December 2, 2017 – Driving in the car is a nice venue for pop music, or so my habit goes. But not in the last two weeks. You see, about two weeks ago while driving, this song came on the radio.
Young dumb… young dumb…. How many times is this guy going to say this? I’ve heard the song a couple of times, and honestly every time I heard those words young, dumb, and I mean every time, which is a lot because those words are half the song, I thought celebration of mediocrity. I finally get it; that song is the very definition of the term celebration of mediocrity! So for fear of hearing this song more than the approximately two times I’ve heard it… no more. I don’t mean no more this song; I mean, for now, no more pop radio.
Recommended by a young friend, some time ago I watched a documentary on Netflix about Lady Gaga, specifically about her preparation leading up to her Superbowl show from last the Superbowl. Netflix profiles, so thinking I like documentaries on musicians, it kept suggesting a documentary on Tom Petty called Running Down the Dream. A few times signing on and seeing that, I finally watched it. My viewing took about four sittings because the documentary is many hours long, seemingly intended for two episodes. For those of you with Netflix, it’s good; I recommend it. I was already in this rock mood I’m in, prompted by my current rebellion against pop radio, so a particular part in the narrative where Tom talks about the direction music has gone in modern times resonated with me. Mind you, I think the documentary was done in 2007, 2007 being not so modern, but modern enough. Tom wasn’t receptive about modern music — instruments, reality, we need more of those elements. I can’t post the Netfix documentary, but this clip from 1999 is along the same lines, and honestly, Tom is really funny in this, so I’m going with this.
When asked then his view of what was then-popular music – boy bands, he has a good narrative; he thinks people should play actual instruments, together, but it’s his facial expressions. Watch the video clip, and tell me, you just don’t want to bottle that facial expression up and keep it! That facial expression is the reaction to the celebration of mediocrity I had to the Young, Dumb song. Tom’s reaction should be a giff, sort of a huh, followed by a mocking smile; I’d put that in a loop on the Young, Dumb YouTube video and wait for the mediocrity people to yell at me. Plus, Tom Petty is seriously funny, and he’s right! And the boots? Compliment his boots, and he’ll give them to you. Want ‘em? Too bad I didn’t know him and wasn’t his size! I love Western-flair boots! But I digress.
In a more serious way, the Petty documentary went into a great deal of explanation, explanation and examples of how FM radio helped make rock music. There was a time when a DJ could play an entire album side, when it was completely acceptable to play the B-side of a single instead of the program-directed A-side. Heck, think of the famous songs that became famous only because some DJ somewhere decided to turn the 45 over. What I discovered is the term celebration of mediocrity means all of that, not just music made without real instruments, but the entire programing effort that is fed to us. I’m keeping it short this week, and dedicating this Tom Petty song, lyrically mocking and critical of the celebration of mediocrity, to the future.
In the future, may there be DJs willing to play a B-side, or in modern terms track 10 instead of track 1. May people play instruments. May people play instruments together. May vocals be sung, even if they are not spot-on, in-tune perfect. May we have poetry in our songs. I know, a tall order, considering where we are now apparently is Young Dumb, Young, Dumb, …..
And back to that point: somebody please tell me when it’s safe to turn the radio on again!