that made Joni's bones.
But then she threw us a bone, she performed "Carey."
"The wind is in from Africa
Last night I couldn't sleep"
Whew! It took us right back to 1972, me at least! A breath of fresh air, on the original album and in last night's performance. Upbeat, alive. Not one of the legendary radio tracks, but if you were a fan, you knew it by heart.
And this was Joni Mitchell. Once again, this was what you came for.
I'm gonna run through the next few songs quickly, just to make my point here, that Joni was on her own hejira:
"The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)"
"God Must Be a Boogie Man"
"Sunny Sunday"
"If I Had a Heart"
But then, the piece-de-resistance, 'Refuge of the Roads"!
4
"Hejira" is a masterpiece. And don't let anybody fool you into thinking that it was a big success back when it came out in 1976. The songs were different, extended and drony. Audio perfection, but they required deep listening. But if you did...
You were rewarded. You knew this was as good as it got.
And if you're a fan of that album, you know the best cut is "Song for Sharon," whose lyrics I could quote and blow your mind, but another time.
And that's eight minutes and forty seconds long.
And the second best cut on "Hejira" is...
The closing cut, "Refuge of the Roads," not cutting any corners at 6:42.
And when the assembled multitude began to play, the stage was littered with players, many with pedigree, the song was instantly recognizable.
Assuming you knew it. Which based on the lack of a hoopla of recognition I believe few did.
Brandi Carlile introduced it. Talked about Joni driving her Mercedes cross-country and being inspired to write it.
And...
There are no words. How often do you go to see a legend and they play one of your favorite cuts, an album cut, from long ago?
NEVER!
I'm tingling just writing about it.
5
The first set closed with a slowed down version of "Both Sides Now," which was exquisite. The highlight of which was Jacob Collier's piano interlude. A jazz musician will play what you didn't know you wanted to hear and then find out it's far beyond what you thought you would ever hear.
And then came the break.
6
Okay, okay... She's either gonna come back with a hit, or she's going to go left field again and that's the way the rest of the show is going to play out.
But she opened with a rollicking version of "Big Yellow Taxi," not one of my favorites, but the audience was on its feet, energized, this is what they'd been waiting for, and standing there it felt like you were part of a celebration.
And right thereafter, "Raised on Robbery." Not quite as fast as the original, but far from slow. But somehow it seemed over the head of most people there.
But then...
Marcus Mumford came forward and sang...
"California."
"Sitting in a park in Paris, France"...
CAN YOU FEEL IT!
The audience certainly did. Because let's be clear, "California" was being sung in...CALIFORNIA!
"I'm going to see the folks I dig
I'll even kiss a Sunset pig
California, I'm coming home"
It is now my home. When this record was released, it was just a dream. I had to come here. And it lived up to the rep. And this is the kind of show that only plays in L.A., which is one of the benefits of living here.
And to be honest, I'd much rather have heard Joni sing it, but she did come in on the chorus and she added words here and there and...
"Oh, it gets so lonely
When you're walking
And the streets are full of strangers"
It most certainly does. Especially in the pre-cellphone era. You were truly alone, with just your thoughts, in a foreign place.
And this change, this bridge, is so delicious, it slays me every time, and I know it does you.
Two songs later Annie Lennox came out and sang a slowed-down version of "Ladies of the Canyon" and...
Annie never misses a note. And it was great. But it was absent the gravitas of the original.
7
Now going through the rest of the show, Joni covered Elton and Bernie's "I'm Still Standing," whose words she fashioned a bit to her own liking. A great message.
And then another left field surprise. AMELIA? I mean if you were a fan of "Hejira," this was a night made in heaven. This was beyond your wildest dreams. And despite the less than entranced audience...it made no difference to Joni, she gave it her all.
And the closer was "The Circle Game," already a legendary song when it closed 1970's "Ladies of the Canyon," and this was the kind of number that I truly expected, but I thought there was a chance that Joni would sing "Rainy Night House," or "The Arrangement," which still retain their haunting personal quality more than half a century later.
And the audience was thrilled, the applause was rapturous.
But really, the absolute peak of the evening, the one that had me standing singing along with every word, staring at the sky, feeling that I was in the right place and my life had worked was...
"A Case of You."
8
"Just before our love got lost you said
'I am as constant as a northern star'"
There are certain basics. Iconic songs that never leave your brain. That run shotgun through your entire life. One of mine is...
"A Case of You."
