You’re sitting on the couch thinking how much you hate the New England Patriots. How the whole event seems long in the tooth. The commercials are not funny and Gaga is boring and you’re just letting it play out, because with Brady and Belichick you just never know.

And then they started to come back.

I remember when the team was a joke, when they were still called the “Boston” Patriots and their stadium was a suburban dump.

I remember when our nation was shocked when Joe Namath not only predicted a victory, but pulled it off.

I remember when MTV counterprogrammed the halftime show. When all of America was addicted to television and football reigned.

Before the players were revealed to beat up their spouses and an overpaid commissioner in bed with the owners didn’t know how to respond.

Before it was clear that a life in the game meant a hobbled one thereafter, certainly physically, and oftentimes mentally.

Before our whole nation decided they just did not need the NFL anymore and ratings tanked.

I’ve seen the X Games peak and fade. That’s right, the boomers believed in football, baseball was their parents’ sport, and then Gen X’ers cottoned to extreme sports and now snowboarding is dying and video games are everything. We live in a virtual world where busting up your body for entertainment just doesn’t play anymore.

And then Tom Brady and his band of merrymen turn over the table and you just don’t know what to think.

It was good to see the Falcons winning. An unheralded faceless team made the Patriots look like amateurs. But like the Pinkertons chasing Butch and Sundance, with Brady and Edelman on the field you just could not relax.

And then they were back in it and then they were gonna win, you just knew it.

Bob Costas famously says sports are a metaphor for life. So what lessons did we learn tonight?

Never give up. And the truth is most people do. Because of peer pressure.

Experience counts. The Patriots were never defeated in their brains. They knew they still had a chance to win. Even as the minutes kept ticking and victory looked more and more impossible.

As for the Falcons, they were playing not to lose, and that’s rarely a winning strategy.

So you’re sitting in front of the television, a passe pastime if there ever was one. You’re enduring the commercials. You’ve taken hours out of your Sunday. And you feel smugly justified believing this ritual is over the hill.

And then the Patriots start to move the ball and you tune out the penumbra, the commercials and the commentators cease to exist, you know Brady, et al, are going to win, because that’s what they do.

Excellence. We trumpet those with little of it. Sam Smith is a good act, but an arena tour on the first album?

How about Lady Gaga, whose most famous song is a Madonna rip-off. She doesn’t have a manager who knows the rule, which is you never let someone upstage you, the chances of dominating the game are insignificant. Prince did it, he got the trophy and now it’s been retired, conquer new worlds. But in today’s environment no one can give up the exposure, everybody wants to be seen by millions, no one has any self-respect.

The big winner tonight? Alfa-Romeo. Which went from unknown to known in an evening. They got their money’s worth with their sponsorship. As for the commercials… They broke the number one rule, which is you’re supposed to remember the product, which was rare. Then again, after Apple established this paradigm in 1984, no one could equal it. But they keep dyin’ tryin’.

Which brings us back to the game.

What you want from entertainment is surprise. You want to be caught off guard, you’re ready for the unexpected.

And Gaga didn’t deliver on this whatsoever. She flew down like Pink into a sea of sycophants we’ve seen at every recent Super Bowl and then she sang songs that most of don’t care about. Why? Because she could, there was no art there. Remember when it was a badge of honor not to dance? To let the music speak for itself? Then you’re over fifty, music has become about the trappings, sold with less than memorable tunes, which is why the whole scene is second-rate. Do you really think that anybody cares about Gaga who didn’t before? I think you’re wrong.

And the crass commercialism of the NFL makes one barf. They’d sell signage at a funeral. It’s amazing they even give time to the game anymore.

And there are so many rules that not only is the game hard to comprehend, it turns on whims. The penalties. The resulting first downs, the moving of the ball into touchdown territory. It seems that the infractions are more important than most of the plays.

But it is a sport of human beings. And when you saw the Patriots move the ball down the field, it was a thing of beauty. It made you a believer. Had you thinking you could win in your own life, which is a message that needs to be heard.

