I used to think the day they overturned Roe v. Wade there would be riots in the street.

I no longer believe that.

I could say elections have consequences, but we are way beyond that.

Are you reading the three part article on Tucker Carlson in the “New York Times”? It hasn’t been on the Fox News site, I’ve been checking. In other words, a significant segment of the population will never see it, never be aware of the roots in white nationalism of Carlson’s words, will never know his tactics, will never know he lied about facts to appeal to his audience. Tucker says it’s them against us. Or more specifically, we are the oppressors and his audience is the oppressed. We’re ruining their culture. We’re changing the fabric of America. I only wish George Soros, Joe Biden and AOC had that kind of power. They don’t. Never mind a disorganized Democratic party that is so fearful of offending someone it can’t speak English. Ergo Hillary Clinton. A brilliant woman who was castigated for saying she wasn’t going to stay home and bake cookies and blinked, who’s been parsing her words ever since, trying to get in touch with what people want to hear as opposed to what she wants to say.

That’s the lesson of Donald Trump. At least one of them. You can say whatever you want. There are no taboos. And if you speak from the heart you might find others who resonate with your words, and your belief in them will make them believe in you.

But I don’t want to get into a discussion of Donald Trump.

I really don’t want to get into a discussion of the Democrats, who always say their hands are tied, bringing a knife to a gunfight.

I want to talk about the American people.

Ever since Ronald Reagan the national mentality has changed. It’s become about the individual as opposed to society. And almost one half of the population believes that they deserve to be free of the government, even though they drive on its roads and use its Medicare and…the funny thing is these people are first in line for government handouts when a disaster hits their area, which seems to be happening with more frequency because their God was supposed to take care of climate change and so far he hasn’t shown up.

So I feel hopeless. I mean the world can surprise you. Black Lives Matter. Zelenskyy. So you never really know what is coming down the pike. But truth is now debatable, facts are fungible and too many people live in silos unexposed, never mind unaffected, by a contrary opinion, which in many cases is the truth. Did you hear about that study, where they made Fox News fans watch CNN? The viewers were stunned to find out what they’d been fed wasn’t true, but after the study was done, which the audience was paid for, they went back to watching Fox: https://bit.ly/38LV2DZ

Not that you read about that study in right wing media.

But I don’t even need to go into the falsehoods in right wing media, I will just say that whatever is revealed in the supposed “left wing” media never sticks. It doesn’t penetrate the right wing bubble and has no effect on it whatsoever. You might be following these revelations closely, but don’t get your hopes up, change is not coming. Especially in a world where Roger Stone is pardoned and tries to rejoin Twitter despite a lifetime ban.

So, have you ever been exposed to abortion? Maybe you’ve even had one yourself. God, I don’t know how you can live in these United States without being caught in the conundrum.

A friend of mine in college had sex once and the woman got pregnant. Thank god she could get an abortion, she flew to New York and had the procedure.

Or there was my other friend from college who previously had endured thirteen years of Catholic education. He was against abortion until his sister got pregnant. Her family didn’t want her future ruined, so she had the procedure, she stayed in college, her life proceeded, it was not stopped in its tracks.

Yes, you’re not supposed to have the abortion, but then you end up a single mother and are derided. And you can’t get a reasonable job because you don’t have a college degree. And there are too many people in our country and they’re takers. Yes, have that kid, but don’t depend on the government to help you. You made one mistake and you need to pay for it for the rest of your life.

As for those railing against abortion, dig deep and you’ll find they’ve had the procedure, or their loved ones have. Talk about the hypocrisy.

And it’s not the man’s decision, despite old white men telling women what to do. I’ve had that experience where the period didn’t come. Stopped me in my tracks. My girlfriend had had an abortion, I wasn’t the father, it came before me, but she wasn’t sure she could do it again. I was nonfunctional. I immediately went to the library and read every book on reproduction I could find, looking for a way out.

But then her period arrived.

Whew!

Ever since then I’ve been the contraceptive police. I don’t care if you’re bleeding, I don’t care what the day is in your cycle, we need protection, I never want to be in that situation again.

And for a long time there, I hadn’t had sex with any woman who had not had an abortion. And if they hadn’t had the procedure, I never would have met them, they’d have been too busy with their child, trying to make it work.

As for giving your child up for adoption…

No one seems to ever get over that, Joni Mitchell wrote a song about it, you can never get the concept of there being someone of your flesh and blood out there somewhere.