"And I said, 'Constantly in the darkness
Where's that at
If you want me I'll be in the bar"
Unexpected. At this point you expect the singer to lean in, get closer to the hurting, deluded man.
But that's not Joni Mitchell. She was always as strong as the guys, maybe stronger. She was not going to play this game, she was going to stand on her own.
"On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh, Canada
With your face sketched on it twice"
She's not disconnected, she'll always be connected, which is why she's drawing his face twice!
And TV's no longer emit a blue light.
And they call coasters "beer mats."
And Canada... Is not America. It's just a bit different. It's like a giant high school, you can have no airs, you'll be pulled right down, it's less about stardom than the art, less about celebrity than living your life.
"Oh, I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid"
She's strong, but she still has weaknesses. She can stand alone, but she doesn't want to, she wants to lean on your strength. And despite being a renowned popular music artist... She still sees herself as a painter.
And now comes the essence, the verse that puts the song in the pantheon.
"I remember that time you told me
You said 'Love is touching souls'
Surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time"
If you've ever been in love, you know this. It's a lonely world out there, we're all individuals with our own thoughts, we're looking for soul connection, and when we find it, it means everything.
But the most amazing thing is loving someone, being involved with them, changes you. You start employing some of their phrases. You find your viewpoint changing. You adjust your wardrobe. It's very subtle, you don't realize it's happening. And then you break up and you feel like you've lost half of yourself, and in truth you never ever recover, part of the other person stays with you FOREVER!
"Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet"
TALK ABOUT A METAPHOR!
Joni Mitchell wasn't an imitator, she was a trailblazer, an original. She didn't copy, she innovated.
And if you've ever been to Canada, where they literally have the "Beer Store," you can see part of the inspiration for this turn of phrase. You live in the frozen north and you drink, I know, I've lived close to the border, where it gets cold at night and dark earlier and you drink and connect and fight and...
It's very different from living in Southern California.
But this merger of two people...
You ain't gonna find that in a heavy metal tune.
Or a hip-hop number.
No, you have to write it yourself, sing your song, do it your way to have it resonate.
Joni Mitchell did.
And still does.
9
So what happens now?
Everybody who went last night and tonight testifies to all those who were not in attendance. How the show was over the moon, far beyond what could be expected. They'll cite the celebrities on and off stage. They'll wax rhapsodic.
Don't buy it. That's not what happened.
What happened was we got a peek into an artist's soul. We saw the thinking behind not only the songs, but the person herself. Joni revealed who she was, and despite uttering so many points of connection, we still only know a part of her.
Artists are elusive. You think you know them, but you really don't.
You listen to their music and build a construct in your head.
But then again, talk to a great artist and oftentimes they'll tell you even they don't know how they wrote the song, they got inspired and channeled God and there it is.
But it only happens if you pay your dues, put in the time, get yourself ready.
And no one is great from the beginning. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
And we want the words of those who have lived a bit, not the cobbled together lyrics of a committee.
We want some level of truth.
And one thing Joni Mitchell delivered last night was truth. Her truth. Unvarnished. She didn't need you to love her, she was just Joan from Saskatchewan doing her thing, marveling at her appearance on stage at the Hollywood Bowl all these decades later.
So what do you do with this?
Well, it doesn't change the records. They're locked in amber.
So you play them in your head. Listen to them alone, on a drive, and it's the songs that inspire you, deliver wisdom, it's not about the artist themselves, they're just a vessel.
They cut these records and go home.
They sing their heart out on stage and then they're gone.
But what we're all looking for is that moment of magic, that soul connection, when the song you love is delivered by the artist who wrote and performed it and you feel connected not only with them, but something bigger than yourself, life itself. You look into the heavens with a smile on your face, thrilled to be alive, you didn't know it could get this good. This is what you wanted but couldn't really articulate.
And when it happens...
You can sing along, full-throated, through the entire number...
And still be on your feet.
--
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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--
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She did not sing the songs you wanted to hear, she sang the songs she wanted to play.
Normally, the act is on stage trying to convince the audience to love them, to entrance them, but the 17,000 in attendance at the Bowl were already sold, and they were afforded a peek into Joni Mitchell's psyche.
Not that Joni ever did what people wanted her to do. Sure, college students bought "Court and Spark" and imagined a flaxen-haired earth mother, warm and inviting to all. That was Mama Cass, that is not Joni Mitchell. All you need to do is meet her and talk to her.
