***Music, Books and Psycho Space Robots is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Kevin Kenealy, staff writer and Nightmare Fuel Provider. The views expressed therein are his, and do not reflect those of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

John Lennon portrait by Luke Baker.

After watching the Behind the Music: John Lennon today, I realized a few things about Lennon I never connected before: he abandoned his first son Julian as his mom abandoned him and his last few years of his life certainly appear to be his most fulfilled.

Lennon had his first son with his first wife Cynthia in 1963 on the eve of Beatlemania. Unfortunately, his rock star life didn’t lend to well to raising Julian and Julian later would blame Yoko Ono for adding a strain on their relationship.

In John’s childhood, he lost his mom when a drunken policeman ran over her and he was raised by his aunt Mimi. Lennon’s father couldn’t be there for him because he was too busy sailing around the world and he last saw his dad at the age of five. Like his dad, Lennon was too busy for his son Julian and when things started to patch up between the two by 1979/1980, Mark Chapman (Lennon’s assassin) was Lennon’s drunken policeman that ran over him.

Julian Lennon said he never got to say I love you or goodbye to his dad and this is reflected in his 1980s hit “Much Too Late For Goodbyes,” which by the way, he sounds eerily similar to his dad vocally.

In 1975, John abandoned the rock and roll lifestyle to spend time with his son Sean, who coincidentally was born on his dad’s birthday on Oct. 9, 1975. Sean was given the attention that Julian never received—John would devote the next five years of his life to raising Sean and admitted to hardly playing his guitar in this time. “You have to breathe in to breathe out,” he said of his creative element.

He took to sailing, like his father, but unlike his father he abandoned a travelling rock life for a family life. In fact, it took a rough sail one day where there was vicious storm that ignited John’s creative musical energy again by 1980. All of a sudden, he would start writing and singing these songs to Yoko and Yoko began writing and singing songs back to John. The result was his final work, Double Fantasy.

Photo from thecurvature.com.

The day of his death, his record executive David Geffen informed him and Yoko that Double Fantasy went Gold and it was also the day that the famous Anne Leibovitz photograph (John naked in a crouching position kissing a clothed Yoko) on the cover of Rolling Stone was shot.

He seemed to have this upbeat attitude going into the 1980s. “Weren’t the ‘70s a drag? Let’s try to make the ‘80s good,” he said.

Although his death still ignites emotional tumult in people, it was appropriate for his time. He appeared happiest as a family man and his Double Fantasy album was his resurgence out of the tunnel and into the limelight where he would potentially get lost in rock and roll stardom all over again. His failed relationship with Julian is a lesson that history repeats itself.

By 1980 there was no more peace for John to bring to the world; there was no more love to sing or rock and roll to pound out. He, in my opinion, reached a place of complete peace that he did not see in quite some time. He was happy with his love rock opera with Yoko, his stance as this family man but as this resurgence of creative musical spirit. He had the best of both worlds; he had seen and done it all and there was no where left to go. His death was unlike Jim Morrison’s or Janis Joplin’s or Sid Vicious where those individuals appeared to become so lost in themselves and addiction that they may never have reached the zenith that John reached in his death. We can learn as much from Lennon’s death as we can from his life.

Front page image courtesy of Luke Baker.

***Music, Books and Psycho Space Robots is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Kevin Kenealy, staff writer and Nightmare Fuel Provider. The views expressed therein are his, and do not reflect those of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

Photo from washingtonpost.com.

If Pete Townshend, guitarist for The Who, was a cartoon figure, he would be the Tazmanian Devil. You never know what to expect from him. In a Septembert 28, 1968 Rolling Stone interview with Jann S. Wenner, he talks about how he came into playing music, how he began and stopped smashing guitars and his work on the Tommy album.

Townshend admitted in the interview that he doesn’t consider himself a guitarist, but more like a visual artist. “I don’t talk guitar talk. I just throw the thing around,” he told Wenner. Townshend said he was frustrated early that he couldn’t play the notes he wanted to play on the guitar. He said he could hear them in his head, but he couldn’t never bring them out on his guitar. To make up for it, he became this acrobat on stage – throwing his guitar around, treating his guitar like it was a prisoner of war.

Actually, the smashing of the guitar began as an accident. At a club early in his career, he threw his guitar up a little too high and it hit the ceiling and broke. People thought it was a stunt as he quickly grabbed a spare and picked up where he left off. The accident quickly became part of his act where Townshend would smash his guitar along with Keith Moon knocking over his drum set at the end of each Who performance.