As for adoption… Here’s where I’ll employ the Trump rule above, I’ll speak English. I don’t know a single case of adoption that worked out close to those raised by their natural parents. Close friends, they couldn’t have been better parents. One of their adopted kids had a baby at a young age and the other had a long history of trouble with the law. Another couple, equally devoted, their adopted child had three kids in a row, started as a teenager. And then there were our friends who adopted a baby of a different race. She was cute, everybody loved her, but then she became a teenager, left home and the story only gets worse.

And of course every child should have a home. Adoption may be necessary. But it is to be avoided. I’m talking about my personal experience, and I have more stories than the ones above, and I tell them whenever a couple is on the verge of adoption. I do not know a single good adoption story. Dig below the surface. Don’t just accept what people say. Now my inbox will be inundated with people who’ve adopted kids. But I’ve written about this before and I’ve never gotten an e-mail from a kid who was adopted. Think about it.

And all those religious people jumping through hoops to have kids. What did that comedian say? God decided you weren’t supposed to have kids! What’s good for the goose…is never good for the gander. I can bend the rules in my favor, but you can’t. And are the rules just to be broken? Did you read the exposé on Trump’s business practices/taxes in the “New York Times”? I read every word, and I’m a lawyer and can understand it. And this guy is gonna skate completely, after undervaluing assets, funneling them through his kids. If I did one tenth of what Trump did I’d be in jail right now. But the rules don’t apply to him. He said this when he was running, but it didn’t make any difference, he was speaking up for the little guy, oh give me a break.

So what happens now?

So I was talking to a lawyer from Hot Lanta. He said if he lived in Texas he’d have to move. He’s got a transgender kid. Just like every family has a gay member. If you don’t think so then you don’t know, someone has not come out.

And Elon Musk criticizes Bill Gates for his appearance. And that’s an understatement. Didn’t we learn that in elementary school, that you’re not supposed to make fun of people’s looks, because they don’t have control over them? But Elon’s rich so he can say anything. He needs more free speech. Which he exercised, settled with the government for breaking SEC rules and now wants the agreement voided, he thinks different now. Just like failing a test and insisting to the teacher you’re entitled to take it over. It’s not your fault, you weren’t thinking straight.

But I’m lucky, I live in California.

Tech in Texas, Florida? Forget the “news,” read the business press. People ain’t movin’, they want to be where everybody else is.

And you can get an abortion in California. There’s a level of freedom that doesn’t exist in so many states. Blow back, I don’t care, you don’t live here.

But if you do… You’re sick of standing up for the whole damn country. Trump wanted to make California have less strict auto emissions. We’re supposed to dumb ourselves down to the lowest common denominator.

I thought there was progress. God, you can get an abortion in Ireland, but not in the United States. What’s next, scarlet letters around women’s necks? Stocks?

And all these Republican elected officials, behaving badly, but they’re still in office. It’s incomprehensible, then again I live in California. As for real estate prices, you’re probably not reading that house values have gone up steeply all over the country. Furthermore, you’re not aware that hedge funds are buying whole neighborhoods so citizens can rent but not own, can never get ahead. Affordable housing is not solely a California problem, it’s a nationwide problem!

As is the lack of an abortion.

Man I voted Democratic. But Mitch McConnell put his hand on the scale and denied Barack Obama a Supreme Court pick. Doesn’t Mitch realize he’s undercutting much of the public’s belief in government? He thinks he’s winning, but…

But what, that’s what I want to know. What’s going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

A stealing of the election in 2024? By Trump or some other Republican? When is it going to be too much for the Democrats, too much for the majority of the population. You can’t read a math book that references different cultures, but in truth public education has been starved so much that many graduates know little, can’t even understand when their futures are forfeited.

But I’m preaching to the choir.

But the right wing pays attention. Believe me, I’ll get more e-mails from them. They’re the correction factor, trying to make the rest of us afraid to speak up.

But change only happens when you speak up.

But in today’s America, unless it affects you directly, you don’t bother to speak. And the truth is if you have enough money, the rules don’t apply to you, you can find another way to not only get an abortion, but so much more.

So life as I’ve known it is changing right in front of my eyes. And there’s not a single thing I can do about it. Hell, you can protest against the elimination of abortion, but the same people who invaded the Capitol are literally gonna shoot the doctor providing the abortion, even if it’s legal. These are our heroes, the doctors who still perform the procedure.

But it’s open season on minorities. Anti-Semitism is way up. If you’re not white, with a long history in this country, beware…Asian, Black, doesn’t matter, it’s fair game to criticize you. And you can’t fight back, because then the offenders will say you’re proving the point.