Not that she would remember our conversations. But along with accusing me of trying to pull some girl with her music, she was incensed that I didn't love "Chalk Mark," as she put it. But that was thirty-odd years ago, when I was still a fan, when I still believed in the artists.
Now I only believe in the records.
That's the strange thing about passing seventy, everything is equalized. You are who you are, you either set the world on fire or you didn't. And you laugh at those still trying to climb the ladder of notoriety and success. Because at this point, you know it's meaningless.
Furthermore, the world has flipped. Now it's about the show, not the recording. As for the boomer acts, the classic rock acts, this truly could be the last time. You don't know when someone will unexpectedly pass. There's not going to be another Fleetwood Mac tour, unless hell freezes over and Stevie Nicks makes up with Lindsey Buckingham, and that is never going to happen, never mind Stevie's ability to make just as much cash on her own.
And we thought that Joni was done. She said she could no longer sing. That's what she said, even when she was given an award.
But what you've got to know is to Joni Mitchell art is everything. She refused to be sidelined, she did it her way.
And is continuing to do it her way.
Which is a blunt way of saying if you knew every song in the first set...you were probably on stage.
Sure, Joni appeared to rapturous applause, a standing ovation. And there were continued claps, but it was clear the audience was flummoxed, this was not what they came for, this was not what they expected.
It's a deal between the old acts and their fans. You pay an exorbitant price and they deliver exactly what you want them to. The hits. And maybe a couple of new tracks or obscurities so you can go to the bathroom, it's hard to sit through a show at our age.
Except for Bob Dylan. He legendarily rearranges the songs to make it interesting to HIM! Who wants to go out night after night and deliver the same renditions of decades-old numbers?
People who want the cash, first and foremost. And maybe the love. But it is truly artistic death.
And if you put out new material, no one embraces it, no one wants to hear it, you're a prisoner of your career.
But not Bob Dylan. I no longer want to go to his shows to hear unrecognizable versions of legendary songs, but I respect him for doing it.
And I respect Joni Mitchell for doing it her way last night. She was playing the Hollywood Bowl, in her own hometown, she'll be 81 next month, she doesn't walk so well, how many more opportunities is she going to get to do this?
Maybe none. So why deliver what the audience wants instead of doing what you want to do?
2
The turning point was "Mingus." Or maybe even "The Hissing of Summer Lawns," which was not the smooth rock the audience expected, it was more jazz-influenced.
And after "Mingus"... There was no longer any commerciality. Not anywhere near her peak anyway.
And she stopped doing what the audience expected her to. No one bared her soul like Joni, no one. And now she was looking outward, speaking of the world. She'd been there and done that, to repeat oneself...is artistic death.
But she was still a believer.
And I'm not saying she never hit the note. I was at McCabe's in the early nineties and she came on stage during someone else's set and performed an acoustic version of "The Three Great Stimulants" that I can still see in my mind's eye today.
But ultimately Joni stopped making new music. Said she was a painter.
And then had a huge health crisis.
How bad was it?
Scuttlebutt said she was nearly totaled.
But in the wake of her brain aneurysm came...
A reevaluation.
You see with today's singer/songwriters not coming anywhere near the level of what once was, everybody started to look back to the source, Joni Mitchell.
"Blue," sans hit single when it was released, was venerated.
Brandi Carlile performed it in its entirety at Disney Hall.
It was an endless victory lap.
And then Joni decided to play.
3
She did not stand up and wail on the guitar like she did at Newport.
She no longer has the crystalline voice of yore, cigarettes and age have coarsened and deepened her pipes. Not to the detriment of the delivery, it's just something different. She's gotten older. As have we. You could see on the big screen she had not had any work done. She was still playing by her own rules, and we were loving her for it.
And I'd say the audience was two-thirds women. And I don't think I've ever seen such a long line at the merch booth, even before the show began.
And you could not dart your eyes without seeing a celebrity. I was waiting at the Covid-testing tent and Melissa Gilbert was right behind me. Rosie O'Donnell entered right after I did. Helen Hunt was sitting right next to us.
Everybody was primed for that once in a lifetime event, a deliverance of that music they loved, that they knew by heart, and then Joni started with...
"Be Cool."
Okay, okay, she's making a statement, but she's going to get on track thereafter, right?
NO!
After that came "Harlem in Havana"...
