"More Than a Feeling"
...Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Tolerate the Ambiguity of What I Hope and Ultimately Believe Is an Otherwise Righteous Campaign
I'm not a huge Boston fan.
Boston the band, I mean, not the city. Although I never felt much love from Boston the city either, to be honest. I definitely like Boston the band better than Boston the city, put it that way. Boston—and Philly, too—just never seemed to want me playing their towns when I toured through there, it felt like.
(Plus, I'm a Colts fan. And thus not a Patriots fan. So that doesn't help. I have nothing against the Eagles, though. In fact, thanks for giving us our shiny new head coach, Eagles! I think…)
But no, I'm talking about Boston the band. Don't get me wrong, I like Boston the band just fine. Does anybody not like Boston the band?
Although, in a related question...does anybody really really love Boston the band?
Like, who hates Boston? But also, who's coming up to you going, "OK, so my fave TV show ever is China Beach. Um, favorite movie: Flatliners. And my all-time favorite band? Who else, BOSTON!"
The roadblock I experience with Boston is that they seem to have just the one big record, that first self-titled one. One time when somebody asked me if I had Boston's greatest hits to put on at a party I was like, "Sure do." And I put on the first album. And they never said anything.
So there's Boston, which, I’ve always assumed every single song on there musta been a big hit single. And then they just have the one other non-Boston hit—"Amanda," right?
Upon further review, wrong.
Classic rock radio plays every single song on Boston ad nauseum, true. But the only proper singles were "More Than a Feeling" (obvs), "Long Time," and "Peace of Mind." "Smokin'," "Rock & Roll Band," "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"...not singles!
Whereas, conversely, not only was some song called "Don't Look Back"—from some album also called Don't Look Back—a proper radio single, but it went to No. 4 on the pop chart!
Friggin' "More Than a Feeling"—"More Than a Feeling!!"—only made it to No. 5!!
So I just don't know what to think anymore.
Which reminds me...don't look now but we're exactly FOUR WEEKS OUT from the presidential election AHHHHHHHH!
The Almighty vs. the Alternative
And it's not just the presidential election that's comin' in hot, of course. There are a whole lotta other important races for complacent Americans to largely ignore, as well.
The good news here in Tennessee is that our extraordinarily conservative state is experiencing its first-ever all-female race for U.S. Senate!
The bad news is that the candidate who's up about 20 points in the polls is the rottenest bad actor north of Georgia's 14th district (i.e. Marjorie Taylor Greene Country). And that's our incumbent senior senator, Trump super-sycophant Marsha Blackburn.
Blackburn’s opponent is State Rep. Gloria Johnson, the former special ed teacher from Knoxville who stood up on the floor of the chamber with "the Justins"—my district's state rep, Justin Jones (for more on Jones, see below video!), and Memphian Justin Pearson—to protest our state legislature's refusal to even listen to a gun safety debate after a mass school shooting in Nashville killed six, including three fourth graders.
The media dubbed them "The Tennessee Three" after the Republican supermajority decided to vote on whether they should be removed from office for "lack of decorum." The two Black guys were removed, while the white lady survived by a single vote. (The Justins were quickly voted back in.)
But anyway. How are we feelin' 'bout the presidential election? Earlier today, I inadvertently bummed out my mom during a FaceTime chat. I was belly-aching about Kamala's apparent reluctance to sit down for many (any?) hard-journalism interviews. She did 60 Minutes last weekend, which is a good start. Lots of strong moments. Lots of avoiding details and offering direct answers, though, too. Kind of the same approach as she took in the debate.
This week she's scheduled to do more interviews, which is great! But they're with Stephen Colbert, Howard Stern, the ladies of The View…all folks pretty friendly toward her campaign. Her appearance on the Call Me Daddy podcast was an inspired move, I thought. I've not heard the show, as I am not young, cool, or, crucially, female. But I know it's hugely popular with young women who might not be super-inclined to bother to vote. She's doing a Univision interview, as well, which might result in some harder-hitting questioning in addition to a boost in support from the Hispanic community.
But hey, I understand my mom's frustration.
Joe Biden always says, "Don't compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.” He’s probably been saying it since way back when we were comparing him to John McCain or Bob Dole—reasonable Republicans who fought (fairly) for smaller government, not no government like today's far-right.
In the context of the Eighties or Nineties, I might have seen that catch-phrase as a bit of a cop-out. Like, OK Joe, OK. I'll stop holding you to an insanely high standard (even though you've been a hugely consequential D.C. politician for decades and wanna be president someday, real real bad). But meet me halfway. You seem like a swell guy. But John McCain does, too. Show me why your positions are better than his positions. Don't just tell me to fall in line because I lean left, and you're a Democrat, and McCain's a Republican.
But the days of John McCain's Republican Party are long gone. No one's comparing Joe Biden to John McCain, or Bob Dole, or Mitt Romney anymore. McCain and Dole have passed on. Romney, like so many of his fellow "normal" Republicans, is retiring. There's no place for dudes like Mitt in the GOP anymore—compassionately conservative wussies content to negotiate across the aisle in hopes of nibbling away at regulations and shoring up the military.
Nah, President Biden brings up the “Almighty vs. the alternative” catch-phrase so often because, in the 2020s, we're comparing him to Donald Trump. And we're comparing Kamala Harris to Trump, too.
