As I was discussing politics with my 59 year old Mother on a lovely spring Sunday I replied `You know it's your generation's fault. You guys were cool, you stopped the war, you wrestled control from the establishment, but then as you got older you sold out and now you're systematically ruining the country.' She responded by imploring me to keep my mouth shut at Easter as her friends who were rabid Limbaugh fans would be attending. As a guest I usually keep quiet unless someone starts spouting out and out lies.
What started as a flip remark inspired a quasi-retrospective on the Boomer generation and how the Boomer soul now holds this country in the balance.
Let me state that I was born in 1970 but I've watched enough A&E and VH-1 to know what I'm taking about. The seismic shift in American culture occurred February 9, 1964. After that night it was `Adios' Dean and Frank and hello to John, Paul, George and Ringo. In an instant the Boomers seized the cultural high ground and judging by the fact that The Rolling Stones is still one of the highest grossing acts they never let go.
MAJOR SEGUE
(Has that invention changed the world yet?) Speaking of The Rolling Stones, I've realized that Mick Jagger embodies this bold theory of mine. Has anyone, save for Elvis or Chevy Chase, fallen farther into cultural irrelevance? Don't get me wrong, I love the Stones. Mick Taylor's `Sympathy for the Devil' guitar work on `Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out' is the stuff of genius. (Cued up on ITunes as I type -mad props to computers, yo!). Sadly this recording comes from the New York shows in late November 69, which as all you cultural aficionados know were their last shows before that little get together at Altamont Speedway. Their following two albums are classics but their tours and public personas completely lost their edge. Mick went from the front man of the most dangerous band in the world to a campy exiled European aristocrat. He joined the glitterati and doomed himself to social and political insignificance. I hope those jaunts to Mustique were worth it Mick. Sadly those guys never get it and they rarely lose a wink of sleep. Counting your money wears you out.
AND WE'RE BACK...
Fast forward to 1992. By now Boomers have tuned in, turned on and gotten jobs. They've joined the system and made the country a great little place to raise a family. And even beyond that they managed to elect one of the `cool' kids. He's attractive, intelligent but most of all he `gets it'. He knows the ins and outs. He might have a tendency to gloat and maybe he's a bit too impressed with himself but at least you get the feeling that he has the people's best interests at heart. The next eight years are ones of growth and hope. Or so we think.
Clinton's election turns out to be a galvanizing event for the right. They lost to one of `them'. One of the long hair hippy pot smoking freaks has made his way on to the student council and they'll be damned if they're going to stand by and watch him ruin their country. It's one thing to be popular, the ruling class can deal with being vilified, turns out money and power is a great security blanket, but once you challenge their authority it's game on. They brought all of their power to bear and suceeded at getting us out. We forgot that not everyone was at Woodstock and that a lot of people thought Nixon was set up and that it really wasn't his fault. He just had bad advisors. They unleashed their pack of wolves on the administration and we naively thought that leading the country through unparalleled peacetime prosperity would be enough.
So we nominated the head of the AV club to be President and the Jocks and Preppies had a field day. Nevertheless we lost on a technicality and the people who were never along for the ride returned to their rightful throne. And as the boomers grew up and had more to protect we lost more and more to the other side. To take a page out of the Republican playbook and prove my argument by imparting a personal story which may or may not be true I think of my Father's business associate who regaled me with righteous tales of the Fillmore East. Playing acoustic guitar with Jerry and Carlos and then switching gears and telling me that John Kerry only went to Vietnam to further his political career.
So all you Boomer born agains and Promise Keepers and former hippies who love your tax bracket and all you people that are still pissed off that free-love never made it to your town, I say to you - Come on back. Hang out with us awhile. I'll put on some tunes, we'll smoke a doob, if that's not your thing anymore that's cool too. We'll all just get loose and see what happens. I'll be here waiting.