I Long To Know This World

It’s really easy for creative minds to give a big middle finger to “The Man” or whatever it is that we tend to rebel against.  This is because as creative people we think we have something that the rest of the world doesn’t, which implies that people should listen to us.  This may or may not be true.

At quick look at history clearly shows that the great changes, whether economic, religious, political, or social, come from insightful innovation and creativity.  Obvious examples of this are democracy, Christianity, free trade, and the commercialization of the entertainment industry.  None of these things are necessarily bad.  In fact, as humans we should consider these things invaluable.

Musicians are not your typical business tycoons.  We aren’t out to conquer and acquire.  We have all set out to show the world something that comes from deep within us.  As a matter of fact, many of us set out to show that our lives are just as difficult as the next person’s.  We aren’t here to try to make your lives more convenient.

That’s the biggest difference between us and the rest of the business world: the products we musicians sell are more important to us than they are to our buyers, our fans.  On top of that, we spend our lives trying to show ourselves to our fans, in an attempt to interact with them on a personal level.

So what is there to prove for us?  Why do we give out this metaphorical middle finger?  To me, it seems that a musician’s way of going about business is far from giving a middle finger to the public.  What I have described almost makes it seem like we care more about the public than the rest of the business world.  Maybe we do, and that’s partially my point.

It’s obvious to me that the most influential people today are already public figures in their own right.  People like Bono, Bob Geldof, Coldplay, Madonna, Jars of Clay, and Oprah all have used their stardom to help promote good things and changes that need to happen in the world.  We do it because we believe in something good, something that needs help in changing for the better.  Our middle finger merely says, “Hey, listen to how I think we should do things.”  This middle finger just stands for innovation and progress.

I am realizing more and more that when I try to write something cool or unique or even slightly intellectual I am mostly full of shit.  That sucks.  I wonder how many nonfiction authors feel the same way.  If all of them feel this way, then I’m good to go!  Otherwise, I’m screwed.

I think my main problem is that I have thoughts that run through my head that I think are important, or useful to others.  But I’m usually pretentious and wrong.  Most of the things that I begin to write about are juvenile and ill-concieved.  When I’ve got a few paragraphs down I finally realize how stupid I am and delete all of it (Hence, the birth of this particular blog).

I also realize that I’m not the only one who does this (“this” = writes stupid f*cking blogs about how important his or her thoughts are).  But really, my thoughts are mostly unimportant.  They are important to me, a very few others (if any).

I suppose the reason I blog is to excersize my writing, hoping one day my writing wil mature to the point of expertise and someone will then discover how great I am and give me lots of money and a good job.  How realistic is this?  Well, if Perez Hilton and that big crying queerbag Chris Crocker can get famous doing it, then I can, too!

So here we have good news:  You don’t need to be talented to get famous!  I just need to be really gay (DAMNIT!)!

Okay, so it’s not very good news.  I’m not about to give up my straight-man privileges for fame.  I think I’ll just play my cards like Lily Allen, my supercrush, and become famous because I’m an amazing musician, and then blog my little heart out afterwards for all my fans to see.

Okay, so I’m a Music Business major at Belmont University and I’m on my way to rock stardom.  Cool, got that one down.  Now, I just need to learn how to write like my favorite writers, who just so happen to be decently famous as well.  Here I come Hunter S. Thompson, Donald Miller, and Cormac McCarthy!

So, What I learned from Perez Hilton and the wonderqueer Chris Crocker:  Don’t be so gay!

New objective:  Treat this blog like a writing class where I learnz how to write good.  Lots of work ahead of me…