I could be talking about the mayoral race, but I’m not. Is it already a tired pop-culture cliche that fortune and fame is not a satisfying end in and of itself? It must be, because Nickelback has a song, Rockstar, about the subject. For a band that gets plenty of criticism about being uncreative and lifeless, this sure rings hollow to me:

I’m gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I’d even cut my hair and change my name

‘Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
and live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We’ll all stay skinny ’cause we just won’t eat
And we’ll hang out in the coolest bars in the VIP with the movie stars

I’d be curious to see where the members of Nickelback live and how they spend the royalty checks they collect for this song complaining about how hard it is to be a rock star. This song rang even more hollow for me once I changed radio stations. The next song I heard was U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For:

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her finger tips
It burned like fire
(I was) burning inside her.

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone.

But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.

The contrast was stark. On the one hand, Nickelback sounding as overproduced and plastic as they could, and U2 sounding passionate and authentic. I think the lesson for me is that it is one thing to say the right thing and another to live it.

Aside: I’ll confess that I enjoy “Photograph” by Nickelback because it does sound genuine. There, I admitted it.

Aside: The one time I heard U2 perform live, Bono thanked the audience for supporting them and for “allowing them to live the lives we live.” I’m not suggesting that the members of U2 live anywhere other than mansions where they have plenty of material possessions and piles of cash, but they’ve acknowledged throughout their history that spiritual truth matters to them, and they’ve put their money where their mouths are by advocating loudly for significant causes.

• Newscoma is taking risks and experiencing courage firsthand: “Taking risks, putting yourself out there, that isn’t easy. I’m in a place in my life that I’m taking huge risks in my personal and professional relationships that people don’t even know about. I’m doing it, it is sometimes scary but I’m in.” Bravo!
• Paul McCann is pumped for the Our Team rally on Thursday: “The buzz has been building for a few weeks… season ticket renewals are up… the OneTeam Nashville drive is showing success… People in Nashville have been talking about the Predators more than ever, and not just about tickets.”
• Sean Braisted is impersonating Tony the Tiger and taking a look at recent local political ads.
• S-Town Mike is on an At-Large Council candidate’s case: “Mr. Tygard should be advancing the merits of his ideas alone and not coordinating voter strategy with naked opportunism and with little sense of honor or duty.” I agree.