Amused Cynic

‘fraid so. Hey, he’s the one who sought to interject himself into the Superbowl on the basis of his interjecting himself into politics via his support of Kerry in ‘04 and Obama in ‘08, and who now seeks to promote his most rushed-into-production album ever….one based on Bush-hatred. OK, Bruce.

My new favorite blog, BigHollywood, featured a nice little commentary on the tragedy of Bruce Springsteen, one-time cool man of the people turned confused celebrity icon. I don’t think he can help himself in this regard any more than he knows what he’s talking about when he joins the undereducated celebutards in their political dabbling. The recent BigHollywood post pertaining to Bruce is written by working musician John Romano, of the band The Sugarmen: “Can’t a song be a song” Or does it have to be ideology?”:

In my opinion, what worked about rock in the 60’s and 70’s was that the music really was asking questions of society. There was a clear difference between those in power and the musicians who rebelled against the norm. Some of it was show for sure, but who can argue with the power and emotion of “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye?

I’m neither naïve nor arrogant enough to think that music can do anything close to that today. Music is again about the simple pleasure of digging cool sounds and lyrics.

Watching Bruce at Obama rallies, nervously strumming his guitar and pontificating about the “lost America” of his youth, you couldn’t help but think about him heading back to his mansion afterward. What is he really screaming about?

And then contrast that with the band and I gladly driving 13 hours on the wrong side of the road in the rain to get to a gig in London after playing one night in Scotland. Very odd. Wouldn’t logic dictate that the musician in the smelly van should be the one railing against the system?

I’ll continue to make the best records I can and tour with the band. However, I’ll always leave direct political opinions out of my music. I’ve learned enough living in Hollywood as an artist and a conservative that politics is like curry powder: add a drop and the whole dish tastes like one thing and loses all subtlety.

Now, how much better-said could that possibly be? Kudos to John Romano. His piece hammered home the utter absurdity of this news item: Springsteen regrets giving Walmart the exclusive rights to sell his latest “best of” compilation. Because Walmart is a mega-business that stifles small businesses, don’t you know. Unlike BRUCE FUCKING SPRINGSTEEN, INC., that shuts out all kinds of small bands in its attempt to hawk retreads (as if no one could otherwise find old Bruce Springsteen songs) when there are countless new bands of real talent out there playing new music like The Sugarmen struggling to be heard in the vacuum created by megalith performers and record companies. And Bruce engages in nepotism, too…are you telling me he couldn’t find a better singer/guitarist than his wife? (just kidding).

NEW YORK – The Boss is owning up to a mistake. In an interview with Sunday’s New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn’t have made a deal with Wal-Mart. This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest hits CD.

Some fans were critical because Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of worker’s rights, and Wal-Mart has faced criticism for its labor practices.

Springsteen told the Times that his team didn’t vet the issue as closely as he should have, and that he “dropped the ball on it.”

Springsteen went on to say: “It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be.”

Springsteen released his new CD “Working on a Dream” this week and is performing the halftime show at the Super Bowl.

There was another, somewhat related post at BigHollywood the other day, using Janeane Garofalo as an example, but you could excise her name and insert “Bruce” and it would work just as well, in principle:

Let me be frank, the “Hollywood is liberal” vibe is a shallow truism. It is shallow because it is fixable. But for now, it is categorically, undeniably true, that the A, B, C, and D list is 80% comprised of people who feel deep in their soul that they haven’t really earned all they have.

And deep in their soul, that does something to people. When you look in the mirror and feel you haven’t earned what you have, you feel guilty, more than that, you feel like a poodle. You feel like a kept poodle, coiffed and coddled and carried, without any satisfaction of having truly earned your success.

That’s a problem.

It is a problem when you know there are MANY others who have worked day and night to build a string of dry cleaners, there are many others not born as pretty as you who have trucking franchises, and golf supply warehouses… When you know there are millions of people who really sweat it out to get what they have.

Celebrities, like kids born to wealth, almost HAVE to be liberal. TOO. MUCH. POODLE. GUILT.
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The problem arises when those who haven’t earned their money want to pretend their situation is just like the rest of the hard working, first generation wealthy that have bled for what they have. In some sick part of their soul they want to convince themselves that other hard-work success stories have had it just as easy as they have.

So I’m proposing a Celebrity Windfall Tax… It should be easy to pass. Actors, Authors, Painters, Poets, TV Newsmen, and Athletes shall pay double. They have fun jobs, fun jobs that aren’t hard work. They make windfall profits. Let’s tax the shit out of them.

Also at BigHollywood, Nick Gillespie nails the sad Springsteen fraud:

Here’s a guy who went from making love in the dirt with Crazy Janey out behind the dynamo off of the backstreets near Thunder Road during the freaking Ford and Carter years to bitching and moaning about unemployment and factory shutdowns during the booming 1990s, when his entire musical universe was populated by hobos walking along highways with hats in hand and mumbling about unions, Pinkertons, and the WPA. Like most self-absorbed rock stars, the turning point came early, the moment he started writing songs about how hard it was to be…a rock star.

Some of us old-time Jersey folk discussed Bruce’s unfortunate transformation a few days ago, in the post Bruce Springsteen…Is he just Barbra Streisand with a Telecaster, now?”