Album: Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury
Year: 1992
Oh fuck this song. Fuck it for the goddamned jazz guitar, effortlessly played by Charlie Hunter. Fuck it for Michael Franti’s crooning on the chorus. Fuck it for pretty melody he’s crooning.
But most of all, fuck this song for capturing exactly who I was as I was living the 30th year of my life.
No lyric that Paul Westerberg ever wrote — not even fucking “I Will Dare,” for fuck’s sake — nailed me more. Check it:
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I would tell you that sometimes its easier to desire
And pursue the attention and admiration of 100 strangers
Than it is to accept the love and loyalty of those closest to meAnd I would tell you that sometimes
I prefer to look at myself through someone elses eyes
Eyes that arent clouded with the tears of knowing
What an asshole I can be, as yours are
For the last decade of my life, I’d either been a DJ or in a band, chasing random love over the airwaves or onstage while fucking up relationship after relationship. To wit:
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I might be able to listen in silence to your concerns
Rather than hearing everything as an accusation
Or an indictment against meAnd I would tell you that sometimes
I use sex to avoid communication
It’s the best escape when were down on our luck
But I can express more emotions than laughter, anger, and lets fuck
You gotta remember, this was 1992. I was still reeling from the best musical year I’ll ever experience, 1991, and the 1992 presidential election was shaping up to be the first time in my life I was actually going to be enthusiastic about voting for a Presidential candidate (and not coincidentally, the first time it looked like my guy was going to win), so music and politics were everywhere in my world.
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
This just wasn’t going to happen, was it?
That summer, I wrote a bunch of articles for The Fresno Bee, and music and politics permeated all of them. And one of the articles was all about how CNN & MTV were”the twin towers of American culture.”
Of course, a lot of things have changed since then — CNN and MTV are still around, but their importance have diminished in the post-monoculture era — and Michael Franti has used the talent he displayed on this song to have a pretty long and successful career leading Spearhead.
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics
I would tell you that the personal revolution
Is far more difficult
And is the first step in any revolution
And me, I got better, starting 23 years ago this very day. Clearly, I still think a lot about music and politics, but I don’t think I’m the guy in this song anymore, either.
Fan-made video for “Music and Politics”