As you may have heard, "The Thunder Rolls," the new music video from Garth Brooks, has been banned in Boston, not to mention on The Nashville Network and CMT.
And as the controversy rolls, "bootleg" versions of the thing are beginning to circulate. The video's pretty revealing, actually, though it tells us more about Garth Brooks than about TNN, CMT, Boston or the state of country music.The video and song are about domestic violence, with footage of adultery, spouse abuse (with a child present) and murder as Garth sings away. In the final scene, the murderer lights several candles in some sort of mock religious rite while awaiting the police. Brooks strolls in front of the camera, gives a longing look into the lens, then strides off.
As social commentary, the video is stark and startling. It says things that need to be said. Perhaps just the controversy will help drag incidents of domestic violence from the shadows into the light so society can deal with them.
But as country music, the whole project is a dismal failure.
The real problem here, it seems to me, isn't that country music's out of touch with reality. The problem is Garth Brooks is out of touch with country music. He's never had a fix on the sense or sensibility of the people he sings for.
That was evident in his first Salt Lake appearance. He had no feeling for the fans then, he seems to have less now. At one point in his show he cuddled up to his handsome lead guitarist, looked deeply into the man's eyes, then said into the mike, "Eat your heart out girls!"
Anyone who knows anything about country music knows that kind of behavior comes off like a belch in church. I'm sure three or four people sitting near me would have left if they hadn't been so stunned.
The whole evening was like that. For example, you only have to see two John Wayne films to know that serious cowboys and country singers don't fiddle with their hats, but Brooks spent the night sticking his hat on other people, toying with it, abusing it. At one point he forgot he had the thing on and knocked it askew on his head with the top of his guitar. He looked like a goofy version of Gabby Hayes - which is the way I think of him today.
The rest of the time he spent pandering to the crowd, cooing remarks like "Anybody got a camera? I'm up here singing with frickin' Chris LeDoux, man! Can you believe it?"
I find it hard to believe, too, Garth.
In short, Garth Brooks is more transparent than the soup in roadside diners. He's no more country than Frank Sinatra. And the fact he made a video that country music fans and stations reject is not a surprise. And you can bet more gaffes are in store from Garth Brooks - country music's answer to Dan Quayle.VIDEO QUESTION
Q: Just what does the VCR tracking dial or button do to clear out the snow from the image?
A: The video signals on a tape are laid down in "tracks." During playback, if the video heads are not aligned properly with the tracks, the result is "snow" or "noise" from mistracking. The tracking dial "tunes in" the VCR to the control pulses that guide the heads along the tracks properly. By the way, many new VCRs have no tracking button - the function is automatic. - Andy Wickstrom (Knight-Ridder)