The Art Is Better Than the Artist
Steven Van Zandt, Silvio from the Sopranos, and the guitarist from E Street was asked about Chuck Berry and the alleged underage girl charges that were levied against him.
"The art is always better than the artist," he said. "There are no exceptions."
Steven is right, of course.
At first glance, it appears that he is diminishing the charges against Berry, but he did no such thing.
He was letting everyone know that the art that is created seems perfect, but the artist never is.
That's the equivalent of Kathy telling people that:
"He's much better on paper."
Which, is true, of course.
The words are very often carefully considered. You put your best foot forward.
Bruce recently did his autobiography and while he came off great, he didn't pull any punches when he spoke about his behavior at times. He was very honest about his shortcomings while married for the first time, and that is often a shock to people who expect their heroes to be perfect.
Perfection doesn't exist!
Of course, that is not to minimize the questionable actions of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis or even Prince and Elvis - guys who died too young by kind of destroying themselves.
Does the fact that Elvis was isolated and alone and in all kinds of pain diminish from Jailhouse Rock?
The art is always better than the artist.
I thought it would be interesting to hear about Chuck Berry and listen to all those who praised him...
...it's no secret that he was difficult.
He kind of tarnished his image with his behavior...
...but does it make 'You Can Never Tell' any less awesome?
I usually can make the distinction...
...there is only one artist who I sell short in this regard, and that's Michael Jackson.
His songs were great.
The allegations against him turned me way off though.
I can't hear the first note of his songs and not think about the underage boys.
Maybe that's not fair...
...but what can you do?
I'm better on paper too.
"The art is always better than the artist," he said. "There are no exceptions."
Steven is right, of course.
At first glance, it appears that he is diminishing the charges against Berry, but he did no such thing.
He was letting everyone know that the art that is created seems perfect, but the artist never is.
That's the equivalent of Kathy telling people that:
"He's much better on paper."
Which, is true, of course.
The words are very often carefully considered. You put your best foot forward.
Bruce recently did his autobiography and while he came off great, he didn't pull any punches when he spoke about his behavior at times. He was very honest about his shortcomings while married for the first time, and that is often a shock to people who expect their heroes to be perfect.
Perfection doesn't exist!
Of course, that is not to minimize the questionable actions of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis or even Prince and Elvis - guys who died too young by kind of destroying themselves.
Does the fact that Elvis was isolated and alone and in all kinds of pain diminish from Jailhouse Rock?
The art is always better than the artist.
I thought it would be interesting to hear about Chuck Berry and listen to all those who praised him...
...it's no secret that he was difficult.
He kind of tarnished his image with his behavior...
...but does it make 'You Can Never Tell' any less awesome?
I usually can make the distinction...
...there is only one artist who I sell short in this regard, and that's Michael Jackson.
His songs were great.
The allegations against him turned me way off though.
I can't hear the first note of his songs and not think about the underage boys.
Maybe that's not fair...
...but what can you do?
I'm better on paper too.
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