So what happens?

NOTHING! These old white men are taking away your rights willy-nilly to satiate religious zealots and those who want whatever the left doesn’t want.

As for the pulpit… Did you read the story about the evangelical pastors preaching that the election was stolen: https://nyti.ms/3P3Iw3E Even the Republican Senators know this is not true, but they’re afraid of Trump and his minions, so this fabrication can be given credence. Just like QAnon. On their surface they’re both laughable, even Trump’s guy said it was the most secure election ever. But that doesn’t matter.

I’d say to be very afraid. But you’ve got fear fatigue. You feel hopeless. They keep telling you to vote, to change the system, but we do this and they say our vote doesn’t count, and no change happens anyway, maybe there’s a momentary finger in the dike, but then the water keeps pouring through.

I feel sad for the younger generations.

I feel sad for those who have children.

I remember when being a music fan meant you had long hair and were against the war, you were enlightened. That’s no longer true. Then again, we haven’t got any seers as stars, anybody to look up to, whose words make a difference. Money talks and we’re the living proof.

I could explain how the Supreme Court got this way. Talk about the advance planning for decades, the formation of the Federalist Society, but you just want to watch streaming TV and eat gourmet food and fu__.

But that brings us back to the main problem. You’re better off getting addicted to online porn, at least if you make a mistake, you won’t sacrifice your entire life.

It’s so depressing that most of society has disconnected, giving these wankers their way.

I don’t know what to do or say. It makes no difference. I have no power.

And that’s where we are today.

https://amzn.to/3LEwkEi

This is a hot book.

But it’s not for everybody.

Amy told me a long story, encompassing infidelity, illness and cash. And when she was done, she asked me if I liked it, if I was bored. And I told her the only thing that matters is people and their stories.

But not everyone agrees with me. They think that facts rule. They read nonfiction, if they read at all. But fiction is the most honest writing there is. When you make it up you can make it more real. And “Fiona and Jane” feels real. At least the dilemmas, the situations, the feelings of the people involved. And if this appeals to you, I highly recommend the book, despite it having three and a half stars on Amazon.

If it has fewer than four I’m skeptical. A book is a huge dedication of time. But it was the review in the “New York Times,” before all those consumer reviews, that got me interested. Once again, it comes down to story.

So what we’ve got here is two women of Asian descent. One born in the U.S., another an immigrant. And they become best friends. And it’s the story of said friendship over the decades that the book is concerned with.

But it’s not some endless recital of situations, it’s not overladen with plot. It just rings the bell. Again and again and again.

Like when I started it. If you start a book and it doesn’t resonate it probably never will. I wish I could say otherwise, but this is what I’ve learned. However, you may not be in the mood, so if it’s something you think you want to read, give it another chance, but if it doesn’t hook you right away, abandon it, your odds of finishing it are low anyway. You want a book that calls to you, that you can’t wait to pick up, that you want to cancel your day for.

So the truth is…

Life is not linear. People are confused. You get into situations by accident. They change your life but you don’t realize it at the time.

You’re doing what you’ve been told to, been planning to do, for years, and then when you experience it you don’t like it, you may even hate it. In my generation you stayed with it, but youngsters, knowing that life is hard and there is no longer lifelong employment, are willing to stop, to try to figure out where they’re going. Which is kind of weird, because it’s much harder to make a living than it ever has been in my lifetime. We did not make most decisions based on money, but that’s always a factor if you’re under forty. Give up your career path and how are you going to pay the bills?

And most people’s lives are not out of a fantasy book. As a matter of fact, most people are anonymous, and if anybody cares about them it’s their friends and family. We’re sold this myth that if you do well in school, get into Harvard, your life will work out, you’re a world-beater. But not everybody who went to Boston ended up like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, who both dropped out. Most are faceless. Some are broke. They’re all smart, but that does not mean you can make a living and impact society in a major way.

So one of the reasons people don’t like “Fiona and Jane” is because they believe it’s hard to follow. At first it appears to be a series of linked short stories, but really it’s the story of Fiona and Jane, individually and together, but not told in a linear fashion. You figure it out, but too many people don’t jump in with both feet, and art requires this, if you’re not all in it’s never going to work. Go on the creator’s ride. You have to finish it to fully understand it.

But not everybody’s journey is worth following.

And speaking of money, most people who are writers can’t sustain a living just on their novels, they’re oftentimes teachers, even though I believe writers are born, not taught. Sure, a few get rich, but most don’t.

