Life I& Li-Bertv
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Life I&Li-bertv Individualism of the next nine songs, to reject the the redwood forests. With utter lack of depredations and militarism that discolor self-consciousness, he sings, With a Beat our recent history, while gloriously re- affirming the beauty of the Founders’ vi- I am a patriot And I love my country.* By William Kauffman sion of a free and peaceful America. “I want justice,” screams Van Zandt in the Van Zandt ends this wondrous song ow that the dust has settled on second song, and his gut-vvrenching with a statement of principles fitting for N1984, we can take stock. Friends of delivery makes us believe his vow to “be an album that features sketches of liberty might be tempted to write off the here fighting till the day I die.” Thomas Jefferson and the Statue of year behind us as a 366-day stroll further Next come a pair of anticommunist Liberty on its back cover: down the road to serfdom. Actually, numbers unlikely to pop up on Pete though, the spirit of American individu- Seeger’s play list, the bouncy “Solidar- And I ain’t no communist alism was alive and well in those twin ity” and the elegiac “Checkpoint And I ain’t no capitalist And I ain’t no socialist temples of youth, the movie theater and Charlie.” The latter, bemoaning not only And I sure ain’t no imperialist the concert hall. the cursed Berlin Wall but also Western And I ain’t no Democrat Hollywood, long excoriated by the indifference to it, is a stunner. Agoniz- And I ain’t no Republican either political right as eager propagandists for And I only know one party left-liberal causes, gave us Ghostbusters And its name is freedom and Splash, a pair of wildly successful I am a patriot * teen comedies with anti-government sub- Voice of America closes with themes; as well as Red Dawn, John “Undefeated,” a rousing ode to isola- , Milius’s interesting paean to anti-Soviet tionism that could get the Old Right of guerrilla warfare. the 1940s up and dancing: Rock ’n’ roll was no less fecund. Punk rock, or what’s left of it, remained a com- Ain’t no peace with honor baby No matter what you hear bustible admixture of anarchism and Ain’t no peace with honor baby suburban restlessness, ignited by Until we disappear.* militantly anti-authority bands like TSOL (True Sounds of Liberty) and Husker Du. ingly slow, dirge-like, “Checkpoint ruce Springsteen, Van Zandt’s best Even heavy metal produced raucous Charlie” is at once a stark indictment of Ruddy, has fashioned his own screw-you anthems like Twisted Sister’s the free world- celebration of the land of Jefferson on the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and Sammy album Born in the USA Less overtly Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55.” Why do we let it happen political, Springsteen explores the But the year’s most fascinating devel- Or is it that we don’t mind parlous state of individuals in a nation opment in popular culture was the Somebody bein’ punished for their fathers’ crimes* whose government seems to have forgot- release of new albums by mainstream ten just why it was instituted in the first rockers (and best friends) Bruce Spring- -and an expression of hope in a situation place. steen and Little Steven Van Zandt. As universally acknowledged to be hope- Born in the USA marks the ninth an- suggested by the albums’ titles-Born in less. niversary of the release of Born to Run, the USA and Voice of America, respec- Side one closes with “Out of the Dark- the album that established Springsteen tively-they are the work of two deeply ness,” a ringing tribute to the redemp- as the new (fill in the patriotic men trying to reconcile an in- tive power of love in a dangerous world, name of your favorite tough-tender punk effable love of the homeland and its and before you can ask, “What ever hap- poet). What a difference a decade makes. bountiful promise with the often discour- pened to Joan Baez?” Van Zandt is at it Born to Run glorified the greasy street aging realities of life in the land of the again on side two, paying homage to the tough with a heart of gold and offered a free. Much like many of REASON’S peasant victims of Latin American death vision of the vibrant, cacophonous, readers, I would guess. squads in “Los Desaparecidos.” Two violent, neon lit backstreets of the inner Voice of America is the most explicitly lesser songs follow, the ambitious city as the promised land. A car and a political album in memory. Van Zandt “Fear” and the sanguine “Among the guitar were the keys to the kingdom. stakes out his territory early. Side one Believers. ” Springsteen’s characters on Born in the opens with the anthemic title cut, a Sandwiched between is the crown USA (as well as last year’s haunting lamentation of lost national virtue: jewel of this remarkable album, the sim- Nebraska) have deserted his asphalt play- ple reggae song “I Am a Patriot.” No, grounds and, like Huck Finn and Sal We knew right from wrong once upon a that’s not a typo. Van Zandt gave us, in a Paradise before them, seek liberation in time Everything we stood for has been com- year wh’ose political boundaries were the untamed South and West. Indeed, in promised.