Do you know the feeling of some artist being intimately yours? And then they are everywhere and they are everybody’s and it’s not so special anymore? Did you ever love a writer or musician, obscure and fresh, who then becomes popular and remote? I’m thinking of the band, Wilco, right now. I was onboard from the breakup of Uncle Tupelo in 1996 and I’ve watched and listened to Wilco grow in popularity with pride and dread. Were the hipsters always there? Was I blinded by love? Now our relationship is strained and we are apart. They have moved on into the world of aficionados and curators. I occasionally hear Wilco songs at CVS on the pleasant-retail-experience channel, (“Spending Trance”, channel # 266). The gulf between us is permanent and un-crossable. I still go to shows but there are no smoke-filled rooms and no pushing to the front anymore. There are theaters and seats and artsy people at well-organized festivals. Not my thing. So I watch and listen from a distance, still in love, but realistic about the future. Of course I wish them the best, all the success and prosperity I would wish for any old lover. Meaning I won’t lose any sleep if they fell back to the herd a little.
Hey! Share a band or writer who has sadly moved on beyond your grasp. Do it, whydontcha.