America: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
"Why is it that we want our idols to die on a cross of their own making, and if they don't, we want our money back? But you know, Elvis ate America before America ate him." -Bono
Bono (the lead man of the rock group U2) once said something to the effect that Elvis Presley was a symbol of America because he was an reflection of everything that was good and bad about it. True...Elvis represented to many liberation, boldness and freedom and yet the decadence that undermines and destroys it.
How true.
With that in mind on this Independence Day 2005, there are a couple stories from my past that seem to encapsulate this concept:
Back in the late 80's I was planning on moving from Wisconsin out to Spokane, WA. Or so I thought. After a couple weeks I left and decided to hitch-hike to a friend's house in Portland and then make my way back to the mid-west.
Half way to Portland I met up with a man in an old beat-up car that decided to take me with him back through the mid-west and drop me off. As grace would have it, he was on his way back to Chicago and taking the same highway passed right along the path I needed to go.
As we made out way through South Dakota, we decided to make a side trip to see Mount Rushmore. Neither of us had ever seen it before and with it so close it was too much of a lifetime memory to pass up.
It was an early Sunday morning and no one else was there. It was stunning to see and almost unreal. All my life I had seen it in books and on t.v. and now here this icon of America was before me. My perception and my memories and my experience now shattered by it's reality. It really didn't seem real as if I was looking into a reflection of an image in a still, clear lake. Having to share this moment with someone I called a friend from a payphone...collect. I woke her up and she took the call. She was half asleep through the whole thing and the call was ended quickly by her drowsy bewilderment.
We didn't stay long. As anyone might tell you that has been to Mount Rushmore, it is not "right off the highway". You really have to want to go there. As we drove away down the 2 lane back roads to get back to the Interstate highway the day was still getting into full swing. It was very pretty driving through the hills down the while wending our way back to the highway.
He only had a a.m. radio in his old car. There was not much to listen to besides static but we did find a some gospel music this Sunday morning. As the hymns and praise crackled through the one small speaker my traveling companion took a pop can and flattened one side a bit and poked some small holes in it with a pocket knife...while driving. He took out a small plastic baggie with pot in it and proceeded to cook off a bud. He offered but I refused. He didn't seem to mind enjoying his stash all by himself.
It occurred to me how ironic the situation was and I spoke up: "Here we are, driving back through the countryside fresh from just seeing Mount Rushmore, listening to gospel music while you're smoking pot. Now that's America!"
The other story is later...
Bono (the lead man of the rock group U2) once said something to the effect that Elvis Presley was a symbol of America because he was an reflection of everything that was good and bad about it. True...Elvis represented to many liberation, boldness and freedom and yet the decadence that undermines and destroys it.
How true.
With that in mind on this Independence Day 2005, there are a couple stories from my past that seem to encapsulate this concept:
Back in the late 80's I was planning on moving from Wisconsin out to Spokane, WA. Or so I thought. After a couple weeks I left and decided to hitch-hike to a friend's house in Portland and then make my way back to the mid-west.
Half way to Portland I met up with a man in an old beat-up car that decided to take me with him back through the mid-west and drop me off. As grace would have it, he was on his way back to Chicago and taking the same highway passed right along the path I needed to go.
As we made out way through South Dakota, we decided to make a side trip to see Mount Rushmore. Neither of us had ever seen it before and with it so close it was too much of a lifetime memory to pass up.
It was an early Sunday morning and no one else was there. It was stunning to see and almost unreal. All my life I had seen it in books and on t.v. and now here this icon of America was before me. My perception and my memories and my experience now shattered by it's reality. It really didn't seem real as if I was looking into a reflection of an image in a still, clear lake. Having to share this moment with someone I called a friend from a payphone...collect. I woke her up and she took the call. She was half asleep through the whole thing and the call was ended quickly by her drowsy bewilderment.
We didn't stay long. As anyone might tell you that has been to Mount Rushmore, it is not "right off the highway". You really have to want to go there. As we drove away down the 2 lane back roads to get back to the Interstate highway the day was still getting into full swing. It was very pretty driving through the hills down the while wending our way back to the highway.
He only had a a.m. radio in his old car. There was not much to listen to besides static but we did find a some gospel music this Sunday morning. As the hymns and praise crackled through the one small speaker my traveling companion took a pop can and flattened one side a bit and poked some small holes in it with a pocket knife...while driving. He took out a small plastic baggie with pot in it and proceeded to cook off a bud. He offered but I refused. He didn't seem to mind enjoying his stash all by himself.
It occurred to me how ironic the situation was and I spoke up: "Here we are, driving back through the countryside fresh from just seeing Mount Rushmore, listening to gospel music while you're smoking pot. Now that's America!"
The other story is later...
posted by Cool Water William @ 1:28 PM
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