* demarcated by the bombastic national- his most unrestrained, exuberant ism of the self-proclaimed America’s moments (“Darlington County,” “Work- The song ends with Van Zandt recaptur- Party on the right and the Rev. Jesse ing on the Highway”), Springsteen ing the flag and defiantly asserting, Jackson’s odious Third World socialism reminds one of the late, great individual- “We’re the Voice of America.” on the left, the most authentically ist novelist Jack Kerouac. That voice proceeds, over the course patriotic song since Woody Guthrie saw But unlike Kerouac, Springsteen em- *Reprinted by permi\won Copyright D lY84 by Blue 52 REASON/MARCH 1985 Midnight hluw adminiqtered by Rug Muwc LIFE & LIBERTY phasizes the life-giving functions of thor- media. In short, they know how to cater oughly middle-class values like hard to the real biases that operate in the work and family ties. Deprived of these media: biases on television in favor of the moorings, either by chance (“Down- kinetic (that is, action) over the static bound Train”) or by the government (that is, intelligent analysis); biases in (“Born in the USA”), a person is doomed large urban dailies and on television and to an aimless, peripatetic existence. radio in favor of minorities that are suffi- Freedom, in Springsteen’s hands, no ciently affirmative-actionable; and biases longer means the absence of responsibil- floating through the hinterland, in print ity. On the contrary, the characters on and broadcast media alike, in favor of Born in the USA want nothing more than regimentation in social behavior and the opportunity to settle down, assume restrictions on individual liberties. their responsibilities, and live their lives I began my own broadcast media free from interference. All too often, career explicitly informed (by a friendly though, the pursuit of happiness is inter- mole at the nation’s most prestigious rupted, whether by conscription or the “public” TV station, WGBH) that I had Pulls out lor easy selection 30 day money back guarantee j cops. been taken on in order to fend off Spiro . 42 bars lor ties belts 8 other .uses less than 4 01 closet space Critics in the cultural vanguard have Agnew-that is, to “prove” that WGBH- accessories for men and women . FIIS any closet rod ouallty. prec~smconstruction attacked Springsteen for adhering to TV wasn’t liberally biased, by parading a such arrantly old-fashioned notions, conservative in front of the camera. This Please send me __Extendable Tie and Belt Rack@) at $i4 95 (plus $2 50 shipping and handling) each Enclosed some even sniffing that it’s redolent of experience confirmed my belief that is my check for $ or charge card number there is room in the regulated media for the American Dream nonsense. Get mar- Name ried, work hard, be loyal to your friends all types, and even room in the unregu- OPabe0””l and family, maybe raise a little hell Sat- lated print medium for many types. Address urday night at the union hall or the local But it is liberals who have had the most CltY State - Zip ___ pub-not exactly the stuff dreams are success in using the media before the Account No made of? Let Springsteen speak for media used them. Communists and 0 VISA 0 MASTERCARD himself in the peroration of “No Sur- avowed militant socialists are a bit dicey Exp Date XTENDABLES~ Signature render”: even for the contemporary American P 0 Box 3296 Tallahassee, Florida32315 media. Conservatives often seem too TOLL FREE 1-800-821-5226 (X402R) I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies In my lover’s bed stuffy and tongue-tied. Libertarians and With a wide open country in my eyes others insufficiently easy to categorize And these romantic dreams in my head t by people who know only conservative Too Much Mail Isn’t that what the USA is all about? and liberal, seem, well, too odd. Only Can Be liberals are fully comprehended by the Irritating.. William Kauffman is a graduate student in media in an America that has been more political science at the University of Rochester.