And that's when you started to realize what was going on here. She was not giving us the middle finger...she really wasn't that concerned with us at all! She was comfortable in her skin, she knew her greatness, she had no doubts in her take, she was doing it her way, in a world where everybody sells out and does it the way...some fictitious god in the sky tells them to, so they appease corporate sponsors and hoover up that excess cash, branding perfume and clothing and...
Now the third song was "Hejira." Which is the title track of that album, but not one of its highlights.
But then came the opening cut from that record, which was played at the Last Waltz, which never got any airplay, but everybody now seems to know...
"Coyote."
Loved hearing it. Brought it all back. But this was not the first six albums, the ones that made Joni's bones.
But then she threw us a bone, she performed "Carey."
"The wind is in from Africa
Last night I couldn't sleep"
Whew! It took us right back to 1972, me at least! A breath of fresh air, on the original album and in last night's performance. Upbeat, alive. Not one of the legendary radio tracks, but if you were a fan, you knew it by heart.
And this was Joni Mitchell. Once again, this was what you came for.
I'm gonna run through the next few songs quickly, just to make my point here, that Joni was on her own hejira:
"The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)"
"God Must Be a Boogie Man"
"Sunny Sunday"
"If I Had a Heart"
But then, the piece-de-resistance, 'Refuge of the Roads"!
4
"Hejira" is a masterpiece. And don't let anybody fool you into thinking that it was a big success back when it came out in 1976. The songs were different, extended and drony. Audio perfection, but they required deep listening. But if you did...
You were rewarded. You knew this was as good as it got.
And if you're a fan of that album, you know the best cut is "Song for Sharon," whose lyrics I could quote and blow your mind, but another time.
And that's eight minutes and forty seconds long.
And the second best cut on "Hejira" is...
The closing cut, "Refuge of the Roads," not cutting any corners at 6:42.
And when the assembled multitude began to play, the stage was littered with players, many with pedigree, the song was instantly recognizable.
Assuming you knew it. Which based on the lack of a hoopla of recognition I believe few did.
Brandi Carlile introduced it. Talked about Joni driving her Mercedes cross-country and being inspired to write it.
And...
There are no words. How often do you go to see a legend and they play one of your favorite cuts, an album cut, from long ago?
NEVER!
I'm tingling just writing about it.
5
The first set closed with a slowed down version of "Both Sides Now," which was exquisite. The highlight of which was Jacob Collier's piano interlude. A jazz musician will play what you didn't know you wanted to hear and then find out it's far beyond what you thought you would ever hear.
And then came the break.
6
Okay, okay... She's either gonna come back with a hit, or she's going to go left field again and that's the way the rest of the show is going to play out.
But she opened with a rollicking version of "Big Yellow Taxi," not one of my favorites, but the audience was on its feet, energized, this is what they'd been waiting for, and standing there it felt like you were part of a celebration.
And right thereafter, "Raised on Robbery." Not quite as fast as the original, but far from slow. But somehow it seemed over the head of most people there.
But then...
Marcus Mumford came forward and sang...
"California."
"Sitting in a park in Paris, France"...
CAN YOU FEEL IT!
The audience certainly did. Because let's be clear, "California" was being sung in...CALIFORNIA!
"I'm going to see the folks I dig
I'll even kiss a Sunset pig
California, I'm coming home"
It is now my home. When this record was released, it was just a dream. I had to come here. And it lived up to the rep. And this is the kind of show that only plays in L.A., which is one of the benefits of living here.
And to be honest, I'd much rather have heard Joni sing it, but she did come in on the chorus and she added words here and there and...
"Oh, it gets so lonely
When you're walking
And the streets are full of strangers"
It most certainly does. Especially in the pre-cellphone era. You were truly alone, with just your thoughts, in a foreign place.
And this change, this bridge, is so delicious, it slays me every time, and I know it does you.
Two songs later Annie Lennox came out and sang a slowed-down version of "Ladies of the Canyon" and...
Annie never misses a note. And it was great. But it was absent the gravitas of the original.
7
Now going through the rest of the show, Joni covered Elton and Bernie's "I'm Still Standing," whose words she fashioned a bit to her own liking. A great message.
And then another left field surprise. AMELIA? I mean if you were a fan of "Hejira," this was a night made in heaven. This was beyond your wildest dreams. And despite the less than entranced audience...it made no difference to Joni, she gave it her all.
And the closer was "The Circle Game," already a legendary song when it closed 1970's "Ladies of the Canyon," and this was the kind of number that I truly expected, but I thought there was a chance that Joni would sing "Rainy Night House," or "The Arrangement," which still retain their haunting personal quality more than half a century later.
