Ah, yes, those great lessons of life we glean from popular culture. Last week, we surveyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and my, what an eye opener that was…
But what about music, specifically rock ‘n’ roll? (OK I’m going to use an expanded definition of rock ‘n’ roll, that includes the pop music of the second half of the twentieth century in general, so I don’t expect all responses to fit everyone’s definition of rock ‘n’ roll)
I’ll begin with the obvious one- “You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you can get what you need”, which we learned from the Strolling Bones.
Billy Ido taught us that “when the other man has none, you don’t need a gun”.
Cindy Lauper was kind enough to point out that “money changes everything”.
[nitpick] I must point out that “Money Changes Everything” was first recorded by an extremely obscure but great New Wave band called The Brains.[/nitpick]
As to rock n’ roll wisdom, even though many unfortunate things happened to me because of following this bit of advice too enthusiatically, I submit, from Jefferson Airplane, “Feed your head.”
Stephen Stills reminds us that “if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with”
And everybody knows that “if you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel”
“You were wrong when you said…
Everything’s gonna be alright…
All that glitters isn’t gold…
All we are is dust in the wind…
We are all just bricks in the wall…
You can’t always get what you want…
It’s a hard rain’s gonna fall…
We’re still running against the wind…
And life goes on after the thrill of living is gone…”
Built to Spill, “You Were Right”
Stop wasting my time
You know what I want
You know what I need
Or maybe you don’t
Do I have to come right flat out and tell you everything
Gimme some money
)