Mick Jagger once said something to the effect that he wouldn’t be a rock ‘n roller past the age of 30. Here we are some 40 years later and at the age of 62, Mick and the Stones are still at it. In fact, the Rolling Stones have been such a mainstay of the music of the Baby Boomer generation that they are as much an American institution as a British one.
One of the tee-shirts that is included in the tour promotion features an American flag with "Rolling Stones" scrawled beneath it. On closer inspection, you can see that it’s not an ordinary American flag – the stars are actually 50 of the Stones’ trademark mouth logos.
Obviously feeling comfortable with the strong identification with their American audience, Mick and crew have decided to jump into the American political fray. Some of the material on the current album is critical of Bush and his administration, presumably because of the war in Iraq.
But this really bears more examination – after all, America was attacked before the war in Iraq. Jagger made the following comments about the fear he has for what is happening in his native England.
"There were so many armed police in the streets. Walking around, seeing machine guns, is not how you imagine London to be. If we keep going down this track, we’re not going to get back… that we’ll get too far away from our original values and this over-reaching imperialism will take us to a place where we eventually collapse."
If by "over-reaching imperialism" he means, our dependence on oil, Jagger should think about a couple of things. First, the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, etc. don’t mind taking our money. In fact, every country in the mid-east depends on oil exports for their existence.
And secondly, while people like me are driving a little less because of the price increase in gasoline, the Rolling Stones won’t think twice about tooling around the world in private jets that burn more fuel in one flight than I’ll burn in a whole lifetime of driving my car.
But with the sharp increase in anti-semitism that’s sweeping the U.K., it’s possible that Jagger is really criticizing our commitment to Israel. He uses the term neo-con, which to many critics of the war (like Cindy Sheehan for example), is code for people who want the U.S. to continue to support Israel.
Hey Mick, do us a favor and stay out of American politics. And while your at it, take those little, nasty mouths off our American flag.