"I loved all the Dylan shows. I recorded each of the 100—never missing one. It was one of the best ways to learn about American music that I’ve ever experienced. It is sad that a talent like Bob Dylan was lost in the satellite radio financial frenzy. But then corporate greed was always a major Dylan theme.
There’s now a big hole in radio for me. The Shakespeare of radio has signed off. At least I have 100 shows of some of the best radio ever produced. But we’ve lost so much. Very sad indeed how American culture continues its steep decline."
This is from Frank Beacham's Journal - Musings on music, technology and history. He's talking about the end of Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio" on Sirius XM.
I have also been thinking about cultural decline. And it resulted in this song - or let me call it a first draft of a song that I'm sure will undergo changes in the coming weeks. I find the shallowness of "friends" on Facebook etc and the rather sad goings on in the film industry very disconcerting. I recently saw The Lovely Bones and while I am not a great fan of critics and try not to be one, what a sad filmic interpretation of a rather good book! So much of the book relied on narration by the murdered girl whose story it tells. But film is, of course, a visual medium. So Peter Jackson was attracted by the opportunity to visualize the "in between" - a place between earth and heaven that is explained in the movie by her brother who is way too young to have grasped what earth is about let alone heaven, and certainly not the challenging idea of an in between! Very, very disappointing in a typically Hollywood way. Some of the acting performances deserve the credit they've received (but not Susan Sarandon) - it's the over-long, tedious and trivializing visual treatment Jackson gave the story that bothered me. That and the fact that many people will love it.
Well, that said, here's my lyric:
THE SPIRAL DOWN
A million friends
Who you don't know
No feelings that
You have to show
All of life
Held in your hand
Is this the future
We had planned
If where we're going
Seems worse to you
Than where we've been...
It's just the spiral down
It's just the spiral down
I once looked up
At the silver screen
Remembering all
That was seen
Another world
The tech gods stole
Putting a machine
In the leading role
If where we're going
Seems worse to you
Than where we've been...
It's just the spiral down
It's just the spiral down
Not much of what
We see is real
We cannot trust
All that we feel
Civilizations
Come and go
Only arrogance
Says it isn't so
If where we're going
Seems worse to you
Than where we've been...
It's just the spiral down
It's just the spiral down
©2010 Dave Tutin / openD LLC
Good lyrical idea. I'm with you all the way.
Posted by: Singing Bear | May 04, 2010 at 02:49 PM
That's interesting about Dylan's radio show. I would have LOVED to hear those. I'll snoop around the internet and see what I can find. That's really sad that it stopped. I'm taking your post as a sign, because I've had this idea for a while to do a radio show, kind of like WNYC's Soundcheck...but better. I could list a bunch of negative things about the ever-annoying John Schaeffer, but I'll refrain. In any event, I thought it would be really fun & interesting to do a music show specifically featuring musicians who haven't ...uh, "made it" yet. For ex, people who haven't landed a record deal...people who are more on the fringes. I'm sure there are people out there doing that radio-wise, but all I hear is Soundcheck & John S's abominable corniness.
Anyway, thanks for the post! I haven't seen Lovely Bones, but apart from Lord of the Rings (which I LOVE), I am not a Peter Jackson fan. Did you see District 9? Serious disappointment. :(
Posted by: Lauren | May 10, 2010 at 06:22 AM
I'm sure all 100 shows will soon be released on CD. And I'll be first in line!
Yes there are radio shows that feature unsigned talent but I am not aware of one that focuses on this area exclusively. The obvious choice to do this would be Sirius XM as their business model already revolves around grouping music as a listener might. For example I listen to their "Coffeehouse" channel which is all singer-songwriters. They could easily do a "New Talent" channel.
Posted by: Dave | May 10, 2010 at 05:55 PM