Monster

I didn't even make it past the Musical Maunderings page of the brand-new Sunni's Salon before my memory was jogged in a delightful fashion. It's been a long time since I broke out the Steppenwolf albums. Playing right now: "Monster."

I was a little nervous bringing Steppenwolf into our conservative household when I was an impressionable teen - not so much for the political lyrics, my folks were tolerant of other views even if they thought those other views were idiotic - it was the language! What would they think if they heard, emerging from my room, "God damn, I say God damn the pusher man"? (This was the sixties.)

But I was willing to risk it - hey, your record collection's not complete unless you own "Born To Be Wild." And, as Sunni well notes, there was a lot more to this band than "Get yer motor runnin' - head out on the highway!"

While my personal preference is the music of "Steppenwolf 7," in most ways "Monster" is John Kay and the boys' masterpiece - especially for those of us who wonder where the bejeebers this land has gone.

I began, just now, to write "where the bejeebers this land is going," but revisiting these profound (and catchy) rock tunes from the late 1960s has caught me upside the head and made me realize: We're not "going" anywhere, we've "been there" for a long time.

The opening track of "Monster" is an epic, nine-minute odyssey through the history of America.

Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope ...

... though the past has its share of injustice,
Kind was the spirit in many a way,
But its protectors and friends have been sleeping -
Now it's a monster and will not obey.

The spirit was freedom and justice,
And its keepers seem generous and kind.
Its leaders were supposed to serve the country,
But now they won't pay it no mind,
'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy,
And now their vote is a meaningless joke.
They babble about law and order,
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told.
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose -
It's got our heads into a noose,
And it just sits there watchin' ...

We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole world's got to be just like us.
Now we are fighting a war over there;
No matter who's the winner
We can't pay the cost.

The thing could have been written yesterday. I might caution Mr. Kay not to confuse "us" with the imperial government - "we" know how to mind our own business; the government doesn't - but otherwise "Monster" nails contemporary America in remarkably relevant terms. And the album's importance doesn't stop with the opening track - "Power Play," for example, is an address warning the nanny state to back off:

What gives you the right - hey you -
To stand there and tell me what to do?
Tell me, who gave you the power
To stop me from livin' like I do?
Remember if you plan to stay,
Those who give can take away -
Don't bite the hand that feeds you ...

Those in the dark, you know they're no longer blind -
They're breakin' from your strangle hold on their minds.
Those that can see don't need no one to cross the street;
Be careful who you're pushin' round,
They just might find you obsolete.
Remember if you plan to stay,
Those who give can take away -
Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Miraculously, "Monster" is still in print on CD. I heartily recommend it to anyone who loves freedom and rock 'n' roll.
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Technorati tags: New libertarian, Steppenwolf, freedom, liberty