And when I read a book I like I always do a bit of research on the author, to find out who they are, where they come from.

And I stumbled on to this article from the “L.A. Times”:

“Meet the Writers: Jean Chen Ho and the San Gabriel Valley Food Club”: https://lat.ms/3KAB0cP

This sounded like something I wanted to be involved in. Successful conversation is rewarding and it will take you very far. At least that’s what Pete Ham said in the Badfinger song “Perfection.”

And conversation about people as opposed to things is the most rewarding of all.

So, you know if this is a book for you. And if it is, you should read it. It’s not perfection, either literally or the song, but very little is.

Badfinger “Perfection”:

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/37UiSO7

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3FcJF4b

We chart Leo Sayer’s career from graphic designer to nervous breakdown to John Lennon to Roger Daltrey to Pierrot to Richard Perry to being ripped-off to moving to Australia to… Leo Sayer is a raconteur and a true artist who is still creating, you’ll love hearing his story.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leo-sayer/id1316200737?i=1000558960158

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/58fdf753-2cf6-4a61-8b9b-16bf3a3692fe/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-leo-sayer

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/leo-sayer-202741663

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/38vkrll

YouTube: https://bit.ly/37S4Hcb

My audience won’t like this. They’d prefer something like “Dirty Laundry,” Don Henley’s response to newscasters who reported on his peccadilloes. But that’s a forty year old song. And although they play it on oldies stations, most people don’t even watch the evening news, if they watch the news at all.

Not that I liked the country of yore.

Maybe if you grew up in the south, you could be a rocker who loved country. But not in the north, we hated that twangy sound. Except for a few irresistible numbers, like Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl.” It’s hard to explain AM radio to neophytes. The fact that we were beholden to one band in our cars, with stations that faded in and out, is unfathomable. But as a result, turning the dial, and there was always a dial, we were exposed to certain numbers that crossed lines, and although there are so many I hated, there are a few country songs I liked.

But if you were a rocker from the south and you grew up with this country music, which bears little resemblance to today’s country music, you might have been influenced by it. We’ll start with Gram Parsons. But let’s just say that the Eagles blew up the country rock sound. But there was no twang in their music. The only twang we were exposed to was the imitation that Mick Jagger employed in the Stones song “Far Away Eyes.”

But today everything is discombobulated. Country is the rock music of the seventies, that toured stadiums and sustained. Yes, if you make it in country you make it forever, make it in pop and you’re lucky if you can sell a ticket two years out. And whereas melody used to be king on the hit parade, today it’s all rhythm. As for what people are singing about… To a great degree it’s platitudes. The belief is that the more general you make it the more people can relate to it. But this is patently untrue. The more personal you make it the more people can relate to it. If you’re an artist remember this. Dig in, not out.

Not that the lyrics in Nashville can’t be bland. Not that they can’t be family-oriented and therefore intolerable. It’s funny how these rabble-rousing artists can sing about babies, the family and Jesus, yet ignore their children, get divorced and not live a life anywhere close to Jesus’s teachings. To many of them Jesus is a cover-up. If you invoke his name, you get a pass. Which is kind of ridiculous if you think about it. Kinda just like religion. Yes, here’s where I alienate even more of my readers. Go to your house of worship, be a member of the group, but don’t tell me there’s a guy in the sky who sees everything, controls it, and built the Earth only a couple of thousand years ago. Because it all makes about as much sense as QAnon, which many people believe in too. They need a crutch, something to orient their lives around, because without it they have to come up with their own principles, weigh the choices and figure out what is right. And sure, you’ll make mistakes, but that’s the nature of life, if you’re not making mistakes you’re not risking enough.

So, now more than ever, America is based around giving people what they want. You can’t stray from doctrine. You’ve got a tribal base and to change is anathema. It’s so hard to build an audience that you don’t want to risk depleting it. Therefore, we hear the same ideas over and over. No one wants to push the envelope, risk pissing off not only their fans, but the public at large. The greatest fear is being canceled. Maybe we need to cancel more people, then cancellation would mean less. Kind of like interracial people. Credit MTV with exposing America to people who were not solely white or black. Kids are less racist than ever before. But their parents? They believe they’ve got something to lose.

For your edification, I proffer two articles.

The first is by Jennifer Rubin, in “The Washington Post”:

“The GOP is no longer a party. It’s a movement to impose White Christian nationalism.”: https://wapo.st/3kn21WB

The Democrats can’t run on the truth, they’re afraid of alienating some voter who is probably always going to vote Republican anyway.

