Abstract

Death and Glory

The author pays tribute to the lives, music and political activism of Warren Zevon, Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer of The Clash, all of whom died in the past year. In our prefabricated popular culture, these three stood out not only as artistic pioneers but also as icons of uncompromised integrity. They reached into our souls because they spoke from their own. Together with his mates in The Clash, Joe Strummer reinvented rock 'n' roll in the late 1970s by combining punk energy with musical artistry and angry but intelligently politicized lyrics. Strummer and the band failed to overthrow the structure of a music business that thrives on "turnin' rebellion into money." They fought the law, and the law won. Warren Zevon fought cancer, and he won. Well, the cancer won too, but not before Warren taught the rest of us a lesson in death with dignity. After he got the bad news, Zevon thanked his friends, hugged his family and created--working in fits and starts as his health would allow--his finest record since his selftitled major-label debut back in 1976. This self-educated son of a Mormon mother and Russian-Jewish gangster father was perhaps the most casually literate lyricist in rock this side of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen." Johnny Cash" is a two-word answer to anti-Americanism everywhere. If money and crass commercialism have warped this nation's soul beyond hope, then how is it that this angry, unvarnished truth-teller with a voice filled with gravel became that America's unofficial national poet? This symbol of American patriotism questioned the Vietnam War as he simultaneously entertained the troops in the field and told their story at home. Well before Clear Channel's stranglehold on commercial radio, Cash attacked the industry for its "craven worship of the almighty dollar.".