Check it Out

I'm re-discovering that some of the 'classic tunes' of boomer generation (late 1960s to mid 1980s) rock and roll sometimes feature a theme that I can definitely appreciate. The pretentious description would be "expressive angst resulting from the dehumanization, depersonalization, and commodification of the common man in modern society", but we can safely condense that, I think.

I'm just not sure how. It's a little more than "working class blues", and a little less than "social protest". It's being aware of the many ways in which simply trying to live your life and pursue the American Dream have become far harder, or more damaging to the psyche, than it needs to be -- whether you're successful, moderately successful, struggling, or losing...

Are people still writing songs like these, or was it simply a brief moment of insightful angst amidst the endless wash of puerile pop music? Does it even matter anymore -- have we simply surrendered to these forces?

(in no particular order, I'll add to it as I find them)

Feel Like A Number - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

I take my card and I stand in line

To make a buck I work overtime

Dear Sir letters keep coming in the mail

I work my back till it's racked with pain

The boss can't even recall my name

I show up late and I'm docked

It never fails

I feel like just another

Spoke in a great big wheel

Like a tiny blade of grass

In a great big field

To workers I'm just another drone

To Ma Bell I'm just another phone

I'm just another statistic on a sheet

To teachers I'm just another child

To IRS I'm just another file

I'm just another consensus on the street

Gonna cruise out of this city

Head down to the sea

Gonna shout out at the ocean

Hey it's me

And I feel like a number

Feel like a number

Feel like a stranger

A stranger in this land

I feel like a number

I'm not a number

I'm not a number

Dammit I'm a man

I said I'm a man

The Pretender - Jackson Browne

I'm going to rent myself a house in the shade of the freeway

Gonna pack my lunch in the morning and go to work each day

And when the evening rolls around, I'll go on home and lay my body down

And when the morning light comes streaming in I'll get up and do it again

Amen. Say it again: Amen.

I want to know what became of the changes we waited for love to bring

Were they only the fitful dreams of some greater awakening?

I've been aware of the time going by. They say in the end it's the wink of an eye

When the morning light comes streaming in, you'll get up and do it again

Amen.

Caught between the longing for love and the struggle for the legal tender

Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring and the junk man pounds his fender

Where the veterans dream of the fight, fast asleep at the traffic light

And the children solemnly wait for the ice cream vendor

Out into the cool of the evening strolls The Pretender

He knows that all his hopes and dreams begin and end there

Ah the laughter of the lovers as they run through the night

Leaving nothing for the others but to choose off and fight

And tear at the world with all their might

While the ships bearing their dreams sail out of sight

I'm gonna find myself a girl who can show me what laughter means

And we'll fill in the missing colors in each other's paint-by-number dreams

And then we'll put our dark glasses on and we'll make love until our strength is gone

and when the morning light comes streaming in, we'll get up and do it again

Get it up again

I'm gonna be a happy idiot and struggle for the legal tender

Where the ads take aim and lay their claim to the heart and the soul of the spender

And believe in whatever may lie in those things that money can buy

but true love could have been a contender

Are you there? Say a prayer for The Pretender

Who started out so young and strong

Only to surrender

Say a prayer for the pretender

Are you there for the pretender?

Are you prepared for the pretender?

Check it Out - John Cougar Mellencamp

A million young poets screamin' out their words

to a world full of people just livin' to be heard

future generations ridin' on the highways that we built

I hope they have a better understanding

Check it out

Goin' to work on Monday

Check it out

Got yourself a family

Check it out

All utility bills have been paid

You can't tell your best buddy that you love him

So check it out

Where does our time go

Check it out

Got a brand new house in escrow

Check it out

Sleepin' with your back to your loved one

This is all that we've learned about happiness

Check it out

Forgot to say hello to my neighbors

Check it out

Sometimes I question my own behavior

Check it out

Talkin' about the girls that we've seen on the sly

Just to tell our souls we're still the young lions

So check it out

Gettin' too drunk on Saturdays

Check it out

Playin' football with the kids on Sundays

Check it out

Soarin' with the eagles all week long

And this is all that we've learned about living

This is all that we've learned about living

A million young poets screamin' out their words

Maybe someday those words will be heard

By future generations ridin' on the highways that we built

Maybe they'll have a better understanding

(Check it out)

Hope they'll have a better understanding