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old self titled thing🚰
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Say what you want about AJR, about how their music is horrible or whatever, but no other music artist I’ve listened to has perfectly encapsulated the feeling of “I’m getting older, and I’m scared of growing up wrong”, the weariness of “I’m barely getting started in life and I’m already so tired” as many times these guys have.
“Maybe I turned out fine, maybe I’m still turning out?” - Turning Out
“I wish I was me, whoever that is, I could just be and not give a sh*t. Hey I’ll be whatever makes you a fan, ‘cause I don’t know who the hell I am.” - Maybe Man
“I wanna be big like my plans, so why’m I so tiny, and why’m I so mad? It’s inertia. Guess this is just who I am. I’m stuck on this life, and I’m stuck in these pants.” - Inertia
“I’ve gotta go so much bigger so everybody’s proud of me. Welcome to the Neotheater, won’t everybody take their seats? And I’ll be next up forever, ‘cause I don’t know what’s coming next. I know I gotta grow up sometime, but I don’t think I’m ready yet.” - Next Up Forever
“If only I could keep you in my pocket…to give me some diagnosis of why I’m so hollow. Please give me instructions I promise I’ll follow. I tripped on my ankle and fractured my elbow, but doesn’t that mean that the tour’s gonna sell though? I try to explain the good faith that’s been wasted, but after an hour it sounds like complaining. Wait don’t go away can I lie here forever, you say that I’m better, why don’t I feel better? The universe works in mysterious ways, but I’m starting to think it ain’t working for me. Doctor, should I be good, should I be good this year?” - Karma
These are just my favorite examples.
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when two musicians sing into the same microphone and lean in very close to each other… like omg are you guys gonna kiss now to relieve the homoerotic tension?😳
THIS IS NOT ABOUT ONE DIRECTION I DON’T KNOW WHO THIS “HARRY” PERSON IS GO WATCH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND CLARENCE CLEMONS KISS ON STAGE RIGHT NOW
op is the only valid person i’ve ever met. everyone else needs to come to the light
Okay, but this is really important: Bruce Springsteen occupied this really weird place in music history. His songs were all from this pessimistic, nihilistic view of an America that had let him down:
Just like the anti-Vietnam War protest songs that we associate with the 1960s, or the early nihilism that spawned punk music in the 1970s. But he didn’t *sound* like a punk anarchist; he sounded like a country rock singer. When he released Born in the U.S.A. people completely misinterpreted (or possibly ignored) the lyrics in favor of the tone of the music.
Politicians used his music to promote their ‘Murica Yes! brand, and he had to literally explain that that was not what he was about. He’s over here asking when we’re going to have jobs and heathcare, not stanning the politicians who weren’t helping the people.
It was also kind of a big deal that he had an integrated band, because even as late as the 1980s music was still kind of segregated and MTV was straight up racist. They refused to play and promote black artists and then claimed that were no black artists in the first place. Michael Jackson’s record company had to threaten a boycott of their white artists to get MTV to play his Thriller video.
Plus, the first black/white interracial kiss on TV was in 1968 (OG Star Trek). Also it took us until the 70s to get sympathetic gay characters on screen, and the 90s to get gay characters to kiss onscreen. And all of those firsts were met with outrage.
So keep that in mind when you see Bruce Springsteen not just playing with an interracial band, but engaging in an interracial, gay kiss on stage repeatedly.
Passages from American Popular Music by Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman
I used to think that Bruce and Clarence kissing onstage was exuberance, showmanship, and telling racist homophobes to fuck off. Like, they picked up a certain kind of audience and went “Racist homophobes? Not in our house!” And started the kissing then but then I actually looked it up and
It was a story where… we remade the city. We remade the city, shaping it into the kind of place where our friendship and our love for one another wouldn’t have been such an exceptional thing. - Bruce Springsteen
It wasn’t about showmanship or rejecting bigots or anything it was just. Damn right that was one of the loves of his life and damn right he was going to kiss him onstage
It gets me a little that Bruce has had a divorce, that he’s been married twice, but he loved Clarence for the rest of Clarence’s life and will presumably love him the rest of his own
Clemons said in one interview. “Bruce and I looked at each other and didn’t say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other’s lives. He was what I’d been searching for.” In another version of the story, Clemons says “He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we fell in love.”
I’m having some emotions about it!
“He was elemental in my life,“ Springsteen adds, “and losing him was like losing the rain.”
Not just! I love you pure and deep and true but! I am going to love you like that in front of the whole damn world!
We have fewer narratives about taking risks and making statements for platonic love rather than romantic and supposedly it would be easier to downplay this onstage than romance and! They refused! They fucking refused! In front of hundreds of thousands of people, over the course of years! In the spotlight, in word and deed, I love you!
God I’m not okay about it
Now I’m mad that this is not among any of the things I was ever told about this artist.
I knew about this in general (& via all those fabulous photos), but this just adds even more beautiful context <3
Just to add to the pile: this was the cover of Springsteen’s break-through album Born to Run, in 1975:
I mean, will you LOOK at this:
This was the pic chosen for the album cover from an extensive photoshoot, too. A few others:
There’s a lot more online if you search. They’re all pretty amazing. But the photographer is right, the one chosen for the album cover just pops.
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One of my favourite things about AJR is how most of their songs are about really specific situations or emotions. Like, a lot of songs from other bands are very formulaic, either love songs like "boo hoo he left me" or emo songs like "I hate myself and/or the world". But AJR has some really unique bangers which include but are not limited to: I spent so much time in middle school trying to impress you and wow was that a waste of time.
I’m not cool enough to smoke weed, but I don't mind if you do.
I’m just really emotionally involved in the tv show The Office, okay?
I’m really addicted to my phone and also bored with my life (same).
I’m allowed to be a whiny bitch, okay?
Things have got to get better because, well, they can’t get any worse.
You think I'm stupid? Oh I’ll show you stupid.
The fact that I’m not harassed by the paparazzi is one of my favourite parts about my life.
Babe, I'm just so busy. Can we reschedule Christmas for June?
I was just born and I hope racism doesn’t exist!
And
I lost my socks and now I'm wondering why I never go outside and what I'm doing with my life.
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i just started listening to hozier (ik, like over a decade late, whatever), but bruh. some of y'all did this dude so dirty. everything i've ever seen of him on here has been like "uwu magical forest man" and so my black ass goes into it expecting white boy indie music, but instead i get this radical leftist irish guy straight up singing the blues, like?? (singing the blues/having a lot of blatantly black musical influences, BUT crediting his influences in the process, which is a an important distinction)
like y'all. has anyone told tiktok what kind of music this man actually makes? bc some of them might be shooketh to find out their precious forest man is actually telling them to dismantle the oppressive institution of colonialism while actively paying homage to artists of color
well, that and also to eat pussy, but same thing tbh
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iain of @bearsintreesofficial !!!!
