{"id":1371,"date":"2008-09-24T11:19:42","date_gmt":"2008-09-24T19:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2008\/09\/24\/giving-that-heaven-away-im-lookin-round-for-that-sixties-sound-those-days-are-gone-and-all-of-us-acid-droppin-world-stoppin-be-boppin-freaks-are-just-hangin-on-we-used-to-save-up-for-our-records-t"},"modified":"2008-09-26T13:17:02","modified_gmt":"2008-09-26T21:17:02","slug":"giving-that-heaven-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2008\/09\/24\/giving-that-heaven-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving That Heaven Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m lookin’ ’round for that sixties sound<\/span>
Those days are gone<\/span>
And all of us acid droppin’, world stoppin’, be-boppin’ freaks<\/span>
Are just hangin’ on<\/span><\/p>\n

We used to save up for our records.\u00c2\u00a0 The radio was our religion.\u00c2\u00a0 We listened long enough to be inspired to buy albums.\u00c2\u00a0 And when we purchased those twelve inch discs, we played them again and again and again, waiting for them to reveal their truth.\u00c2\u00a0 And having an investment in the album, we went to the show, to hear the tunes performed live.\u00c2\u00a0 You built your collection album by album.\u00c2\u00a0 You didn’t buy anything casually.\u00c2\u00a0 You wanted every record to count.\u00c2\u00a0 So if someone dropped by your house or apartment they could scan your discs and get a vision of the true you, the essence.<\/p>\n

But now hunting for rare records is only about collector satisfaction.\u00c2\u00a0 The history of music is instantly available, with a click online.\u00c2\u00a0 Who cares if you’re ever going to listen to what you download.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s free. You end up with so much music that you know very little of it.\u00c2\u00a0 There are certain singles you can recite most words of, after that…\u00c2\u00a0 And the albums have gotten longer, and your free time is shorter.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s not only you.\u00c2\u00a0 Kids have got so many diversions.\u00c2\u00a0 The concept of lying on your bedroom floor listening to the same disc over and over again is an antiquated dream.\u00c2\u00a0 Kids have instant stimulation on their computers.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re IM’ing, texting between soccer practice and homework.\u00c2\u00a0 You want to get into music, but it’s almost impenetrable.<\/p>\n

I spent most of last night listening to an XM interview with Jackson Browne.\u00c2\u00a0 It was part of their Songlines series.\u00c2\u00a0 With Mike Marrone asking Jackson questions, playing the records they talked about.<\/p>\n

It was the highlight of my week.<\/p>\n

When Jackson Browne finished high school, music was still a calling.\u00c2\u00a0 Being a rock star was not akin to being a movie star.\u00c2\u00a0 It was about expressing yourself, for those who truly cared.<\/p>\n

Jackson joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band before graduating.\u00c2\u00a0 Then he went to New York, where he accompanied Nico at Max’s Kansas City.\u00c2\u00a0 And, upon flying back to the Southland, he heard "Sgt. Pepper" on the drive from LAX to Orange County.<\/p>\n

I understand all this.\u00c2\u00a0 There was something going on.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t featured in newspapers, the mainstream media was clueless.\u00c2\u00a0 Kind of like the big outlets still don’t get technology today.\u00c2\u00a0 There were no reviews in the paper, no stories, but we were all addicted.<\/p>\n

We’re still addicted.\u00c2\u00a0 But the heroin we’re injecting was distilled decades ago.\u00c2\u00a0 And we can’t find acid as good as the tabs we dropped at Woodstock.\u00c2\u00a0 And we want to.<\/p>\n

Mike threw out names to Jackson and he told stories.\u00c2\u00a0 How David Crosby said he’d produce his first album, but kept shirking his responsibility.\u00c2\u00a0 When asked his favorite Crosby song, Jackson said "Page 43".\u00c2\u00a0 And then Mike played it.\u00c2\u00a0 What a revelation!\u00c2\u00a0 I knew every lick, but hearing it I was jetted right back to that era, to how it used to be, who I used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 We ruled.<\/p>\n

Then, they talked about Patty Griffin…\u00c2\u00a0 And the song they came up with was one I was unfamiliar with.<\/p>\n

I own "Flaming Red".\u00c2\u00a0 But I was disappointed with it after loving "Living With Ghosts".\u00c2\u00a0 But this song they pulled out, it was truly magical.\u00c2\u00a0 It had the power of rock.\u00c2\u00a0 And the alienation too…<\/p>\n