So that’s it ’til fall folks. Since the Patriots came back we’ll remember they won, whereas if the Falcons had emerged victorious we would have instantly forgotten it.

But the institution of the Super Bowl needs a rethink. It’s long in the tooth. It’s waiting to be superseded.

But when played right the game still works.

It worked right tonight.

We are living in the era of people power.

I know that’s confounding, in a world where the President is whipsawing the country, but the truth is we’ve seen a transition from a top-down to a bottom-up world, and institutions cannot fathom this. It’s why Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Hillary campaign could not understand the ascendance of Bernie Sanders. It’s why the media keeps complaining about fake news. The truth is the lunatics have taken over the asylum, and we’re the lunatics.

And it all happens on Facebook.

While the music industry can’t stop bitching about YouTube, it has failed to realize that YouTube is passe. Forget revenue streams, the issue in music is breaking and building acts. And that is now happening on other platforms. Which embed YouTube videos. Like Facebook. The story doesn’t get started on YouTube, it gets started on Facebook.

Now youngsters skew towards Snapchat and Instagram and…those are different platforms. Kind of like Twitter.

Twitter is for newshounds. It’s where you go to find out what’s happening right now. And when you hear people bitch that it’s too hard for them to use, forget them, they are not interested in breaking news. And if someone is posting to Twitter their everyday movements laugh hard and tell them to get back to Facebook. And if you’re bloviating on Twitter and you’re not famous forget it, no one cares. Twitter is a top-down medium, where the in-the-know and famous pontificate and the minions spread the word.

But on Facebook, the minions rule. Facebook is not for stars, it’s for you and me.

Facebook used to be about bragging, and to a degree it still is, but that’s moved on to Instagram, where it’s so much easier. I won’t quite say that Facebook is for truth, but it is the central square, the commons house that we thought disappeared but did not.

So if it happens in the “New York Times” and it’s not spread on Facebook, it’s like it did not happen at all. Same deal for the WSJ and the WaPo too. They may do the research, write the stories, but it’s a dead end unless their work is shared on Facebook. Which is why the press is meaningless, why the NYT’s anti-Trump stories did not bring him down, they were not shared on Facebook!

We’ve been used to sitting at home and letting the big boys control our game. But the big boys became inured to the bucks and started to wallow in their power and we didn’t like it anymore. As for the Trump victory, that’s a rearguard conclusion evidencing the disdain the population has for the powers-that-be, they’re sick of being ignored. Think about this, the twenty first century is an endless march against those who thought they were in power. From the music industry and Napster to politics today.

Standing Rock, the Women’s March, the airport protests, these must not be seen in the context of the sixties but through the lens of now. The people have power. And they organize and spread the word online. Did you see what just happened in Romania? The government thought it could get away with decriminalizing corruption but the public said no way and the officials backed down.

This happened in the Middle East, with the Arab Spring.

And now it’s happening in America.

And it’s not only politics, it’s culture too.

We keep hearing how big these stars are but they’re not. They’re just being propped up by an archaic system. Whereas if entertainment companies could get the word spread on Facebook, they’d make more revenue than ever. But the music industry is appealing to niches and the movie industry is appealing to the lowest common denominator and therefore it’s all push and no pull, no one wants to spread the word. But people are hungry for information to spread.

Did you see Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer on SNL?

I find that show creepy. Because the writing is so bad. I actually watched half an hour last night and didn’t laugh once.

But today the NYT featured the McCarthy clip from later in the show. When I told Felice about it, sent it to her, she said it was old news, she’d already seen it multiple times on Facebook.

Are you getting this? This is where most of older America gets its news, its information, its talking points.

There were no other SNL clips in Felice’s feed, because people have an incredible quality detector, they only want the best. But if you ring their bell…

So it’s only the completely out of it who are getting their news from traditional sources, whether it be SNL or Fox or MSNBC. They’re for junkies. But it’s mass we’re interested in, it’s mass that moves mountains.

And you build mass on Facebook.

What the hell happened here?

