Spatulas and Song Lyrics

Why can't everything be as well made as this old spatula? Mom gave me a new one with each new husband and I've had this one almost thirty-five years. It has some melty spots on it, just like me, but overall it's in pretty good shape. At least it still does the job for which it was created...

Unlike all these old songs from my teenage years that are now becoming commercials. What the heck? Doesn't anyone care that these are my going-to-get-a-Coke, make-the-square-on-Friday-night protest songs? Doesn't anyone care that these songs, these artists, were going to change the world?

Guess not. Now they're used to advertise everything from jeans to cars and everything in between. Fortunate Son is the ultimate protest song. How could they use it to sell jeans? Don't they have souls?

I don't think I like this...on the other hand, I realize some artists don't have control of their material. Not that they sold out, they just probably signed a contract when they were starting out, or lost some of their rights somewhere along the way like CCR and The Beatles.

Oh well. Even if that isn't really the case and some of them really did sell out just for the cold hard cash, who am I to complain? Time to grow up, I suppose. Real world, all that jazz.

Then again, just listen to that sort-of-new Miranda Lambert song, "Automatic." What do you think? Are lyrics really "only words" like the song says?

And what does all this have to do with an old spatula? Not much, except I treasure that old utensil in much the same way I treasure those old songs and the old books I've read over the years. I guess, to be fair, one could simply lump all these things under the label of nostalgia.

Ach! The "N" word. Nostalgia. That seals it. I'm getting old. But still...Fortunate Son? To me, that borders on blasphemous.

Afterthought: Just for grins, here's a list of classic rock songs that are now used to sell things in commercials. If some titles are tear-smudged, you'll know those were my faves.

http://www.jacobsmedia.com/classicrock/tvspots.htm