Does anyone really remember Tony<\/span>
He was a quiet boy, a little overweight<\/span>
He had breasts like a girl<\/span>
When I wasn’t too busy feeling lonely<\/span>
Well I’d stare over his shoulder<\/span>
At a map of the world<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s what high school is about.\u00c2\u00a0 Loneliness.\u00c2\u00a0 Unless you’re one of the winners.\u00c2\u00a0 The quarterback or a cheerleader.\u00c2\u00a0 You notice everything in a world that seems to be sliding by everybody else.<\/p>\n

He always finished all his homework<\/span>
Raised his hand in home room<\/span>
Early morning attendance<\/span>
And he’d pledge allegiance to the gloom<\/span><\/p>\n

He showed up.\u00c2\u00a0 He did his job.\u00c2\u00a0 But if anybody noticed, they just wanted to give Tony shit.<\/p>\n

Hey Tony, what’s so good about dying<\/span>
He might do a little dying today<\/span>
Looked in the mirror and saw<\/span>
A little faggot starin’ back at him<\/span>
Pulled out a gun and blew himself away<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow.\u00c2\u00a0 The music sounds like this.\u00c2\u00a0 An unbelievable intensity.\u00c2\u00a0 Eclipsing that of James McMurtry’s similar-themed "Terry".\u00c2\u00a0 Still, we don’t see this coming.<\/p>\n

I hated every day of high school<\/span>
It’s funny, I guess you did too<\/span><\/p>\n

On TV, high school is where the pretty girls get dressed up and flirt, the rest of the population is invisible.\u00c2\u00a0 But most of us are part of the invisible mass.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re struggling.\u00c2\u00a0 With defeat, depression, trying to figure out where we belong in the landscape.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re afraid our future is going to be bleak. Still, we dream.\u00c2\u00a0 Of the day we can escape and try to become our real selves.<\/p>\n

This was mind-blowing.\u00c2\u00a0 How there could be a record this great that I was completely unaware of.\u00c2\u00a0 But Mike and Jackson knew it.\u00c2\u00a0 Which was what was so engaging, so riveting about the program.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the way it used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 We lived for music.\u00c2\u00a0 We knew the tracks that never charted, that changed our lives.<\/p>\n

The other revelation was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s "Buy For Me The Rain".\u00c2\u00a0 Turns out it was co-written by Jackson’s old buddy Greg Copeland.\u00c2\u00a0 You remember, the prematurely white-haired guy Jackson made an album with?\u00c2\u00a0 That’s how much power Jackson had, Geffen gave his buddy a deal.\u00c2\u00a0 But the record sank.\u00c2\u00a0 And today Greg Copeland is an attorney.\u00c2\u00a0 But "Buy For Me The Rain", which I’ve never heard previously, captures the essence of the sixties perfectly.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like stumbling upon a time capsule.<\/p>\n

I don’t want to live in a time capsule.\u00c2\u00a0 But I’m unsure how to penetrate today’s musical landscape.\u00c2\u00a0 I know there’s good stuff out there.\u00c2\u00a0 But who do you trust?\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe you’re listening to the wrong stuff. While you’re playing some alternative album over and over again, it turns out some country record is the shit.\u00c2\u00a0 You can only play one record at a time, but there’s seemingly infinite choice.\u00c2\u00a0 And no map. Just charlatans imploring you to spend your time, and that’s the most precious currency you’ve got.<\/p>\n

I’d like to know what it’s like to be young, under twenty, to have grown up in this context.\u00c2\u00a0 Is it any more comprehensible to kids?\u00c2\u00a0 Are we crippled by our history?\u00c2\u00a0 Or is it truly just a world of singles.\u00c2\u00a0 If so, why is everybody making albums?\u00c2\u00a0 Who is listening to them?\u00c2\u00a0 And why do they think anybody who’s not a hard core fan will?\u00c2\u00a0 And even hard core fans…\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t get it immediately, you drift off, to something else.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe a video game.\u00c2\u00a0 Those are expensive to make, there are not that many released, it’s clear what’s a hit.<\/p>\n

Seems like the whole world is at a fire sale<\/span>
But I might be wrong<\/span>
With all this home shopping, bling, hip-hopping<\/span>
Maybe it’s just going strong<\/span><\/p>\n

"Giving That Heaven Away"
Jackson Browne<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m lookin’ ’round for that sixties soundThose days are goneAnd all of us acid droppin’, world stoppin’, be-boppin’ freaksAre just hangin’ on We used to save up for our records.\u00c2\u00a0 The radio was our religion.\u00c2\u00a0 We listened long enough to be inspired to buy albums.\u00c2\u00a0 And when we purchased those twelve inch discs, we played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-m7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}