Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Other Bruce Endorses Obama

2 comments:

All This Trouble... said...

The Boss is still as sexy as pie. My husband is disappointed in him, though. Says he's selling out by playing the superbowl. I say he'll be much more exciting than Janet Jackson's nipple ever was.

Bruce Hodder said...

I know what your old man means, but I don't think he's selling out. Identification with the American mainstream has always been a feature of Bruce's thinking, and it's like with Bob Dylan and these commercials he has done: the other work, the groundbreaking creative and political stuff is there for as long as there's a there to be there (if you know what I mean). It can't be undone.

And like Dylan says, "If you do wanna get whipped, hey, aren't you really being entertained?" You could argue that Bruce sold out the first time he played a huge stadium or took a million dollars for a recording contract while people were starving on the streets. He may have been up there singing "The River", but that wasn't doing much good for the people sleeping in doorways down the road. (I say you COULD argue that. I wouldn't, but you could.)
Political writing or music COULD just be seen as self-congratulatory entertainment for the chattering classes...

Lastly, though, as much as I love Springsteen, I still find the sight of Janet Jackson's nipple more stimulating.