The Facts We Hate

Originally posted 11/24/2013, titled “The Bands We Hate.”

In the Seventies I was
a viciously cool boy
who loved certain bands
and hated others,

who thought music should only be
guitar and Big Noise made
by those who seemed
a lot like me;  certainly

there were exceptions; 
they were old and honored
mostly for not being dead,
unless they were dead.

We argued endlessly about 
what was and what was not 
worth our time, then sneered
endlessly at so much…

it was only later that I dimly understood
the sulfurous truth that likely lay behind
the words “Disco Sucks,” and later
the words “Rap Is Not Music.”

It’s become clear to me
that to rant about the bands we hate
is in fact more likely about 
the fear of losing primacy;

it’s become clear to me
that some of us are so brainless
we can’t hear a thing through
the sheets that hang over our ears.