The second is by Ross Douthat, in “The New York Times”: 

“What Does the Right Do When Big Business Turns Against Republicans”: https://nyti.ms/3y12J3K

Read these two pieces, but you won’t. You’ll tar the writer with the publication. You can only trust that which agrees with your viewpoint. But if you read these articles you’d be much more informed, you’d question some of your precepts, have a view into the future.

Which is exactly why you should listen to Morgan Wallen’s “Don’t Think Jesus.”

Morgan Wallen is the biggest star in the States. Assuming we’re only including the hit artists of today, it’s well known that the classic rockers of yesteryear had and still have the most impact, but none of them has had a hit in decades, at least not without the help of youngsters.

Morgan Wallen has got an accent. Let’s be clear, the coastal elites judge those with southern accents negatively. They need to be rehabbed on this. It’s kinda like judging people by the color of their skin. But Ron DeSantis now says we can’t investigate race, sexual choice, almost anything that characterizes people, and this is not only a move backward, it impedes understanding and progress. We’re all in it together in these United States, whatever you think, we’ve got to find some way to get along, to keep the peace.

Yes, to northerners Morgan Wallen appears a rube. Even with the semi-mullet. It’s like he grew up in a modern day version of “Mayberry R.F.D.” where they might have had network, but certainly not cable, never mind HBO.

But I’ve got to tell you something. All of these options, cable TV, high speed internet, streaming television, have been available in every state for years, decades! The old concept of flyover country is history. Everybody’s got all the information. What they do with it…

And Wallen didn’t graduate from college. Which immediately strikes him from the rolls of reasonable people according to those in the Northeast. That’s their number one badge of honor, where they went to college. It’s an endless pecking order. You can go to Harvard and drop out to start a business, but if you don’t go at all, or don’t graduate, these elites won’t take you seriously. Ever.

But you don’t learn how to be an artist by going to school. Period. It’s something you’re born with. It’s something you develop. It’s about observing the world and laying down your truth. Which is why these songs written by scores of people don’t resonate. Because the truth is excised, the rough edges are shorn off, or shocking elements are thrown in just to titillate and cause controversy. Pure artists are rare. But it’s funny that more than one is in country. Not only Morgan Wallen, but Eric Church.

So, Morgan Wallen has a hit. And then he puts out a double album which goes to the top of the charts and stays there.

Sure, he ends up screwing up in his personal life, but those attacking him have no idea what it’s like to be suddenly famous, with all eyes upon you. You’re no one, and then you’re someone, you get opportunities you dreamed of, everybody wants to know your thoughts and there’s a whole business based on tearing you down, because you’re successful and they’re not.

So what did Morgan Wallen do?

He wrote a slew of country songs with melodies, chord changes, traditional song structure, and it all resonated with the public.

You can’t fake a hit. Anybody who says you can make a stiff record a hit has no experience. At some point the public has to resonate, they have to buy it or stream it, and if they don’t radio drops it, because radio is a business and it can’t have tune-outs.

People liked Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous.” They liked it more than the work of anybody else with a hit, from the Weeknd to Bruno Mars to…it’s endless. Morgan Wallen dropped his album and had staying power. And rather than investigate this, all the northerners, all the non-country fans, just deride Wallen. Wallen is the future, not the past. But never underestimate the ability of those in the business to focus on the past. The future is too scary. It’s unknown. Better to just repeat what you’ve got. Get someone from TikTok. One hit wonders. Real artists think for themselves and are not moldable and are trouble. That’s what happened in the sixties and seventies, the executives lost control, but Tommy Mottola and his minions wrested it back, and got rich via overpriced CDs, and since then the majordomo has been king, not the artist. And this is just sad.

So Morgan Wallen gets caught using the n-word and is canceled. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have paid a price, but in today’s world you can never get out of jail. You can’t do something stupid and recover. Everything is on your permanent record.

They excluded him from awards shows, when to feature him and shed light on the truth would have been a better approach. But once again, if you’re canceled…

So long after a year since its release “Dangerous” is still Top Ten, and now Morgan Wallen has released a new track, “Don’t Think Jesus.”

“Boy gets a guitar and starts writing songs

About whiskey and women and getting too stoned

He got all three at the first show he played

Hometown said, “I don’t think Jesus done it that way”

Boy moves to city lives fast and goes hard

Starts chasing the devil through honky-tonk bars

Ignoring the voices in his head that say, ‘I don’t think Jesus done it this way'”

This is Morgan’s story. Exactly. He’s laying it out, he’s owning it.