But at one particular perfomance at the Fillmore, Townshend decided not to smash his guitar, admitting to Wenner that it has started to get to be a drag to smash his guitar with all the pressure to live up to the act.

This is why Townshend was a real performer. He wasn’t going to try to be something he wasn’t. He knew he couldn’t play the guitar, so he smashed the crap out of it. Yet, he didn’t want to become a circus act and when he noticed too much pressure was on him to become one, he stopped. Like the Tommy opera, he set himself free of being deaf, dumb, and blind. He was a man who was told by his own father that “looks aren’t everything” because he had a big nose. He took the encouragement to take up playing the guitar, and made the unattractive, attractive as he moved himself into stardom.

Townshend was not someone to conform. What made him great in rock’s history is that he realized his strengths and didn’t pretend to be labeled something he wasn’t. Townshend knew who he was. Perhaps that’s why he asked, “Who Are You?”

Front page image from ClashMusic.com.

***Music, Books and Psycho Space Robots is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Kevin Kenealy, staff writer and Nightmare Fuel Provider. The views expressed therein are his, and do not reflect those of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

Photo from facebook.com/ladygaga

Earlier this year, I submitted a draft to Primary Ignition on how Lady Gaga is not this generation’s Madonna. It was turned down by the editors for revision, and rightfully so. It was about as cohesive as Yoko Ono and John Lennon on the Double Fantasy album.

I wrote that draft in response to hearing “Bad Romance” in a bar one night and realized that Gaga’s lyrics were similar to Jack Nicholson’s writing in The Shining, where he writes “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy” over and over again.

Yet instead of specifically criticizing Gaga’s lyrics, I tried to awkwardly compare Gaga to Madonna by saying Madonna is much better than Gaga. In other words, I tried to pack too much into one blog. Comparing two idols like that is going to be a one-sided affair. There is a fat chance that I will convince a Lady Gaga fanatic that her idol is not the best thing since the moon landing and vice versa. It would be easier to convince said fan that Gaga’s lyrics aren’t that great instead.

In doing so, I’ll look at three of her arguably most recognizable songs: “Bad Romance,” “Poker Face” and “Alejandro.” One of the biggest problems I have with Gaga in all three of these songs is what I call the Phil Collins effect. Phil Collins has the annoying habit of repeating phrases over and over again in many of his songs: “You’ll be in My Heart,” “I Don’t Care Anymore,” “Another Day in Paradise.” They literally all repeat the same phrases as the titles. Look them up, you’ll see what I mean. I am not comparing her to Collins specifically, just to his repetitious style.

Even though Gaga is not to the extreme that Collins is, it’s pretty close. In “Bad Romance,” the chorus plays in 16 of the 29 stanzas in the song, with the chorus being “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!/Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!/Caught in a bad romance/Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah!/Roma-Roma-ma-ah!/Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!/Want your bad romance. This doesn’t count the five other stanzas Gaga is saying “I want your love/love-love-love/I want your love.” This isn’t to say there isn’t potential for good lyrics in this song. The idea that Gaga is singing this passionate, anti-Valentine’s Day sort of thing is very poetic. There is depth in lines such as “I want your ugly/I want your disease,” but there isn’t enough of these lines.

The same goes for a song such as “Poker Face.” Is “Poker Face” supposed to be like a person with a poker face – we’re not supposed to figure out what they’re all about? Where “Bad Romance” is bad with repeating chorus lines, this song is worse. In 11 out of the 17 stanzas is the main chorus—the chorus that’s “Can’t read my poker face” and the “p-p-poker face” stanzas. That’s 65 percent of the song right there. This doesn’t include two more stanzas that repeat. So thirteen stanzas in the song out of 17 repeat themselves. That’s 76 percent of the song, leaving not much room left for original ideas to give added weight to the chorus.

In “Alejandro,” it’s the worst of all three. There are a total of four original stanzas out of 19. Also, is Alejandro the guy’s real name or is it Roberto or is it Fernando? Listen to the song again. Gaga rhymes Alejandro with Fernando—the only point in that is that people won’t notice and it initially sounds good rolled off the tongue. Does that make them good lyrics though?

Photo from freewebs.com.