We’re used to our classic rock heroes dropping. Credit David Bowie, Glenn Frey and Prince. We were just minding our own business, as were they, and they bit the dust. The Big C got Bowie. Rheumatoid arthritis drugs got Frey. As for Prince… Do we really know who anybody is and what they’re up to? A drug addict? Fentanyl? Seems like we only know ourselves.

But we think we know theses musicians.

You’ve got to understand, the Allman Brothers Band broke when it was only about the music. Sure, Gregg Allman was a dreamboat, but he was not a scene-stealer. And Duane and Dickie seemed to be channeling a higher power and the whole thing was driven forward by Berry, Jaimoe and Butch.

And if you went to a recent Brothers show, and you were privileged to be an insider, you got to sit on stage, right next to that twin drumming powerhouse. And it seemed that Jaimoe was doing his best to keep up, but Butch? He was the engine that kept pushing, and now he’s gone.

To the point when he passed and it wasn’t big news. This is how far we’ve come, we expect our heroes to die. But at 69? Cross the threshold into your sixties and you realize that 69 is just not that old. So many of the surviving classic rock musicians, especially the English ones, are in their seventies, many still touring. Once you get into your eighties you’re starting to hear the Grim Reaper knocking on your door, but statistically the longer you live the longer you live and now it’s de rigueur to be alive in your nineties, and quite functional to boot. So 69?

I don’t know how the Allmans survived the death of Duane. Maybe they didn’t know what better to do. Look at all the marriages that end with the death of a child, it’s hard to pick up and keep on keepin’ on. And then they lost Berry and eventually the band imploded, Gregg went on his merry way.

But then they reunited. That’s what we’ve learned along the way. Everybody needs the money. Few can succeed without their brethren. Of course there are exceptions, Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins, but all of them have gotten back together with their bands, the lure of the money is just too great.

But the Allmans said they were done for real. And it’s been looking this way. Derek and Susan are invested in their band and Warren always had his own career and Gregg never needed anybody else on the marquee, after all it’s his last name that everybody knows, but what about Butch?

This is not the delta bluesmen, ripped-off from day one, doing menial labor until they were rediscovered by the college kids and got a victory lap.

This is not today’s heroes, the techies with financial advisors who are not only protected, but have enough assets to provide for their children’s children’s children.

No, this is musicians.

If you can find a financially savvy musician, he’s a bad player. Of course there are exceptions, but not many. You see to create this music you have to have a different viewpoint, live in an alternative universe, that’s why classic rock dominated and still gets played, the lunatics took over the asylum, the execs threw their hands in the air and just let the players rule, unlike today, when the business people have a heavy hand in what’s released.

Then again, there’s so much money at risk. Didn’t used to be this way. Today the barrier to entry is nonexistent, it’s just that if you do it yourself you can’t get noticed. Whereas before, you saw the Beatles on television, you picked up your instrument, you played at school, at parties, at bar mitzvahs, at bars, the bands went through various permutations, you found someone who could write, another who could sing, and if you were lucky you got noticed.

But it was a long hard road getting there. Not like today, where fourteen year olds believe they’re deserving of recognition. By time you were signed, you’d lost your virginity backstage had done drugs without names and had sipped enough alcohol to pickle a farm animal. You were experienced. In a way those at home were not. To the point when we saw you on stage…

We looked up to you, you were our heroes.

They’re still our heroes. We were stoned in the basement, staring at the album cover, we paid three, four and five dollars to go to the gig, we were in it together, Butch Trucks was FAMOUS! How could he get so low?

Now I’m neither a psychiatrist nor privy to all the facts of Butch’s life. But all the news reports said he had financial troubles. And the truth is, if we fans knew this, we’d have given him all our money and come to his house and cooked him dinner, that’s how much he meant to us. But it was a different time, today “artists” beg, yesterday they were too proud, they earned their money.

And Butch put together an act that played occasionally, but he was support, it’s hard to continue when you’re not the singer.

So, you’re famous and broke with no income on the horizon and you get depressed and…

Nobody cares about you, certainly not the label, that ripped you off from day one to begin with.