And it’s slow, nearly dreary, like a country song of yore, that focused on the message as much as the sound.

“If I was Him, I’d say, ‘To hell with you, ain’t no helping you’

‘Find someone else to give Heaven to, I’m telling you’

I’d shame me, I’d blame me

I’d make me pay for my mistakes

But I don’t think Jesus does it that way”

Funny, this is the all-forgiving Jesus, not the one in the evangelical churches whose pastors say the election was stolen from Trump. This is about forgiveness…another great Don Henley song.

“Boy’s all alone, got no one to turn to

He figures he’ll pray, ’cause what else could he do?

He said, ‘I wish You would’ve woke me up an easier way’

But I don’t think Jesus does it that way”

Regret. If you ain’t got none, you’re lying to yourself. The self-esteem movement is crap. You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, you believe in yourself, you’re entitled to success. Nonsense. Success goes to those who hoover up experience, who go down blind alleys, who screw up and learn from their mistakes and adjust their path.

Note that this does not tend to be the coastal elites. They jumped through hoops. They went to the best schools to become financiers, professionals. There was very little independent thinking involved. They were scared of getting off-track. And they have contempt for anybody who did, especially if they have success.

“World likes to rear back and throw a few stones

So boy wants to throw a few stones of his own

But lord knows I ain’t perfect, and it ain’t my place

And I don’t think Jesus done it that way

Are y’all sure that Jesus done it that way?”

Don’t bite back, don’t get in a Twitter war. All those movie stars doubling-down, denying sexual harassment… Ditto those in the government. It’s your fault, not theirs, they should pay no price and soldier on. And if you get caught in a lie, even if it’s on tape, just deny it, truth is irrelevant, it’s all about tribes.

But not in music.

Well, at least if it’s done right.

That’s why Neil Young is an icon nearly six decades later. He followed his muse not his audience. He didn’t remake “Harvest” ad infinitum.

And if this were the sixties, Bob Dylan would duet with Morgan Wallen instead of recutting his old material in some bogus elite vinyl dream of T-Bone Burnett. It’s not the medium, it’s the message!

So is “Don’t Think Jesus” a hit?

Well, what is a hit these days. Something that is played on the radio, what is streamed a lot, or something that lodges in people’s hearts?

“Don’t Think Jesus” is not a dance song, it’s not for partying. But you might hear it and end up singing “don’t think Jesus done it that way” over and over in your head.

In any event, if you’re a fan, you get the message. You remember Wallen sang this song.

Now Wallen didn’t write it. But Johnny Cash didn’t write all of his either.

Not that Wallen is Cash, but he’s not repeating the process, he’s breaking from the paradigm, this is not what country radio is looking for, and country radio still has undue influence.

It’s too long since we’ve had music that has made us think.

But I don’t want to overload on Wallen. I just use him as a point of information, a signpost, a way back to the garden. Just like when he sings about Jesus I see it as a metaphor, that there are moral principles we should all live by.

We have a top layer of society that is in our face and is constantly replaced again and again. Nothing lasts. And a lot of people keep trying to stay at the top, ultimately becoming a caricature of themselves.

And there’s a whole industry that thrives on this. Not only record companies, but publications, events. Get us who is big now, we can feature them and make bucks.

And everybody’s worried about their place in the landscape. Usually bitching they’re not heard, that they’re not remunerated.

Want to move further down the path on the board game of life?

Go smaller. Go inside. Forget publicity. Devote yourself to the long run. Do your best to get into people’s hearts more than their minds.

It doesn’t look like we’re ever gonna turn this ship around. The ship of politics and the ship of music. Those of us who’ve been around, lived through older eras, cannot fathom what is going on now. And change is rare, there’s just an endless repeat of what came before.

So you can lie in your bed, made of your past experiences, and denounce everything new, or you can investigate it, form your own opinion, separate the wheat from the chaff. You can be an individual as opposed to me-too.

And that’s what we’re looking for…individuals, unafraid of going down the road less taken, acting as surrogates for the rest of us, illuminating this life.

It’s a dangerous path. There are land mines everywhere.

But nothing is easy in this life. Nothing. Whether you were born rich or poor, we all get up every morning and face the day. And it’s a hell of a lot better if someone helps give us direction. Someone who has been there, and done that, who’s had up and downs, who looks at life from both sides now.

And in this case, it’s Morgan Wallen.