Didn't realize they were taking it to the Dark Side.
I thought I would share this experience on this thread.
I generally try to segregate my politics and my entertainment (music, movies, etc.)
But there are a few "entertainers" who will not get my money. Barbara Streisand. Jane Fonda. Susan Sarandan. Sean Penn. And so on.
I went to see Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) recently (September 9th) at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA. The show was great, until about halfway through the show, when the whole thing took a political turn, and became a huge anti-war, anti-republican anti-Bush tirade.
I sat there, sitting on my hands, steaming like hell. At one point, I just burst out in replay to a lengthy, sappy diatribe (about the "innocent Lebanese" "we" were killing...) "Maybe someone should ask the Israelies how innocent some of those Lebanese were!"
At another time, they bought out a giant helium Macy's Parade size pink pig with "Fuck Bush" written on it, and "VOTE DEMOCRAT IN NOVEMBER" on one side, and on the other side it said "KAFKA RULES". They paraded this around the crowd, then released it into the air (open air theater)
I was so effing mad and wanted to leave, but I didn't want to ruin it for all the people around me who I had gone to the show with.
Afterwards, I thought "What should my expectations have been?" Surely, if I had known anything about Roger Waters, I should have fully expected it (I didn't...I just liked the music of Pink Floyd, never delved into the political aspect of their music such as The Wall, Animals and Wish You Were Here. I simply liked the music.)
And truth be told, I always felt that the music in The Wall could be more easily and appropriately applied to the Liberals.
Anyway, I ended up blaming myself in the end for being ignorant. After all, who could be upset at going to a strip club and seeing naked women inside?
Good job on the letter.
I remember going over to a friend's house just after The Wall album was released. I was in middle school.
After listening to the album only once, and a fairly casual listening at that, I thought it was the most depressing thing I had ever heard.
I remember going home feeling depressed. I thought whoever wrote those songs must be suicidal.
Not that I don't appreciate Pink Floyd or Roger Waters as very talented artists.
But their inspiration comes from some place I'd rather not be.
I always kind of hated Pink Floyd. Slow, tripped-out acid rock. They play them all the time on classic rock stations, so I tried to make myself like them. I began to, but now I know why I never really liked them. No substance, musically or intellectually. Heavy metal forever.
You say the hill's too steep to climb. Climb it. You say you'd like to see me try. Climb it. You pick the place and I'll choose the time, and I'll climb that hill in my own way. Just wait a while for the right day. And as I rise above the treeline and the clouds I look down, hearing the sound of the things you said today.Pink Floyd/Meddle/Fearless [10M mpeg]
I was at the Waters show in Camden, NJ Sat 9/16 and the pig he used there made no reference to Bush, no reference to "vote democrat", etc... and there was no real anti-Bush diatribe that I heard...I think after the reception they got in MSG in NY (major booing) he realized it needed to be toned down... and it was.