I Want Another Idea, Another Project, But

I Was The First Records Editor At Rolling Stone, And There Were No Rules. There Was Nothing To Fall Back On As To How Do You Write About This Kind Of Music, So People Were Trying Absolutely Everything With A Great Sense Of Freedom And Experimentation And Success And Failure, And A Feeling Of, “my God, People Are Actually Paying Attention To This. Let’s Pretend They Aren’t Because We Don’t Want To Be Intimidated By What Somebody Might Think Of What We’re Saying.

If 'mystery Train' Is My Nixon Book And 'lipstick Traces' My Reagan Book, 'invisible Republic' Is My Bill Clinton Book. I Really Liked Clinton. He Made Me Proud To Be Part Of This Country Again. For All Of His Failings, The Way He Put All That He'd Done In Jeopardy, I Supported Him From Beginning To End.

Patriotism In America, As I Understand It, Is A Matter Of Suffering, When The Country Fails To Live Up To Its Promises, Or Actively Betrays Them.

As I Write, Johnny Rotten's First Moments In "anarchy In The U.k." - A Rolling Earthquake Of A Laugh, A Buried Shout, Then Hoary Words Somehow Stripped Of All Claptrap And Set Down In The City Streets - I Am An Antichrist - Remain As Powerful As Anything I Know. Listening To The Record Today - Listening To The Way Johnny Rotten Tears At His Lines, And Then Hurls The Pieces At The World; Recalling The All-consuming Smile He Produced As He Sang - My Back Stiffens; I Pull Away Even As My Scalp Begins To Sweat.

Van Morrison Remains A Singer Who Can Be Compared To No Other In The History Of Modern Popular Music.