Friday, March 4, 2011

Folks,

Forty-three years ago, a then young Mick Jagger, just sprung from being hooked on a charge of smoking flowers with his buddy Keith Richards, was invited to talk on the BBC TV with the muckity-mucks of the British establishment class; all lawyers, priests, government ministers. They wanted him to explain why their children seemed to be possessed by the swagger in the boys in the band, the jacked up speed applied to American blues, and naughty words. Those fellows appeared to have never have been young men.

In his turn, Jagger seemed to be perplexed that such questions had to be asked by old men that had to have been teenagers years earlier. Alas, not included in the following clips is a most precise answer, delivered to the priest. "Why are adults afraid of letting their children see you play your music?"

Exasperated, Jagger replies, "They are afraid that their daughters will come home as Negroes!"

More interesting, tho, is what Jagger offered in his less smart ass answers. Judge the meaning as you will, but all that he is really promoting, as I hear it, is that we should all think for ourselves.

S