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And I though it'd be another six months till I posted something new.

From "Highway 61 Revisited" by Bob Dylan

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Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son."
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on."
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
the next time you see me comin' you better run."
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."

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How fucking heavy is that? When I first heard those lyrics they blew my mind. Still do. The song rips, of course, but the sentence "Where do you want this killin' done?" is a straight up, Olde Testament style, Say Uncle, concession. Powerful stuff. But it is also a condemnation of the condition of the States at that time. A country that would give trade-offs for the lesser good while bowing in to the greater evil.

Nobody sings good, old-fashioned songs of the fucked-up state of the world anymore. At least nobody that has the weight of a Dylan. Sure, Kris Kristofferson can rip headlines out the paper and craft a brilliant song like "In the News" and Thrice can sing about the countless unwanted and uncared for children in "Image of the Invisible", but neither of those two wield a flaming sword like Dylan did in his heyday. Which brings me to my next question: Where have the troubadors of discontent gone?

It would almost be safe to say the last song that even made a statement that resonated with that intensity is "We Are the World." Does anybody else feel like vomiting? The last song that gripped a nation was the caterwauling of a bunch of self-obsessed, image conscious pop stars from the Eighties?

I have to admit that when I was seven years old I wanted to be the sequin-gloved wonder, Michael Jackson, standing next to Diana Ross. I wanted to believe that the children are our future. I demanded that people teach them well and let them lead the way. But it's easy to be impressed when one is seven. It's easy to buy a single and be happy that five cents of my purchase goes to help feed a starving child in Africa. What is not easy is to question the affairs of a country and wonder why we, the population of that country, allow our leaders to make such bad fucking decisions.

Why were the Dixie Chicks the first mega-popular group to question our leaders? Vomitus en cavitas oris. They were also subsequently doused by the douchebaggery of their demographic but in the long run they profited. Music sales up the ass. A movie release. Cash registers went wild gobbling the funds of the people wondering "What is that crazy Natalie Maines going to say next?"

We need a new Dylan. A new Guthrie. But it has to somebody who has the appeal of Elvis Presley and the political weight of Kennedy. We don't need a savior. There are a number of unsung, everyday heroes who try to save this world everyday. What we need is somebody who can use first-rate dance skills and some fresh beats to create change.

I have it. I know who this person is that can swerve the popular attention to affairs that can change the state of a nation. Well--he can at least shift the focus onto important matters. He would be the government's worst fucking nightmare. Imagine Justin Timberlake asking our leaders "Why are you fucking the world?"

Now that would bring sexy back.