The Late Great Dr. Gonzo
Saturday, July 5th, 2008Today I’d like to take a look at a quote that gets bandied about quite a bit on the Internet. You see it as a signature in many of the online forums. Hell, even I had it printed out and posted on the main rack at the Dawghouse for all to see.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
- Mis-attributed to Hunter S. Thompson
Now there’s a certain truth to it. We’ve all seen quite a few great artists get nowhere in the music business and quite a bit of mediocre talent get lauded for it’s genius. But that’s not the point that I’m hitting at right yet. It’s more-so the fact that Hunter S. Thompson never said it or wrote it. But that doesn’t mean it’s not true.
The actual quote: (According to Wikiqoute)
“The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.”
- San Francisco Examiner (4 November 1985) HST
Now I think we’ll all agree that the music business is a pretty rough place. Even when everyone acts in good faith the intersection of Art and Commerce is tenuous at best.
The live business can be unending and dreary. A hurry-up-and-wait game that repeats daily. Venues start to blur together. Fast food becomes a habit as good food becomes scarce. Playing pirate can take it’s toll on the staff and the talent. Long days. Long roads.
The studio business ain’t much better. We bill like lawyers. There’s no paid vacation or bennies save for the top 1% of jobs, unless you’re in post. (Kidding. Sort of.) You eat what you kill. The glut of “engineers” from 1 and 2 year programs has the business in a race to the bottom.
And yet we still do it. We put in more hours and heart then almost any other profession. Sure there are tougher jobs, that’s no lie. But they get paid for it. Well. So why do we do it? I could put forth a tenth of the effort and live way more comfortably.
Because we love it.
Even when the good men die like dogs.
(I’d recommend checking out About.com’s Urban Legend Guide for more info on the HST quote.)