Rock Gods are Human Too

I rarely blog about current events, much less, celebrities. Much, much, much less, celebrities that aren't even really celebrities to the masses or the general American public. However, my inner 19-year old is presently way bummed to hear that one of the lead singers of one of my all time favorite bands is facing drug charges. No, I'm not talking about Scott Weiland of STP/Velvet Revolver...again...I'm refering to Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies.

Those of you who knew me back in the day know that I loved (still do) this band. I sing the praises of their live shows, filled with humorous banter and masterful musicianship. I really dig this band not for their catchy tunes, like "One Week," but for the fact that the band is 5 true musicians and showmen who make some damn good songs.

Aside from having an absolutely beautiful and operatic tenor, Page has mad song writing skills. He writes songs that are absolutely bouncy morsels of pop perfection peppered with wry social commentary and sprinkled with the bits of cynicism yet hopefulness - anthems for the bitter, yet motivated if you will. A lot of his songs are about the duality of the psyche - singing about having a whimsical day while at the same time lamenting about the horrors of the everyday.

But personally, I love his stuff because a lot of it contains themes that I deeply identify with - and I'm not talking about all the pipe dreams of what I'd do "If I Had a Million Dollars." Having to live up to the pressure of being the person you're expected to in "What a Good Boy." Absolutely loathing where you live and hoping it crumbles into the ground like in "Hello City." Becoming a passive aggressive asshole trying to be kind in "Break Your Heart." Afraid of people finding out that you don't have it all together after all in "This is Where it Ends." Of course, there's the funny stuff too, like "Alcohol," "In the Car," "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland," about getting drunk and falling down, high school groping, and masturbation. I guess a lot of us can identify with those as well too.

So, fandom aside, I think the most disturbing thing about this is that this guy isn't your average rockstar and BNL isn't your average band. They've always had a more average joe and clean cut image than most any other band out there, save for the Osmonds. Yet this is a group that's never really gone out of its way to profess they are a squeaky clean family act. I guess in the age of drunken benders involving being pronounced dead, head shaving, biting the heads off bats, snorting your father's ashes, crotch flashing, and shark sandwiches, all it takes to be branded squeaky clean is well...not doing any of the aforementioned, which really takes no effort at all. Page was always better known for promoting literacy, recycling, and being somewhat active in social reform. And in all of that is the disturbing fact that there's little relished more these days than watching someone like that be burned at the stake for doing something that's, well, rock and roll. And cocaine is pretty rock and roll. (We're such hypocrites and prudes.)

So my inner 19-year old is bummed because this may mean no new albums, no tours, no performances for sometime. But this also means that if I think the uncommon rockstar is susceptible to common rockstar problems, that I had hero worship and I don't care who you are, it sucks to watch a hero fall from grace.