Thank god for the evolution of music! Rock and roll brought us many great songs about social ills! I’m a child of the mid-sixties. OHIO and SOUTHERN MAN stay on my mind but these songs are also excellent! Forever grateful that I found you. Carry on.
When I watched the film Garden State many years ago, I realized that this was not a terrible film, it was just documenting a reality I had no idea existed nor did I feel especially drawn to. I get the same feeling from much of the music that transpired in the 80's, 90's, etc. I feel like I was tucked away in a monastery in the Himalayas for several decades (not far from the truth). Though I hate to lump entire decades of music in the same 'meh' category, it wasn't until Radiohead changed directions in 2000 that I finally noticed a music worth listening to (again). During those 'monastery years', I mostly listened to Bach for sustenance and rejuvenation.
I love it however when someone else from a different generation shows me what music of their time feels like from the inside out. Greg, you have achieved this and I am forever grateful.
I think having kids when we did, in the early 2000s, made us listen to music differently, and more. In 2015, I was very down with all the pop songs (it was a great year for music). I'm glad you liked the songs!
This was indeed a welcome respite from the daily sadness and hopelessness over the war in Ukraine and yet a somewhat gentle reminder that while grievances and personal disaster may be deeply felt, they cannot be compared.
Ok, I could write several essays on each of your newsletters. Each of your newsletters (is that the correct term?) leads me to deep introspection. I'll pick one part of this one-Weight Loss/Kate Moss. I started thinking about how most of my life, the media has prompted me to think that I had to look a certain way to be accepted by society. The Brook Shields/Calvin Klein ad from 1980 had a significant impact on me and my friends. She was just 15 when she did that ad (or more appropriately, it was done to her). We were just a few years younger than that, and she became the ideal we strived for. Now as an adult, I'm disgusted with how the media and marketing strives to shape young minds. I can see clearly who these "adults" were that made ad campaigns like this, and stores like "victoria's secret" popular. The same mindset as the orange one, epstein, wexner and many more. It make me want to take my precious daughters and go live in the woods, far away from the human predators.
100% agree. I remember those ads and being a gay man, I think I was able to see them more objectively than others of my generation. They were creepy and inappropriate then, and it's better in a world where many people have finally caught up to this kind of thinking -- not quite enough though. People like Donald Trump, and Jeffrey Epstein still shamble around the earth -- well, one down and one to go in that short list anyway.
I see a Substack in your future as the Greg Olear Whisperer. Do it!
Yes, Steve B! I appreciate your perspective as a gay man. You were spared the warping of a young girls minds but they had other evils in mind for you. All of us are targets of the manipulation, and I think that's the point. The manipulation IS the game. The more people they can deceive IS the point of the game. I believe this mindset is on its way out. We will look back at this time as a turning point in History.
Thanks, Gail. Have you listened to a podcast called "Fallen Angels?" It's all about what you talk about here: the bad stuff happening at Victoria's Secret, and how they changed what body types were "in." It's quite good.
I still love the grab-bag that is the Sunday column! I don't expose myself to nearly enough music these days, what with the old age and the "that shit is NOISE!!" attitude, but I do love Lily Allen. She frequently sings exactly what I'm thinking.
I saw someone on social media say that it feels like being a passenger in the back seat of a car with a compromised driver that won't let them out. Same sensation here, well said.
Thanks for writing about how great Fountains of Wayne is. It's deeply saddening to listen to their music and realize, as you point out, that there won't be any new songs coming from them.
Melancholic, yet comforting. Is that a strange reaction?
That was how I felt writing it, so it seems appropriate!
Just lovely Greg. You never let me down. Spot on every time. Can't wait to listen to podcast this morning.
Thank you!
I wrote Vlad a song link's at the bottom:
Vova
Nation next to nukes gas pump
Much better waging hybrid war
Your tanks no match javelins
Armored vehicles sitting ducks
Stinger trigger ooo that sucks
I see your money's a little tied up
Yachts docked 5th column exposed
Everyone knows it's Vova verse the world
Everytime the breadlines form your kind's impearled
Psychopath alien from another planet sent to destroy us all
Dementia Parkinson's nuclear arsenal
What could go wrong?
You sick fuck
Bomb hospitals
Schools n churches
Nothing sacred
Genocidal war criminal
King of terror
Every generation has a satan
Dying vamperor looking for blood
The only thing that brings you joy
is mass murdering girls and boys
You’re no human you mutant
This creature must be destroyed
What’s it like knowing the whole world wants you dead?
What’s it like having someone poison test everything you ingest?
Do you sleep soundly in your King-sized bed?
