Who took the bomp?

Or: half-baked rambling about culture, religion, and politics, ending in two videos that probably only I will like. Read at your own risk of disappointment.

Jon Cogburn knows who killed rock music. He blames the victory of recorded over live music, and the death of hippy, communist, and neo-liberal ideals. The latter is relevant because rock music, he thinks, promises some kind of liberation. I don't know about live versus recorded music, but I think the connection between music, politics, and culture is interesting.  

According to Hawkwind we used up all of our magic powers trying to do it in the road. But then actual terrorists spoiled things. So political protest is not the answer (they suggest), but surely bombing things isn't either. 

David Bowie's version of events is that we never got it off on that revolution stuff/what a drag/ too many snags. This sounds right to me: the idea of a revolutionary solution to real problems is not practical (too many snags). And his understanding of the problem seems about right too: is this concrete all around or is it in my head? 

But his implied solution (drinking a lot of wine and dressing "like a queen") isn't all that promising. Maybe there's an "in my head" version of that (that isn't whooshing). I suppose drinking a lot of wine would affect your head pretty directly, but it's the glam bit, the re-enchantment of the universe, that's interesting. Some sort of aspect-shift seems to be required. 

Perhaps what we need is some indirect way (the direct route has never been credible) to the Hindu/Father Zossima view that we are in paradise already and only need to realize it. The old indirect ways are still there, I suppose, but they seem closed off, invisible, or incredible to many of us today. And the obvious kind of route we might take today would be a technical one, taking a drug, undergoing a procedure, or following the steps of some algorithm. But that isn't credible either. Or perhaps we just need to feel, be, and get creative. 

Anyway, it's clear enough that the enemy is inauthenticity and whatever crushes the spirit: conformity (the practice), conformism (the ideology), big business, big government, etc., while the key lies somewhere among the nerds, geeks, poets, and philosophers (the lovers, the dreamers, and me). (Or is this just a statement of my dislikes and likes? Of course I express  myself when I describe the world.)