I do agree with you in part. But, the point where you say, “Nobody but their parents gave a rats butt” to all the men coming home in a box and some weird dude who sings gets the world to stop. I get it. I do understand what you are saying but there is an unfortunate difference. If I went to war and died, I would have a relatively small group of people mourning me. My family, friends and a handful of aquaintences. Why? Because those are the lives I touched. No-one outside of that group was really touched by anything I did in my life. I am just another name. Is that a good thing? Hard to say, I wouldn’t want the world to stop for me or every unfortunate soul who had their life taken in a war. There are other ways to do that, like donations and charitable events I’ve been involved with, as have many, many others.
Prince, or “Insert Name of Celebrity Here” touched many lives for literal decades. Was he on my top 50 list of concerts I would pay for? Nope. But I do give him credit for what he accomplished in his life. He, along with many other musicians I do not like, are gifted or at least talented. The Rolling Stones are a group that is arguably horrible in live concert. I still give them all the credit in the world for what they have accomplished as musicians.
I would say, hold your angst against a celebrity to the ones who deserve it. Think, Justin Beaber. Someone who doesn’t write any lyrics. Can not play an instrument. Can not sing without electronics to help. Talentless chumps. They deserve the angst.
As I mentioned, I understand where you are coming from. I just don’t agree with it and believe it is misguided. The beauty of this website is you can agree to disagree. Well.... Sometimes. Sometimes you get ripped apart for having a belief! (Not in this case though)
I can see that we will remain at a little bit of an impasse and it will probably stay that way. From my slanted way of looking at things, those unknown and unmourned young men touched everyone’s lives, far more than some dweeby “sort of” guy.
Music = trivial
Warfare = consequential, that is, our freedom and safety depend on those few young people willing to give everything for all of us.
My viewpoint is probably not that different from previous generations. Frank Sinatra was deeply resented by WWII veterans - he got fame, money, and of course the ladies because he was willing to weasel a deferment. There would be a large bloc of people who would believe that Ol Blue Eyes contributed a lot through his music but to the veterans of Normandy or Bastogne or Iwo Jima would know that their contributions to us were worth much more.