King's X

[Rick and Roll]

Originally Posted by Andyyyy

I loved it! You don't see that kind of brutal honesty and well thought out positions too often from artists....

I just got the OK from Carl Groves: Here is said diatribe (warning - it's NOT for the thinned skinned).....

I read this posting from Doug and although it saddens me greatly, it
doesn't surprise me.

I fear that some of you may get pissed that I venture into
political/religious waters here, but it's related.

I always loved King's X for a couple of reasons: They were smart
musically, and they were smart lyrically. What blew me away was that
unlike the other rock music that boasts smart music and lyrics--
Prog, King's X grooved--they've always really grooved--and so their
music is very "boppable" by the consuming public. But they wrote
songs that required listeners to think. Oftentimes, they required
listeners to think about what was being said *both* musically and
lyrically. And, since about 1980, that simply isn't something that
Americans--especially the "music-buying 16 to 25 year old
demographic"--have the ability to do. So although it frustrates me
to see incredible art being ignored by the masses, it comes as no
surprise. Don't cast your pearls before swine, indeed. But sadly,
when it comes to livelihood by art, the swine determine success.

We want quick. And if we can't get it quick, we go somewhere else.
If somewhere else doesn't have it quick, we whine. And after we
whine, we shut down. We want gas at a dollar a gallon. Quickly. And
we're absolutely enraged that "our leaders" can't wave their
political wands and make it happen. We want a "quick solution in
Iraq." Nevermind that the speed at which the US military is able to
accomplish things is unprecedented. It isn't hard to imagine that
when the Revolutionary War got into it's second year, a modern
mindset would've called the Colonial Leadership incompetent, corrupt
and evil, and would've begged the King's forgiveness. We want a
quick solution to poverty, to disease, to environmental concerns.
But we expect *someone else* to solve these things quickly. We want
to drive 90 and as we pass him, we flip off the guy in the left lane
doing the speed limit. We don't have time to hang out with our kids.
Hell, that's what TV is for, eh? A human being raised by an 8-foot
tall, yellow bird. Gonna make for a swell addition to the species,
eh?

Gimme everything I want in life, and give it to me quick. Where
these solutions don't appear overnight, what is the reaction of
modern America? Vote out the bastard. Vote in a new bastard.
Protest. Write a letter to the editor. Call a talk show. Whine to
friends. And eventually, leave the process entirely. After all,
solutions didn't happen quickly, so what was the use anyway?

We don't want to be told that there's a heaven and a hell. We live
for right here, right now. Piss on tomorrow, I have a belly full of
desire wanting attention *today*. Don't talk to me of morality or
spirituality as that requires deliberation, weighing consequences,
considering the well-being of others. And that takes time. It
doesn't fit my world view of quickness.

And art? Puh-lease. Gimme a nice photograph. Don't gimme something
with 3 eyes. Gimme something I can hum. Don't give me more than two
verses. Please repeat the chorus over and over. And don't alter it
any. If it's over three minutes, you lose me. If you're gonna "say
something" like Dylan, Springsteen, Neil Young, or
other "visionaries", you better present it with three or four chords
and a pedestrian melody. (Rolling Stone magazine says so!) Better
yet, don't try and say anything at all, you pretentious bastard. We
don't have time to think about things, and if we did have the time,
we don't have the desire to consider anything of importance anyway.
It might require us to change, and humans can't change *quickly.* We
want to feed. We want to frolic. And we want to f***. Sadly, for the
fairer gender of our species, we want to do the latter quickly, as
well.

Stepping down off the soapbox, but felt the need to respond to
Doug's post--what I believe to be one of the myriad symptoms of a
pervasive, and if not treated, ultimately fatal disease to the US
and Western civilization.

C