uTopianTurtleTop

WEARY & BEAT-DOWN, YES, BUT NOT OUT OF THE RUNNING

Maybe it’s projection, but today when I heard on the “quality rock” station a nice mildly moany adult pop number by Joss Stone, “I’ve got a right to be wrong,” it struck me that the current fad for mild moany-groaniness on that station -- Jack Johnson’s elegantly mildly funky acoustic guitar and low grainy voice; Lucinda Williams’s staking claims on Sly Stone’s old vocal timbre circa “There’s a Riot Goin’ On”; Norah Jones’s yawn-and-stretch, just-rolled-out-of-bed sound -- reflects the beat-down-ness that I feel in the face of the Bush onslaught. Humanism is on the defensive, and music for middle-aging white liberals is sounding elegantly tired.

In real news, the D’s in Congress are showing some fight, and This Is a Very Good Thing, assuming you’re not a plutocrat or a back-to-Medievalism type. We’re in need of some Underdog action, people -- speed of lightning, roar of thunder, fighting all who rob and plunder!