Surrounded by yes men feeding you what you want to hear
Kleptocracy, vodka, logistics don’t mix
We will not be your slaves
You will run out of ammo
The world does not wish to die with you
Do us all a favor kill yourself
You’ll be happier in hell
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ubA7jzyg5jANzq23T9EJcCBdC2Q7WWEp/view?usp=drivesdk
I think you should stop sugar coating it and tell us how you feel. ; )
Thank god for the evolution of music! Rock and roll brought us many great songs about social ills! I’m a child of the mid-sixties. OHIO and SOUTHERN MAN stay on my mind but these songs are also excellent! Forever grateful that I found you. Carry on.
"Southern Man" so appropriate, given the Lynard Skynard pro-DeSantis track.
When I watched the film Garden State many years ago, I realized that this was not a terrible film, it was just documenting a reality I had no idea existed nor did I feel especially drawn to. I get the same feeling from much of the music that transpired in the 80's, 90's, etc. I feel like I was tucked away in a monastery in the Himalayas for several decades (not far from the truth). Though I hate to lump entire decades of music in the same 'meh' category, it wasn't until Radiohead changed directions in 2000 that I finally noticed a music worth listening to (again). During those 'monastery years', I mostly listened to Bach for sustenance and rejuvenation.
I love it however when someone else from a different generation shows me what music of their time feels like from the inside out. Greg, you have achieved this and I am forever grateful.
All the different worlds converge here, the discontented, the hopeful and the discombobulated (I’m old enough to be all three).
Well put! And so am I!
I think having kids when we did, in the early 2000s, made us listen to music differently, and more. In 2015, I was very down with all the pop songs (it was a great year for music). I'm glad you liked the songs!
This was indeed a welcome respite from the daily sadness and hopelessness over the war in Ukraine and yet a somewhat gentle reminder that while grievances and personal disaster may be deeply felt, they cannot be compared.
No, they can't. Anxiety is anxiety. Pain is pain.
We are in the outhouse now.
We are out of corn cobs
And
Someone stole the sears catalog
LOL ha!
And i prefer the scream of Silence
Ok, I could write several essays on each of your newsletters. Each of your newsletters (is that the correct term?) leads me to deep introspection. I'll pick one part of this one-Weight Loss/Kate Moss. I started thinking about how most of my life, the media has prompted me to think that I had to look a certain way to be accepted by society. The Brook Shields/Calvin Klein ad from 1980 had a significant impact on me and my friends. She was just 15 when she did that ad (or more appropriately, it was done to her). We were just a few years younger than that, and she became the ideal we strived for. Now as an adult, I'm disgusted with how the media and marketing strives to shape young minds. I can see clearly who these "adults" were that made ad campaigns like this, and stores like "victoria's secret" popular. The same mindset as the orange one, epstein, wexner and many more. It make me want to take my precious daughters and go live in the woods, far away from the human predators.
100% agree. I remember those ads and being a gay man, I think I was able to see them more objectively than others of my generation. They were creepy and inappropriate then, and it's better in a world where many people have finally caught up to this kind of thinking -- not quite enough though. People like Donald Trump, and Jeffrey Epstein still shamble around the earth -- well, one down and one to go in that short list anyway.
I see a Substack in your future as the Greg Olear Whisperer. Do it!
Yes, Steve B! I appreciate your perspective as a gay man. You were spared the warping of a young girls minds but they had other evils in mind for you. All of us are targets of the manipulation, and I think that's the point. The manipulation IS the game. The more people they can deceive IS the point of the game. I believe this mindset is on its way out. We will look back at this time as a turning point in History.
One can only hope, and fight like hell
Thanks, Gail. Have you listened to a podcast called "Fallen Angels?" It's all about what you talk about here: the bad stuff happening at Victoria's Secret, and how they changed what body types were "in." It's quite good.
On my list! Thank you.
I still love the grab-bag that is the Sunday column! I don't expose myself to nearly enough music these days, what with the old age and the "that shit is NOISE!!" attitude, but I do love Lily Allen. She frequently sings exactly what I'm thinking.
She's the best. I love her.
It really is a grab-bag, even for me. I usually have no idea what I'm going to do until late Saturday.
I saw someone on social media say that it feels like being a passenger in the back seat of a car with a compromised driver that won't let them out. Same sensation here, well said.
With the windows rolled up, and locked, and the driver chain-smoking Virginia Slims.
Thanks for writing about how great Fountains of Wayne is. It's deeply saddening to listen to their music and realize, as you point out, that there won't be any new songs coming from them.
One of many, many losses we suffered from Trump.