And if you even own any publishing, you could wait forever for the money.

And there are no signing shows like for baseball, because unlike sportsmen, we think you’re still valid, you can still play.

And then you’re gone.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. If the drugs didn’t get you, if you survived the madness, you were supposed to live to a ripe old age, to the point where we shrugged and said it was time to die, you’d lived a good life.

But then John Lennon was cut down and George Harrison succumbed to cancer and now there are only two Beatles left and at some point in the future there will be none.

And let’s be clear, the Beatles made beaucoup bucks, and the Allman Brothers did too, but they thought the road would go on forever, and when it doesn’t, it’s positively shocking.

Meanwhile, the show goes on without you. You sit at home and watch the nitwits duetting on the Grammys and all you’re left with is your dignity. You did nothing wrong, your only flaw was to outlive your paying audience. That’s another thing, you don’t want to see these players disappear, but you don’t want to go anymore and then you can’t go anymore and there’s this giant hole inside you… Come on, don’t you want one more chance to see Leon Russell?

So the thing about Butch Trucks is he was a serious man, who played like his job was the most important on earth. He was not a show-off, but a supporting cast member, but without a foundation you’ve got no band. Bands are tenuous things, and the rhythm section is key, just ask Mick about Charlie.

And now, we’re going through our lives merrily, albeit obsessed with the shenanigans in Washington, D.C., and our heroes keep dropping like flies. To the point where it’s no big deal anymore.

But it is a big deal.

I wish we could provide a safety net for the heroes of yore.

I wish they knew how much we loved them.

I wish Butch Trucks didn’t get to such a dark place where he took his own life.

1. Mariah Carey

Bob Dylan looked up to Woody Guthrie, today’s nitwits admire Mariah Carey. That’s right, she hit almost three decades ago and dominated the nineties and what was her message? Empty hedonism. Sung by a woman with great pipes. So, that’s who today’s TV contestants emulate. They figure someone else will write the songs, after all if you know how to sing… Clive and company made all those other victors winners.

2. Income inequality

Everybody’s so busy struggling, they don’t want to take any steps that might hold them back. Therefore, if you get ahead, you want to stay there. Kinda like Taylor Swift, the biggest star in America, she’s been mum about Trump, because she doesn’t want to lose any potential fans. And if Swift is mum, what are the odds anybody else is gonna voice a controversial opinion? The best and the brightest avoid music, because they know the odds are long and if you don’t make it and haven’t been investing in your straight career you’re screwed. Only the poor and disadvantaged commit to music, and they see it as a vehicle out of the dumps, not one of self-expression. They want some of that money and lifestyle, and, ironically, those who make it hang with billionaires and emulate them. Our society is dominated by money, not culture. After all, we elected as President a man whose sole calling card is he’s supposedly rich. We used to elect big thinkers, no more.

3. No sense of history

Dylan, et al, emerged out of the folk scene, with its long history of standing up for people’s rights and protests. There’s no folk scene today, there’s no sense of history at all. Will kids tomorrow emulate the English bluesmen who emulated the delta bluesmen? Possibly so, but there’s no evidence of this yet.

4. Hip-hop culture

Used to be about speaking truth to power, now it’s about lifestyle. Hip-hop is the most vibrant music we’ve got, but it’s become self-referential, kinda like metal. You can’t understand today’s metal unless you listened to decades of it before. As for hip-hop culture… This is dangerous, but I’ll wade in. The African-American has been screwed from Day One in America and he sees it as a badge of honor to get his and rip-off the man. So rappers don’t turn down corporate endorsements, they don’t say no to power, they want to become brands with all that money. And it’s understandable, since these same men who run the brands have been screwing them from time immemorial, and the opportunity to take back is hard to turn down. And my inbox will now fill up with missives telling me I don’t understand, and maybe I don’t, but that proves the point that everybody’s afraid of wading in, discussing the issues, especially if they’re murky. Funny how Republicans will say the seemingly unpopular, especially Trump, and Democrats are so busy pussyfooting, afraid to piss a single person off, that they end up saying nothing.

