General Music Chat

I can't get over the people who are so obsessed with some musicians/bands that they treat them like heroes, political geniuses, religious leaders, heck maybe even as their savior. Maybe somebody like Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen should be running for President even...Famous musicians hardly walk on water last time I checked. Some have been known as extreme drug/alcohol addicts, beat their women, vain, narcissistic, the list goes on and on. While their music may inspire us, don't get so inspired you overlook their faults, which often are many...

I can't get over the people who are so obsessed with some musicians/bands that they treat them like heroes, political geniuses, religious leaders, heck maybe even as their savior. Maybe somebody like Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen should be running for President even...Famous musicians hardly walk on water last time I checked. Some have been known as extreme drug/alcohol addicts, beat their women, vain, narcissistic, the list goes on and on. While their music may inspire us, don't get so inspired you overlook their faults, which often are many...

Very good thread Bob!
I have alway's said I don't have to like someone to work with them. IMO you don't have to agree with someone's lifestyle, political leanings, religion, ect.. to enjoy and like their music.

Rock Star Adulation is much like a national pass-time for the bevy of followers who need an icon to inspire their sense of fashion (among things) and belonging to the 'cutting edge.

Rock stars who are given over to the aforementioned abuses, are simply expressing how much they detest the insane 'expectations' that are derived and imposed by the adulators

Its a beautiful relationship, and it keeps rag newspapers in business.

Rush - never abused drugs, beat up wimmen, etc.. Except maybe when Alex Lifeson pushed a cop down a flight of steps in florida lol, but the details on that appear to favor Alex's story over the cops..

But yeah, we NEED people to look up to, like MLK, for instance. But seeing a "rock star" or any star be able to overcome themselves, and do something so amazing that it makes them famous, despite their own personal flaws (or because of them)? Well, there's something there worth admiring I think.

The description of someone being a "hero" has been twisted into a sick pathetic definition by this society.

If a Muslim kills a non Muslim in a accident, should the victim be considered to be a hero?

When the towers were destroyed many victims were referred to as hero's. Why? They were simply unfortunate people at work without a thought of danger. They weren't hero's as a whole. Perhaps some of them were, but we will never know about their acts of valor, for those acts died with them.

Now those who went to rescue them knew of some danger, and I would consider them hero's. Yet even a good many of those had no idea of the danger they faced in the collapse, as most "authorities" dismissed the thought. Would they have been sent in if anyone knew that those towers would collapse even before they could make their way to the top?

In my opinion a hero is one who puts his life on the line knowing the full extent of the danger he is facing.

Rock stars and media idols hero's? Just more desecration of the English language by the thought police who are purposely destroying our language.

I think we have a diffferent definition of hero the older we get.

I had some posters on my wall of Page and Hendrix, when I was a teenager, but at this point in my life the real heros are as slacker says the people that put thier lives on the line to make our world a better place to live in. The cop that protects your neighborhood, the fireman, all those guys that do thier jobs with no thought of being a hero, these days those are my heros.

The guy that saved three people because he donated his organs after he was killed in an accident? Hero. The daughter that lifted the car off from her dad when it fell on him? Hero. But can rock stars (or sports or movie stars) be heroes? Yes, if they give their fans a reason to live. There are a lot of folks who claim that if it weren't for a particular artist they might have killed themselves.

well, i think it's possible to have heroes w/o "worshipping" them.

Jaco Pastorius is one of my (many) musical "heroes" ....but i do not and have never worshiped him (or them)... and i do recognize Jaco had some serious human failings and flaws.

though i play fretless bass.....i never tried to fashion my playing after his (like too many folks have attempted), nor did i ever cop his fashion sense, nor could i even tell you what his politics were.

haha, too true. The only light people see these musicians in is a spot light so of course they're perceived as "perfect" and worthy of praise! They've presented themselves that way on stage - what people don't get to see is them at home being normal (or abnormal )

The guy that saved three people because he donated his organs after he was killed in an accident? Hero. The daughter that lifted the car off from her dad when it fell on him? Hero. But can rock stars (or sports or movie stars) be heroes? Yes, if they give their fans a reason to live. There are a lot of folks who claim that if it weren't for a particular artist they might have killed themselves.

I saw a great documentary on the Pixies (Loud Quiet Loud) - one of the fans said she was on the verge of suicide until she heard the pixies and could relate to the lyrics, which turned her life around. Good documentary, worth seeing if you haven't - great music too IMO.

The guy that saved three people because he donated his organs after he was killed in an accident? Hero. The daughter that lifted the car off from her dad when it fell on him? Hero. But can rock stars (or sports or movie stars) be heroes? Yes, if they give their fans a reason to live. There are a lot of folks who claim that if it weren't for a particular artist they might have killed themselves.

Well Stated. Of course...I am one of those guys who cant imagine hanging my life on somebody else... It seems to me, that would be a form of hostage taking on that person.

But, if the music itself, so inspires one, that it compels that person to view life under new and improved terms, I'd have to say there was nothing wrong in that. Thus the author of such compelling work, would definitely be a hero.

The guy that saved three people because he donated his organs after he was killed in an accident? Hero. The daughter that lifted the car off from her dad when it fell on him? Hero. But can rock stars (or sports or movie stars) be heroes? Yes, if they give their fans a reason to live. There are a lot of folks who claim that if it weren't for a particular artist they might have killed themselves.

I saw a great documentary on the Pixies (Loud Quiet Loud) - one of the fans said she was on the verge of suicide until she heard the pixies and could relate to the lyrics, which turned her life around. Good documentary, worth seeing if you haven't - great music too IMO.

I'll have to check that one out. The one I was thinking of was the Morrissey dvd where fan after fan is interviewed and said that without the music of Morrissey they would not have had the strength to live. We have more power than people might otherwise believe.

I haven't mentioned Sir Paul, who paid to restore the piano at Motown Records. Or the artists like Bono and Peter Gabriel who inspire people in the third world nations to overcome differences and embrace music as a form of peace. So yes musicians can be heroes.

...I have seen graffiti in Manchester in the 70's that said Marc Bolan is God. I personally think David Bowie has always been and remained a cut above most. But really Artists are not Gods ... many do not even believe in them and in reference to what JWC states .... as children we have heroes and if we do in fact achieve adulthood we out grow them. Excellent thread Fisherman Bob and all the Posts are pretty good I think. Compliments to all.

Ta Live Well Die Well

like just about everything else...it comes down to definitions and then therefore to semantics... how you define "hero".

is the word "hero" simply someone you respect and look up to?

is it someone you 'worship'?

because you view someone as a hero does that mean you're blind to their shortcomings?

what is your condiment of choice on your hero?

i guess for me you don't necessarily need to be running into burning bldgs to qualify as one of MY heroes (tho that certainly qualifies you). my rather loose definition is someone that has influenced me and continues to do so.

My heroes are the men that take care
of their families, they might get drunk
and loud, and run around on there old
ladies, but they alwaays take care of
them. Their families know they will always
be there, with a roof over their head for
them, and a meal and words of encouragement.