Yes, I realize a number of pop songs have had crappy lyrics for some time. There are those out there who I believe have worse lyrics. The band America for instance in “Horse with no Name” – “The heat was hot and the ground was dry and the air was full of sound.” What? For the record America, heat is always hot. “Yet Horse with no Name” was a hit and continues to get radio play. I am merely tearing apart Gaga’s lyrics to capitalize on the point that no matter how much we say we care about lyrics, for the most part, many of us will subconsciously listen to bad lyrics.

This is because many will like the artist if they are a good performer and if they like the music. Many people like Gaga’s performance and they like her dancy beats. They don’t care what the lyrics are, but when “Poker Face” hit the radio, it was her voice and the way she said “Poker Face” that captivated many. It’s why rappers can sing about who knows what and people will still dance around on the floor because as long as the beat is there, we don’t care.

I am pointing out this catch-22 that catchy lyrics often make for hit singles. This isn’t to say I am not a fan of certain songs such as America’s “Horse with No Name,” a catchy tune or The Beatles catalogue ’63-’65—pretty much all simple songs (“I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Saw Her Standing There” type tunes) but this doesn’t make the lyrics ingenious except for the fact that they sell on a commercial level.

Image from www.raw-tcsd.com.

The only other thing that makes lyrics like this smart is that it’s what’s in at the time. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was smart only because it was risqué at the time to sing about such things, but they weren’t up to par with say a song like Don McLean’s “American Pie” lyrically. I’m trying to merely point out it doesn’t take genius lyrics to make a breakthrough song. Maybe that is a no-brainer, but I think it’s something that could be brought to light again when someone like Gaga, who arguably is America’s idol right now.

Since I wrote my last draft on Gaga, I have actually gained a newfound respect for her. After reading an interview on her in Rolling Stone, I learned that she battles lupus and makes a great effort to support her fans (she even ordered pizza for somewhere around 1,000 people who were waiting for her outside The Today Show). She’s talented musically—she originally played “Poker Face” on the piano—and she has this determined, work hard attitude about her. I also believe that she’s an intelligent woman who understands what American celebrity is, right down to dressing the part. I’m just not a fan of her lyrics.

***Music, Books and Psycho Space Robots is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Kevin Kenealy, staff writer and Nightmare Fuel Provider. The views expressed therein are his, and do not reflect those of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,”

Allen Ginsberg – the first four lines out of his famous “Howl”

Photo from Babble.com.

I think back to this poem from time to time. Right now, I’m thinking of it in reference to Illinois’ special attention to the education system. Illinois is treating education with about as much care as the time when Michael Jackson hanged a baby over a hotel balcony when greeting fans. That baby is the education of our state ladies and gentleman and Michael Jackson is Illinois.

Every time I open a newspaper lately, there are talks of fresh cuts of programs or teachers around the state. So far there have been some 12,000 plus education layoffs made in the state and that number is expected to grow. Some schools actually seem to pat themselves on the back for cutting teachers. One school I read about actually said it was somewhat a relief because they didn’t have to cut any programs. Course, most of the positions cut are non-tenured, but still what does that say for all those who are struggling to make it in the teaching field? Sorry, you weren’t here long enough because, well, the state won’t let us keep you.

The best minds of our generation are going to be destroyed by madness because they will have no one left to teach them, no programs left to go to and well, watch the movie Idiocracy. That’s where our country is going. Let’s spend billions to help big companies get bailed out but let’s get to that little thing known as education some day later. Oh, let’s not forget the trillion dollar price tag on health care. Maybe we can shoot some Monopoly money the kids way.

“Dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn, looking for an angry fix” – This could apply to both the laid off teachers and our future students. I’m going to be smart right now and invest in alcohol, because when no one else wants to pay attention to us, alcohol will always be there for those looking.

I have an album for Illinois government they should listen to: “Songs for the Deaf” by Queens of the Stone Age. “Songs for the Deaf – They Can’t Even Hear it” – “First they Give it, then They Take it Away……” How can we trust government who gives us services and then says, well, this isn’t that important, we need you to cut this because there isn’t money for it? Not money for it? I’m sure there’s money somewhere. Bill Gates himself could probably solve Illinois’ education problems. If the American people can raise millions for Haiti, how can we not raise a little for education? Why? Because we don’t care. We were shocked by Michael Jackson, but somehow we voted him pop king. We voted these guys in and now we’re stuck with their reign. Well, we make and break them. We didn’t have to buy Jackson’s records. We don’t have to buy their crap.

Sometimes it’s best when a king is dead. Sorry Michael.