Which Side?
You’ve got to listen to this on headphones.
And while you’re at it, get a subscription to Tidal or Deezer Elite, to immerse yourself in the sound, because that’s what it’s about…the organ, the guitars, they’re so exquisite you’ll smile as the band lays down in the pocket.
Taylor Swift may have sold a million albums, but most LPs go unlistened to. Used to be you paid for it, you played it. Back when music was scarce. But now with everything available we’re inveterate grazers, it’s hard to get us to stop and stay without excellence, and I’d be lying if I told you Jackson Browne’s new album “Standing In The Breach” was excellent.
The truth is happiness does not beget riveting personal testimony, we don’t like to hear exhortations of how in love you are, especially when we’re still searching ourselves, especially when odds are you’re gonna break up and be back where we are eventually, if not soon.
But Jackson Browne is no longer in his twenties, he’s on the far side of sixty five, and last time I checked he was in a long term relationship, but he’s still angry, about the world situation.
That’s the story of today, the election. I like to see it as dissatisfaction with business as usual, a desire to shake things up. Otherwise it’s too depressing, people voting against their interests, giving more power to people who don’t care about them.
And Jackson feels the same way.
There’s a restlessness out in the street there’s a question in the air
How long if this theft goes on will our country still be here?
They might still call it the United States, but I barely recognize it. Sure, forty five years ago you didn’t want to venture in your VW microbus south of the Mason-Dixon Line with long hair, but you knew if you were broke down and busted on the side of the road you’d be taken care of. And when you got back on your feet you could get a job flipping burgers, digging ditches, and you’d be able to put a roof over your head and food on your plate. But those days are through. Today poverty is only a slip away, a return to your parents’ basement, as they parade winners in front of your eyes and you wonder if you’ve even got a chance.
Come on come on come on if you’re coming
Which side – which side are you on?
We all used to be on the same side. We’d never seen a Ferrari in real life, there was no such thing as private jets, we paid our taxes and were all in it together, at least the baby boomers.
Yes, the way the younger generation is addicted to its mobile devices, we were addicted to our stereos. That was our goal, to get a big rig. Everybody had a device to play discs and you saved your money for something better, to get closer to the sound.
And you can get closer to the sound again. We’re now delivering everything you want but you’re too cheap to partake of. Ain’t that how it always is, people want to bitch. That’s right, you’re no longer relegated to MP3s, but are you willing to lay down $20 a month for pure sound?
You should.
Because your life will change. That’s the power of music.
Not the stuff you hear on pop radio, compressed crap, but stuff made by people who’ve spent their lives learning how to play, who’ve spent money and time to get it right.
That’s right, you’ll listen to “Which Side?” in CD quality with no disc and the election will fall away, it’s aural dope.
Come on, you remember the Beatles, you remember Ed Sullivan, when you saved your shekels and bought a guitar, when everybody was in a band, when your only goal was to work in music, to be closer to the sound…that era is here again.
No joke.
He has to sing at a lower pitch, but he’s putting one foot in front of another, he’s no longer sure of the direction, but credit Jackson Browne for soldiering on, for trying. That’s right you can just go on the road and play your greatest hits but that’s all about money, that’s not about art.
And I blame the audience as well. Is that what it comes down to? Going to the shed to hear the songs of your youth? It gets creepy after a while. We yearn for something new.
And Jackson Browne’s “Standing In The Breach” does not deliver.
It came and went almost instantly. I played a few cuts and moved on. There’s too much new stuff to experience. But late one night doing my back exercises with my headphones on I decided to give it a full chance, and that’s when I discovered “Which Side?”
Jackson screwed it up. It was an Occupy anthem. It was acoustic and edgy. It wasn’t quite the new “We Can’t Make It Here,” but it was on the continuum. Now in its slick, studio iteration the rough edges are smoothed over, the message is submerged, but the sound is PURE MAGIC!
That’s right, life is full of contradictions, it’s nearly inexplicable. But the truth is “Which Side?” is a thread pulling you down into wonderland, somewhere you remember but rarely visit anymore.
But you have to listen on headphones, via CD quality streaming.
Which side?
Music used to be on the right side, not only the makers, but the listeners. We questioned authority, which you should always do, we strove for a better society, not only personal achievement.
In search of El Dorado, but you haven’t found it yet
We’re all searching. There are so few opportunities, but we’ve still got our dreams. I want yours to come true.
Or you might be an old man with his whole life at his back
That’s what’s so scary. My generation is trying to deny the shifting sands of time, they think if they just get plastic surgery, wear hip clothing and refuse to go to the doctor they’ll live forever. If only it were so.
But you know that it’s coming, as surely as the dawn
The battle for the future, baby, which side are you on?
Stop with the CDs. Stop with the anti-streaming rhetoric. The first path to victory and happiness is a refusal to deny the future, and the future is here.
Can we all get on the same page people?
Can we stop keeping each other down as the rich carry the ball to the goal line unopposed?
Can we save not only ourselves, but the music?
That’s right, it’s up to you.
You have to insist it be made by artists, people who’ve practiced, people who have something to say, who aren’t only in it for the cash. You have to ensure that first and foremost it be ear-pleasing.
Like “Which Side?.”
The bankers and their special friends
Who rob you time and again
Who like to pretend they’re the only game in town
Or the people who
Hope with everything they do
They can build something new
And turn this world around
