| But they
continue to make records, these once-weres, and it can’t be entirely
because they dread the thought of filling out a job application, although
one imagines that the fear must loom somewhat largely (“So, Mr. Bon
Jovi, tell me: what kind of experience do you have in retail?”). When
they go through the trouble of writing and recording an album, mustn’t
they feel at least some shadow of the original impetus that drew them into
the business in the first place: the desire to transport audiences into
some airy realm of thought and spirit; the need to figure largely in the
imagination of some cross-section of the public; the hunger for attention,
praise, and worship? People are always saying that money must also have
something to do with it, but music is one of the worst-paying gigs in the
world, so only an incredibly stupid artist mounts a comeback in the hopes
of making enough scratch to make it worth his while. |