And the audience was thrilled, the applause was rapturous.
But really, the absolute peak of the evening, the one that had me standing singing along with every word, staring at the sky, feeling that I was in the right place and my life had worked was...
"A Case of You."
8
"Just before our love got lost you said
'I am as constant as a northern star'"
There are certain basics. Iconic songs that never leave your brain. That run shotgun through your entire life. One of mine is...
"A Case of You."
"And I said, 'Constantly in the darkness
Where's that at
If you want me I'll be in the bar"
Unexpected. At this point you expect the singer to lean in, get closer to the hurting, deluded man.
But that's not Joni Mitchell. She was always as strong as the guys, maybe stronger. She was not going to play this game, she was going to stand on her own.
"On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh, Canada
With your face sketched on it twice"
She's not disconnected, she'll always be connected, which is why she's drawing his face twice!
And TV's no longer emit a blue light.
And they call coasters "beer mats."
And Canada... Is not America. It's just a bit different. It's like a giant high school, you can have no airs, you'll be pulled right down, it's less about stardom than the art, less about celebrity than living your life.
"Oh, I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid"
She's strong, but she still has weaknesses. She can stand alone, but she doesn't want to, she wants to lean on your strength. And despite being a renowned popular music artist... She still sees herself as a painter.
And now comes the essence, the verse that puts the song in the pantheon.
"I remember that time you told me
You said 'Love is touching souls'
Surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time"
If you've ever been in love, you know this. It's a lonely world out there, we're all individuals with our own thoughts, we're looking for soul connection, and when we find it, it means everything.
But the most amazing thing is loving someone, being involved with them, changes you. You start employing some of their phrases. You find your viewpoint changing. You adjust your wardrobe. It's very subtle, you don't realize it's happening. And then you break up and you feel like you've lost half of yourself, and in truth you never ever recover, part of the other person stays with you FOREVER!
"Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet"
TALK ABOUT A METAPHOR!
Joni Mitchell wasn't an imitator, she was a trailblazer, an original. She didn't copy, she innovated.
And if you've ever been to Canada, where they literally have the "Beer Store," you can see part of the inspiration for this turn of phrase. You live in the frozen north and you drink, I know, I've lived close to the border, where it gets cold at night and dark earlier and you drink and connect and fight and...
It's very different from living in Southern California.
But this merger of two people...
You ain't gonna find that in a heavy metal tune.
Or a hip-hop number.
No, you have to write it yourself, sing your song, do it your way to have it resonate.
Joni Mitchell did.
And still does.
9
So what happens now?
Everybody who went last night and tonight testifies to all those who were not in attendance. How the show was over the moon, far beyond what could be expected. They'll cite the celebrities on and off stage. They'll wax rhapsodic.
Don't buy it. That's not what happened.
What happened was we got a peek into an artist's soul. We saw the thinking behind not only the songs, but the person herself. Joni revealed who she was, and despite uttering so many points of connection, we still only know a part of her.
Artists are elusive. You think you know them, but you really don't.
You listen to their music and build a construct in your head.
But then again, talk to a great artist and oftentimes they'll tell you even they don't know how they wrote the song, they got inspired and channeled God and there it is.
But it only happens if you pay your dues, put in the time, get yourself ready.
And no one is great from the beginning. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
And we want the words of those who have lived a bit, not the cobbled together lyrics of a committee.
We want some level of truth.
And one thing Joni Mitchell delivered last night was truth. Her truth. Unvarnished. She didn't need you to love her, she was just Joan from Saskatchewan doing her thing, marveling at her appearance on stage at the Hollywood Bowl all these decades later.
So what do you do with this?
Well, it doesn't change the records. They're locked in amber.
So you play them in your head. Listen to them alone, on a drive, and it's the songs that inspire you, deliver wisdom, it's not about the artist themselves, they're just a vessel.
They cut these records and go home.
They sing their heart out on stage and then they're gone.
But what we're all looking for is that moment of magic, that soul connection, when the song you love is delivered by the artist who wrote and performed it and you feel connected not only with them, but something bigger than yourself, life itself. You look into the heavens with a smile on your face, thrilled to be alive, you didn't know it could get this good. This is what you wanted but couldn't really articulate.
And when it happens...
You can sing along, full-throated, through the entire number...
And still be on your feet.
--
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
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