SHOULD WE HONOR J.J. CALE?

[markiv]

186. nothing honorable about glamorizing dangerous drugs

in a way, that song was the flip side of the 'war on drugs', and in a strange way, an enabler of it

there were very few sensible public messages about drugs in the late 70s. it was either glorification of drug culture as 'cool' (as this song did, with people in the audience shouting 'COCAINE! even if it is claimed as an anti-cocaine song, it most definately was not received as such at the time), or hysterical and poorly produced/unbelievable anti-drug PSAs

what was desparately needed, was an accurate neither overplayed or underplayed message about the slippery slope and erosion of opportunity that they represented for young people

about the best message i ever saw, was some teen/college pre-beverly hills 90210 sitcom with one of the group getting into cocaine (and accurately protraying the problems it would create for him), and a sensiblle girl in the group asking him 'ever think where that money goes - what it does to the place it comes from?" A real breath of fresh air, but too little, too late

The song 'Cocaine' was not a breath of fresh air, it was a snort of poisen, and any claims that it was really an anti-cocaine song are pure BS - the song was continued to be performed long after it was plain that the song was seen as glorifying it to the audience, and that's all that really matters. 'they should have gotten the true message' is deeply cynical, and anyone who really meant that message would have killed the song when they saw how it was being interpreted

pausing for the audience to shout back COCAINE!!!! when playing it, when it's really anti-drug? puh-lease