There’s a song for that. And Facebook is really more his style anyhow. If not MySpace.
Tag: Boomer Patrol
Boost with Booster Patrol
Help repair music history by backing Booster Patrol. And special thanks to the Japanese reader who sent me the Babymetal Death gloves!
Imagine
The latest Boomer Patrol masterpiece is now available for your listening pleasure.
Imagine there’s no Boomers
It’s easy if you try
No grit or bootstraps
Or tales of getting high
Imagine all the Boomers
Going far away
Imagine there’s no Boomers
It isn’t hard to do
No more talk of Woodstock
Or going to the Moon
Imagine all the Boomers
Finally at peace
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the Boomers will be done
Imagine all the pillows
So soft and fluffery
A gentle hand of mercy
That sets the nations free
Imagine all the Boomers
Resting in their graves
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the Boomers will be done
No Longer Breathing
Introduced on last night’s Darkstream the latest anthem from Boomer Patrol, No Longer Breathing, is now available for your audio-pondering.
You know what I’m doing, this is the time and place
I feel nothing but fabric, when I press down on your face
You really had me goin’, headin’ where you are
The explanation for you is eviler by far
I believed your generation, was going to change the world
And now your own grandchildren don’t know they’re boy or girl
There’s not much to examine, there’s nothing left to hide
You really can’t be serious if you have to ask me why
I say goodbye
Cause you’re no longer breathing, and now you’re out of air
Don’t know who you’re kidding, imagining I care
And I could stand here waiting, and watch as you fade away
I don’t suppose it’s worth the price, you’re worth the price, the price that I would pay
And everyone keeps asking, why we’re all so mad
How we can lament it, the life we never had
What’s the destination, can’t you feel the pain?
There’s nothing left to reason and only you to blame
You’ll never change
Cause you’re no longer breathing, and now you’re out of air
Don’t know who you’re kidding, imagining I care
And I could stand here waiting, and watch as you fade away
I don’t suppose it’s worth the price, you’re worth the price, the price that I would pay
But I’m thinking it over anyway
I’m thinking it over anyway
I said goodbye, it’s time to go
You’re out of time, a soft pillow
My hand above, your face below
And every breath that comes and goes
Boomer, it’s time to move on
Cause you’re no longer breathing, and now you’re out of air
Don’t know who you’re kidding, imagining I care
And I could stand here waiting, and watch as you fade away
I don’t suppose it’s worth the price, you’re worth the price, the price that I would pay
But I’m thinking it over anyway
I’m thinking it over anyway
I know what to do now. I’ll end it now, right here.
How Boomers Killed Comics
From Part Five of the history of the decline of the comics industry:
“The comics business went into a steep decline in the ’50s and early ’60s. During that time a lot of companies folded, a lot of comic book professionals were unemployed, and so, if you were an editor at a surviving comic book company you never had to train anybody, you knew lots of guys who were out of work. The streets were awash with unemployed cartoonists. So what happened is we had a generation gap—relatively few new people came into this business between the mid-’50s and the early-to-mid-’60s. Around that time a few of us started to trickle in. Among the arrivals in the early to mid-‘60’s were E. Nelson Bridwell, Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Neal Adams, a few others and me. We were pretty much the last guys who got to learn our craft from the older guys–the guys who really invented and built the comic book business.
Jim Shooter, Marvel Editor-in-Chief, 1978
. . .
“There was a GENERATION GAP in the comic book industry. There were some people in their 50’s and 60’s, there were a lot of people in their twenties and early 30’s, but not enough in between. Because there had been an extended period of decline when relatively few new people came in, we were missing a generation. What that meant is that young guys who should have been assistant editors to a forty-something person were instead editors or editors in chief, even though their main qualification was having read 10,000 comics.”
Roll this bit of information back to 1968. The Marvel staff that remained through 1978 would have been in their 40s and 50s in 1968 by Shooter’s estimation. These folks would be Greatest Generation with some very early Silents. The generation gap that Shooter speaks of would be Silents who were generally unable to break into the industry in the late 50s and the 60s due to the downturn in the industry. Greatest Generation creators hung on to the majority of remaining positions. Those new staff at Marvel would have been in their late teens and early 20s in 1968. Those individuals would be Boomers...
Boomers work to undo the Greatest Generation’s efforts
We see in these two titles the distinct generational split between the unified-vision, long-term editor in Stan Lee with Jack, Steve, Don, and the Greatest Generation Bullpen members, and the multiple-editor driven Roy Thomas/Archie Goodwin/etc and Boomer Bullpen model. The Greatest Generation creators took more from the traditional Western Historical canon — focusing on romantic pairings (Reed and Sue, Ben and Alicia, Johnny and Crystal, Peter and Gwen), family formation (marriage and children), forging strong male interpersonal relationships (Reed and Ben, Ben and Johnny, Peter and Robbie, Peter and Capt Stacy, Peter and Harry, Peter and Flash), and investigating the interpersonal relationships of these smaller elements with other family, friends, co-workers, as well as antagonists and villains.
