"Dead Man's Dollar" by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Thursday, January 13, 2021
Let's return to Death of a Salesman from yesterday's post. In 1948 Arthur Miller encapsulated the problems with the American dream long before Leave it To Beaver was even on television. This was supposed to be the time that America was great. War War II had ended and men and women were back to work. Life in America was truly modern. The urban move led Americans to suburbia where they could fill their homes with radios, the latest home appliances, and televisions. Life looked more like today than Little House on the Prairie. Yet, Arthur Miller's work stands in the center of the good ol' days begging the questions: "Does my work make me who I am?"; "How many toys must I have until I've arrived?"; "Should I have to work myself into an early grave in order to finance my family's happiness?" "How can I take care of myself to keep the money making machine going?"; "Does this cultivated, domesticate human existence fulfill me?"
I WANT TO MAKE A LIFE FOR YOU... *Spoiler alert* The last sentence in Death of a Salesman as the family lays Willy Loman in the ground, Linda, Willy's wife tells her dead husband that they made their last mortgage payment. The chorus of former Jack's Mannequin singer's "Dead Man's Dollar" reminded me of Willy Loman today. There are two readings of Death of a Salesman that I believe have merit. One is workaholism. It's very American to read the play this way. It tells us "you want it, work for it. But I don't want to hear your whining." The other interpretation is the need for social intervention, which America has been stunted in government programs.
..BUT I WANT TO LIVE THERE TOO.. It turns out having an album out today pulls in close to no revenue. Many bands broke up after 2008 because the economy crippled the music industry. CDs sales disappeared and bands had to live on the road. Bands that are still around and not on the level of the Foo Fighters, take to multiple streams of income. More and more the bands that are still around are around because they have a compulsion to make music. The line of work they have chosen may pay big or not at all. It may pay big but the hours you put into it make the pay less than minimum wage. Let's not just cry over the hardships of rock stars. What about ordinary people? The American Dream is spreading around the world. Different governments make it easier or harder for their citizens to achieve their dreams. In some countries people work 16 hours a day and others from 9 to noon. Meanwhile in America the essential workers can't pay their bills. It's only a matter of time people will stop doing those jobs if they can. Oh that got dark. Enjoy the song.
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