I was committed to life and then commuted to the outskirts
With all the love in the world
Living for thirty minutes at a time with a break in the middle for adverts
— "The Invisible Man," by Elvis Costello
I don’t watch much TV, aside from DVDs, and when I do, it tends to be a bit of a culture shock.
I watched "House" last night, knowing it will be a while before I can buy the third season, and I saw something truly appalling — Elvis Costello, doing what appeared to be a car commercial.
Sure, he did it in a cool and hip sort of way, but still, it was just so, well… commercial. And this from our angry young man.
First Michael Jackson owning the Beatles’ catalog, now this. The disillusionments we must suffer as we grow old.
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Isn’t it a pity?Dylan did one.McCartney did one.The Stones did an awful one(they actually beat everyone to the punch-they did an obscure one in the sixties!).No one writes jingles anymore,they just mine the sacred soundtrack of our youth.
That being said,many of these artists say they do it to be heard.They won’t play these guys on the radio anymore.McCartney and the Stone’s last albums are their best in years.I’m more pissed at what commercial radio has become than I am at the artists.
The only one sticking to his guns,though,is Neil Young.He wrote a song about this subject after seeing an Eric Clapton beer ad-“This Note’s For You”.
Maybe Dylan summed it up best,as usual-
People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed
Of course, Randy Newman is great, and he’s a complete jingle machine.
And part of the Newman movie soundtrack dynasty:Alfred,David,Emil,Lionel,Maria,Randy and Thomas.