5. Hip-hop culture 2

It dominates, especially on streaming services. If only there was an embraceable anthem, akin to those of NWA and Public Enemy of yesteryear. I remember during the Rodney King riots realizing everything Ice-T said was right. But now that Trump’s in office and white man power is at its zenith, I can’t point to one hip-hop song that nails it. But, even if there was one, would I even know it? The truth is 40% of the public will never listen to hip-hop, never ever. Yet hip-hop is even bigger on streaming services than in sales, quite the conundrum.

6. The music is made by Europeans

Max Martin, DJ Snake, music has become international and too many of the hits are made by people not rooted to American soil, whose first language is not English. And on one hand, this is fantastic, music is living in the now, but on the other, there are no boots on the ground that want to send a narrow, American-focused message the same way studios don’t want to make comedies because they don’t play well overseas.

7. No singability

I knew every lick of “Blowin’ In The Wind” long before I knew who Bob Dylan was. Because we sang the song at summer camp, around the fire, along with those of Peter, Paul & Mary and Joan Baez and… We are making no new standards, certainly none that everybody can sing along to. There’s no melody and no harmony. We used to sit around and sing Beatle songs, playing the chords on our guitars. I haven’t seen a group of kids sitting around playing today’s music…ever!

8. Niche rules

Protest music is inherently broad, it appeals to everybody. But the only artist who fits this paradigm today is Adele and her last album was a disappointment. She’s got a great voice and you can sing along to the songs. Should we be following this paradigm? I’d say so. But Adele learned how to sing in school and nobody knows how to play an instrument anymore.

9. Money

It comes first, it’s top of mind, not only do you want cash, you want nothing to hold you back from getting it. So, you pull your punches.

10. Gotcha society

Country artists believe if they speak their truth and it’s not red state/right wing they’ll be blackballed. Meanwhile, who is the “they” that control this country, that know what’s going on? Looks to me like media is out of touch, Lady Gaga is being trumpeted but she’s got the stiffest album of the year. In the old days she’d be poked fun at as a has-been, but the mainstream media and the NFL are in thrall to the usual suspects who pump misinformation which makes you wonder if a protest song could even be heard.

SOLUTIONS

1. A song

In an era where most of the hits are written by professionals, these professionals are the ones who must write protest anthems. And the truth is, if they write hits, singers will line up to sing them. Don’t forget, the unheralded Barry McGuire sang P.F. Sloan’s “Eve Of Destruction.” Do not depend on the artists to serendipitously come up with a hit. This is not the seventies, when the stars wrote their own material, the songs are written by committee, first we must infect the committee.

2. Anthems are necessary

How many times can we sing “We Shall Overcome” and “This Land Is Your Land”? There’s a huge vacuum waiting to be filled. Write and record a protest hit, and you’ll own the airwaves, as well as the marches and rallies.

3. Melody

Beats rule but they don’t translate very well. If it can’t be taught to elementary school kids, if I’m not humming it in my head, if we can’t break into a verse at the sporting event, we’ve got a nonstarter.

4. Truth, not anti

It’s not about putting Trump down, but speaking for the disadvantaged, and the left wing will not regain power until it connects with the disadvantaged. A protest song that talks about the lack of jobs and the foibles of corporations and the elite will unite the great mass of Americans against them, and that’s what we need. We need middle class leaders speaking up compassionately for the disadvantaged.

MORE RULES

Singable chorus. Which comes early in the song

Short verses. Which express both frustration and speak to the plight of the working person.

Don’t worry about offending. Just by speaking your truth you’re gonna piss off somebody. Don’t let that hold you back. Great art has historically made people uncomfortable.

You’re doing it for society, not for yourself. Narcissism is passe. You’re providing a service.

CONCLUSION

It’s individuals who are leading the revolution, there are no heroes, none on the landscape I can see. Hillary lost and the Dems went into hiding. I wish I had confidence the artists would step up, but pissed-off protesters showing up in public spaces seems about as much as we’re gonna get. But what are they gonna sing?