When Kamala is president (oh please oh please oh please), I intend to renew my hopes that she'll do a bunch of interviews and make herself available for a bunch of pressers, too. Limiting Biden’s public appearances to comfortably gaffe-free zones made sense under the circumstances of the last year or two—although his team misguided in trying to convince us Joe was OK to go for another four-year term.
But shielding Kamala—or Kamala shielding herself—from potentially hard-hitting questions is untenable in the long term. The whole point in switching from Joe to Kamala was to run someone brilliant, energetic, and capable like she (almost always) appears to be. Refusing to answer direct questions with direct answers, or avoiding scenarios where such questions might be asked altogether, is not what I, personally, was hoping for when the Kamalanomenon first came down.
In a perfect political world, I'd like some super-solid conversation with journalists to go with the good vibes and the choosing of the JOYYYYYY.
There are plenty of Trump supporters who are otherwise good, smart people. They know Trump's full of shit. They know he's a bully. But he's their bully. He makes them feel like he's only being an asshole because that’s the most effective way he can stand up to the Liberal Elite on their behalf.
One of MAGA's touchstone retorts to the libs calling for "fairness," "justice," "equality," and whatever other bleeding-heart nonsense they're being crybabies about (ha) is:
"EFF your effin’ feelings."
And yet it sure seems like so many of them are fine with ignoring Trump's hideousness as a person and voting for the warm-and-fuzzy feeling Trump-ism gives them.
So I guess I would just like for the Harris-Walz ticket to be about...
[*clears throat*]
...more than a feeling, y'know?
BUT!
All that can wait. Go Kamala. Go Tim. Go Doug. Go Gwen. Go Hope. GO GUS! Go...all of Momala's step-kids and nieces and nephews whose names I haven't learned yet.
It feels like the Harris campaign is kinda banking on voters deciding that, hey, it's either her or Trump. And they don't want Trump. So, naturally, they'll vote for her instead. So why risk getting into complex details with snarky journalists who are only out to make a name for themselves and goose up ratings by tripping her up?
That's pretty cynical. But I'm a cynical guy myself, as much as I try not to be. So I get it.
It makes me nervous, that's all.
Un Rock and Roll Digestif
Me: “OK ChatGPT, please pick a number between 1 and 1,025.”
[EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve switched back to ChatGPT over Perplexity now that its free version provides sources for its results like Perplexity does. ChatGPT has always been a way better A.I., but, I need sources!
EDITOR’S NOTE #2: If you’re just joining us, I’m picking at random one of the songs in my “Recollection Records: Music That’s Inexplicably Entered My Head Out of Nowhere” playlist to briefly comment on as a newsletter digestif. We’re currently at 1,025 unique songs that have weirdly, randomly popped into my consciousness for no logical reason.]
ChatGPT: “Sure, I'll pick the number 415.”
And #415 is…….
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Spotify and/or Substack were experiencing technical difficulties with media embeds at time of publication so here’s Love/Hate’s “Rock Queen” on YouTube jic the above is glitchy.)
Oh geez. I mean…do you have any favorite bands who are really gross but are also so good but…are really, really gross. Ugh.
I wouldn’t say we’re talking Michael Jackson- or Ryan Adams-gross. As far as I know, the guys in Love/Hate didn’t do gross stuff in real life.
And yeah, I definitely listen to Michael and RA—I might get a little queasy while doing so, but, I do listen to them. And I’ve noticed nobody’s walking out of the stadium when they play Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2” after a touchdown.
But here’s a taste of the lyrics to “Rock Queen,” from Love/Hate’s 1990 debut album, Blackout in the Red Room, from Columbia Records. (That’s right, we’re holding you responsible for this, Sony Music Entertainment!):
Met a little girl
Just thirteen
She's a knock-down blue-eyed slut
Psycho-virgin tease
Rock queen, thirteen, buxom blonde, bad dream
Let me touch your cookies
Let me eat your cookies
Now
I really would rather not expound upon this particular track any more than I have to. But there’s no denying that if you ignore the lyrics it’s a killer rock song on a top-to-bottom killer album (musically). In fact (musically), there are times when they sound like funky mid-era grunge, like Our Lady Peace or I Mother Earth. But just like my begrudgingly favorite band, Kiss, if Love/Hate could’ve refrained from being effin’ pigs and written about murderous elementary schoolers (Pearl Jam), weird tattooed spoon players (Soundgarden), whatever Kurt Cobain was ever talking about (Nirvana)…or hell, even just of-age “psycho-virgin teases,” maybe I wouldn’t be so embarrassed that I liked these guys.
Who am I kidding…that I like these guys.
Thanks for reading!
Yours,
~Dean
P.S. I sooooo wanted to call this post “More Than a Feeling,” but then I realized I’d already named a CeeGee “More Than a Feeling”…but then I went back to double-check and lo and behold I hadn’t used “More Than a Feeling,” I’d used “Foreplay/Long Time.” And I was like, “I don’t even like Boston that much.” But alas, they are the first band with two songs used as a CeeGee title.
P.P.S. Three songs if you count “Foreplay” and “Long Time” separately. Which you most certainly should.
P.P.P.S. No lip-synching. No BGV tracks. Imperfect. And effin’ awwwwwwwsum. Just sayin’.