The few Silents and majority of Boomers took the lead on aligning the content of the books with the popular zeitgeist of the current day, moving the books away from aspirational themes of their Greatest Generation predecessors toward ‘realism’. That meant divorce, no marriages, no children, and few relationships outside of the ‘hook-up culture’ varieties. Traditional values highlighted by Greatest Generation creators were ignored, avoided, and eventually derided.
And while we’re on the topic of Boomers, don’t miss Boomer Patrol’s latest, FUNKY BOOMER, which chronicles much the same phenomenon across a wider strata of society.
I Got A Pillow For You
Yet more BOOMER PATROL for your listening pleasure. This time, it’s a spin on an early ’80s classic by The Romantics.
What I don’t like about you
You tell me nothing but lies
Tell me I’m the lazy one
You are everything I despise, yeah
Keep on whispering in my ear
Tell me all the things I don’t wanna hear
Nothing’s true
What I don’t like about you
What I don’t like about you
You won’t admit what you’ve done
When you go left, right, overnight
Left behind devastation, yeah
Keep on whispering in my ear
Tell me all the things I don’t wanna hear
Nothing’s true
What I don’t like about you
What I don’t like about you
You won’t admit that you’re through
Never gonna let it go
Know that I’ll be coming for you, yeah
Keep on whispering in your ear
Tell you all the things you don’t wanna hear
Cos it’s true
I got a pillow for you
The Boomer on the Inside
Boomer Patrol is back with a dark and melancholy new song about a Boomer facing the coming Day of the Pillow. Listen to it on Soundcloud. DISCUSS ON SG
THE BOOMER ON THE INSIDE
Remember nineteen sixty-five
Our season in the sun
It was the time to be alive
And then the sun went down
So where do I proceed from here?
Betrayed by age and yesteryear
The curse I can no longer hide
My generation’s pride
Nevertheless
I must confess
I deserve this lonely fate
I wish I could forget
I can’t escape my debt
To all the world I cast aside
A Boomer on the inside
And when the Reaper calls
There is no wherewithal to hide
And I can no longer deny
The Boomer on the inside
Identity is all I know
Surrounded by lost souls
Despite their absence I can hear
Voices dead and gone
Now I have nothing left but fear
The world I knew has disappeared
The curse I can no longer hide
My generation’s pride
And even so
I finally know
I deserve to fade away
I wish I could forget
I can’t escape my debt
For all the reasons I complied
A Boomer on the inside
And when the Reaper calls
There is no wherewithal to hide
And I can no longer deny
The Boomer on the inside
Lost in time and disappeared
Dying alone and unrevered
My generation fades away
A forgotten yesterday
I wish I could forget
I can’t escape my debt
For all the sins that I denied
A Boomer on the inside
And when the Reaper calls
There is no wherewithal to hide
And I can no longer deny
The Boomer on the inside
Where Have All the Pillows Gone?
Another classic Boomer Patrol tune for your listening and philosophical pleasure. You can hear it at Soundcloud. You can also get the full seven-song Boomer Patrol set there.
Where Have All the Boomers Gone?
Where have all the pillows gone, long time passing?
Where have all the pillows gone, long time ago?
Where have all the pillows gone?
Justice served by every one
When shall we forget them?
When shall we forget them?
Where have all the Beatles gone, long time passing?
Where have all the Beatles gone, long time ago?
Where have all the Beatles gone?
Gone with Lennon and a gun
When shall we forget them?
When shall we forget them?
Where have all the Hippies gone, long time passing?
Where have all the Hippies gone, long time ago?
Where have all the Hippies gone?
Dead and buried every one
When shall we forget them?
When shall we forget them?
Where have all the vinyls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the vinyls gone, long time ago?
Where have all the vinyls gone?
Gone to downloads, every one
When shall we forget them?
When shall we forget them?
Where have all the Boomers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the Boomers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the Boomers gone?
Pillows silenced every one
Now we can forget them!
Thank God we’ll forget them!
BOOMER PATROL – It’s Time to Go
The latest Boomer Patrol is live and kicking.
IT’S TIME TO GO
Pillows are the gift to the Boomer
The Reaper’s got ‘em everywhere.
He cleared the floors, unlocked the doors, lights out
And you can save the prayer.
You saw the Reaper’s hood and understood
And your heart just got to the point it’s gonna blow.
You were doing your best ’till the punch in the chest
And the Reaper said there’s something you should know.
He said Boomer now it’s time to go
Boomer now it’s time to go
Boomer now it’s time to go
Time’s up now it’s time to go
Now everybody down with a cushion
And they’re starting the pushing
And it’s a final solution
And everybody cool
Your heart rate’s getting fast, your time is past
And you can feel the flow
All you wanna do is make it stop
So you call the docs, but the docs they never show
The Reaper sees your fear, so pulls you near
Says son, there’s something you ought to know.
He said time ceases its marches at the pearly arches
And that’s what we’re here for.
He said Boomer now it’s time to go
Boomer now it’s time to go
Boomer now it’s time to go
Time’s up now I told you so
Now everybody down with a cushion
And they’re starting the pushing
And it’s a final solution
And everybody cool
The Reaper’s gonna find you Boomer
He doesn’t have a sense of humor
Reaper is the pillow, the pillow is the Reaper’s scythe