I like a good manifesto. I always did. Even as a kid, introductions to TV programs like Superman—you know, that whole bit about truth, justice and the American way—got me going. Just sent me. Truth is cool, right? I don’t always know what it is, but I dig the ring of it. And justice? I like justice, too. I’m more flexible about it now than I used to be, but I like it fine. If the American Way is the sum of those things, then I’m a Yankee Doodle dandy-do-or-die.
I’m thinking of Big daddy Dada, Tristan Tzara. “We are like a raging wind that rips up the clothes of clouds and prayers, we are preparing the great spectacle of disaster, conflagration and decomposition” (Dada Manifesto 1918).
Okay then. Give me an ax, a hammer, a flag soaked in gasoline, and a Dark Knight. I’m good to go.
But it’s not always like that. Emotionally, I mean.
Every now and then, a person ought to take account of their convictions if only to discover if they’ve got any left, rattle one’s head to see what shakes out that matters. And to sing that. If it’s angry, that’s just all right. But sometimes it’s more of a love song.
credits
from All The Bone,
released August 23, 2017
Mark Ari, vocals, guitars, harp.
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