Everything could have been so beautiful. The man is rich, still looks good in a black T-shirt despite being almost 80, and his masterpiece “The Dark Side of the Moon” is just celebrating its 50th anniversary. But no, some people find an easy path so difficult that they like to put themselves in it.
For example, Roger Waters, the former mastermind of Pink Floyd, has been very active in the BDS movement for years, which is committed to boycotting Israel. And since “boycott Israel” sounds a bit imprecise, accusations of anti-Semitism are not far off. This may also be due to the fact that at Waters concerts a huge, inflated sow carrying a Star of David often hovers over the stage. If you also want to reach the last row in large halls, the subtle is probably not the preferred means.
My name is Mickey Beisenherz. In Castrop-Rauxel I am a world star. Elsewhere I have to pay for everything myself. I’m a multimedia (single) general store. Author (Extra3, Jungle Camp), presenter (ZDF, NDR, ProSieben, ntv), podcast host (“Apocalypse and Filter Coffee”), occasional cartoonist. There are things that strike me. Sometimes even upset me. And since the impulse control is constantly jammed, they probably have to get out. My religious symbol is the crosshair. The razor blade is my dance floor. And just now it itches in the feet again.
Some cities didn’t want to do that anymore and preventively ban his concerts. Waters, in turn, does not want to accept this and is now complaining in his own concerts. One quickly gets the impression that the poorest pig isn’t the pumped-up one over the stage.
Where does it come from? Why do some become like this? Is it a gene that lay dormant in someone like Waters and is now erupting as a “last-ditch effort” against whatever establishment? Is it rock ‘n’ roll, rebelling against a mainstream that may also be critical of the settlement policy, but would not immediately boycott Israel?
Why do some heroes age so badly? Morrissey, for example, was once the great pop avant-gardist, novelist, neo-Elvis of the British working class. Why does he now sound as if Gauland had gotten into him? Why does he disturb his audience with nationalistic, Islamophobic, conspiracy ideological tones?
The rockers, the punks, the mods of yesteryear, who were used to rebelling against “those up there”, against the blind-deaf-dumb crowd, ultimately have no choice but to see exactly that in us: one Society that marches soulless and dull to its misery?
Can artists, whose driving force has always been anger at the stoic activity of the largely indifferent plebs, leave this fury behind when they should have long since become mild with age? They may not be able to help but rage when “the state” suddenly “orders” something like vaccinations.
It may be, “the Queen is dead” – the fruitful resentment is far from it.
Some have experienced the grace of early death. Who would Kurt Cobain be today? Would he upset us with Islamophobia, the Rothschilds and Bill Gates’ chips? Or would he be like his drummer, the incredibly cool mid-fifties Dave Grohl?
What is “aging gracefully”? What is “aging well”?
Anger undoubtedly keeps you young. Waters is in great shape. What keeps you young? Isn’t it curiosity that makes you look openly at developments that are initially foreign to you, maybe even scary?
It’s the nonchalance of waving goodwill and gentleness at things where you would have snapped earlier. A relaxed, unobtrusive diffusion into the imminent afterlife.
On the other hand, if there are always demonstrators in front of the house, someone always comes to visit you when you get older.
It’s something.
