the Death of The Weight

well, my rock and roll heart is broken. I can't even say I am angry... just hurt and defeated. Tonight. I heard one of the top two songs in the history of rock being played on a goddamn car commercial (or maybe it was soda, or sandwiches... who cares?). First, I'll tell you what I know are the greatest songs. Correct, I did just say the songs I know are the greatest. You can think about your favorite songs all you want, but you aren't published are you? The two greatest songs in the history of rock are (in no order) Born to Run from Bruce Springsteen and The Weight from the Band. I should note I am not a huge fan of Springsteen or the Band. Truth be told, I do not own a single Springsteen OR Band disc. It's true, I am all talk. Good news is that I have plenty of both on DVD.

Back to the story, I was watching something or other on NBC and The Weight comes on. I was doing the dishes or something, but immediately jumped to my feet. I looked up and it was some gen x hipster driving a Jetta... or some shit like that. They played the first verse and my heart just sank. I know Levon Helm (the drummer, and singer of most Band songs) is really old and possibly close to death... so it wouldn't have been him. I don't think he wrote it though, I think it was Robbie Robertson. So I blame him.

First off, don't even try to compare this to Springsteen campaigning for Kerry. As for Aerosmith, what haven't they sold out to? What we are talking about here is the most base level of selling out. I feel so defeated. Why bother with anything anymore. Fuck it - why don't they just sell the Zeppelin catalogue to Cadillac. Let's dig up Hendrix and make him sell Pepsi while we're at it. As for the Cash song 'I've Been Everywhere' being placed on a hotel commercial... well that is the reason I have four televisions in the basement with severe baseball bat damage.