spoti.fi/2IYSsZX

bit.ly/1pvumYI

"I got fury in my soul
Fury's gonna take me to the glory goal"

Stormy Daniels outranked the Grammys, she pulled more viewers on the same damn channel, CBS, 22 million to 19.8. What is happening here? It sure ain't exactly clear.

But what we've got is a President who resembles a heavy metal band, an outlaw who appeals to a tiny sliver of the populace which believes it's been screwed and wants revenge, even though the rest of the people abhor them.

Meanwhile, today's metal bands are a caricature of themselves. If they really wanted to make a statement, they'd shun the tattoos and piercings and play acoustically.

But that ain't music today.

I read something interesting over the weekend, you can do anything, people can connect with anything, as long as your work is based in passion, as long as it's what YOU want to do, that's what's missing from today's music scene, there's too much CALCULATION!

And bitching.

Funny how everybody said Spotify was the enemy and now music revenues have gone up by double digits. Funny how the press amplifies the stories of the nitwits and the left behind. Meanwhile, Spotify going public means nothing to you, it's a business story, the Wall Street casino, it's just a way for investors to cash out, pay no attention.

Meanwhile, the only thing everybody cares about these days is politics.

Used to be the highest calling was to work in the music industry.

And then tech.

Now the only thing people want to pay attention to is our government, because they're afraid. Meanwhile, we've got no leaders, and the parking meters have all been sold to hedge funds, truly.

We were for the Vietnam War before we against it. Folkies were for peace, but it wasn't until the rockers started standing up that the rest of us did too, when we we realized that the United States could not only be wrong, it could lose.

Very tumultuous times the late sixties, akin to now. Only in this case the twentysomethings have been superseded by the teenagers, who are taking matters into their own hands and injecting a shock to the system.

"For What It's Worth" came out in 1967. Before Martin and Bobby were cut down, that happened the following year. "For What It's Worth" was a reaction to the Sunset Strip riots at Pandora's Box, now a footnote in history, the song eclipses the inspiration. But protest penetrated the Top Forty.

Now the Top Forty means less than ever before.

You see the systems are collapsing. The major labels say you need them to get on radio and TV when they mean less than ever before. Spotify says you don't need a label at all. And you just can't fathom how you can rise above.

Only by being in your own business. Every act is in its own business these days. If you're waiting for your lucky moment, you're delusional, satisfy your core and hope that they spread the word, don't care about anybody else, the press, the looky-loos, they won't adhere to you and help you survive, in a nation of grazers you want to lock on to your own people.

Like Laura Nyro.

She became famous for writing hits for others, most notably the Fifth Dimension. And when she was doing her act, live entirely solo, there was no one else like her, proving once again the way to prominence is by being unique.

Her first LP was a demonstration of her hits.

The second, although it contained the soon to be legendary "Stoned Soul Picnic," made a statement with "Poverty Train," but that was back in '68, when we were concerned about our brethren, trying to lift them up rather than get them addicted to opioids.

And then Laura wrote "Save The Country."

"Come on people, come on children"

Great artists implore their audience to action. They're cheerleaders, getting the audience off its feet, to stand up for what's right.

"I got fury in my soul."

I do. Do you? I think you do!

"In my mind I can't study war no more."

I can't study duplicity, dishonesty, I don't want to feel powerless, I want a call to action.

"We could build a dream with love"

Like those demonstrating students, unlike Fox News. Hatred has ruled for far too long. We've got to come together, like in that old Youngbloods song, we've got to get back to the garden, like Joni Mitchell sang, we've got to leave behind the hedonism, the capitalism, and focus on the message.

There's power in song.

HARNESS IT!

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