Thirty years ago, it was a prelude to a way of life, a new way of life, an enthralling way of thinking.
And now, the speaker, the seer, the sage, the American artist, the provocateur, the lighter of the dynamite, they’re trying to enrol her in the Establishment.
Which I guess is where we all go if we live long enough, whether we like it or not, whether we’re still saying the same things or not.
Look at what happened to Jesus. Not at the time, not when they nailed him down, that’s not a great way to go. But for a guy who was a revolutionary socialist long before you could spray Che on the walls, for him to become the article of idolatry in the world’s big religion, for him to be a bigger brand name than Coca-Cola, how much more Establishment do you want to get? If only some of the militant, military fundamentalist Bible bashers would actually pay attention to what he said.
But why would they when there’s money to be made by ignoring it?
The Establishment got smarter while we just got older. They put us to sleep in our comfort. They turned us off by letting us turn on.
They ate up the visionaries, swallowed them whole, smiled benevolently on the voices of reason but still paid them scant attention beyond patronising them.
And yet still Patti and her kind rattle the cage, still pokes and scratches, and is still sexy as all hell. The mind razor sharp, ready to dissect the fools and cosset the seekers. The eyes that have seen plenty and told us more. The androgyny that the stupid misread but which fascinates ever more with every passing year, as the hair gets greyer and the meaning grows deeper. As the poet gets caricatured as witch and the sneers grow audible. No, Patti Smith is not part of the Establishment because whatever they do, they can’t box her in.
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