The American Fantasy
There was time when the so-called American Dream morphed into a disturbing sort of materialism and selfishness--a picket fence and a three car garage, a yearly vacation and a fat 401k. So missionaries are thought to be fanatical or hyper-spiritual because leaving these things is virtually unthinkable. We are just unsure whether it is possible to live with other priorities, other motivations, much less be happy doing it. I suppose the American Dream might, even in its most ideal state, never have been innocent, so to speak. But in some sense it did transform from "making it" into making lots of it or bust. That has been the evolution of a culture that found affluence. I think the next step in that evolution is already well under way. To be clear, I am talking here about values, not realities. I have appreciated the song "Rockstar" by Nickelback as it has caricatured what I am calling the American Fantasy. Rockstar
I'm through with standin' in line
To clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
And I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
Quite the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)
I want a brand new house
On an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
For ten plus me
(Yea, So what you need)
I need a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet
--(Been there done that)--
I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and
James Dean is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)
I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name
[CHORUS]
'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
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And well...
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up ********
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free
(I'll have the quesadilla, on the house)
I'm gonna dress my ***
With the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
Blow my money for me
(So how you gonna do it?)
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
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of
Today's who's who
They'll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
Drug dealer on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
I'm gonna sing those songs
That offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
From a Pez dispenser
Get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip sync 'em every night so I don't get 'em wrong
Well 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
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of
Today's who's who
They'll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
Drug dealer on speed dial,well
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
I love this bit of honesty from a very rockstar band. It's conceivable that they are seriously endorsing such aspirations as the Don't Eat Diet, but it seems to me to be dripping with irony. This is what people want, though. This has, somehow, become the ideal state. Although, of course, many would assume that it's just not possible for them, we are talking about values. This is the fantasy. You can see the escalation from a shiny house and an easy retirement to flippant wealth and decadence.
My favorite line, though, is the first one of the chorus: "I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame." Straightforward and accurate. When I hear these words I cannot resist Jesus' words ringing in my head after them.
"For what will a man be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life. Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?"
In a way I guess its a better answer to the question to trade life for the Fantasy rather than the Dream, lest we feel cheated in the end. For the Dream seems not to be worth it by comparison. But then, Jesus' point was that there never will be anything that is worth it. We are always settling if we do not choose life, and it is a very poor settlement at best.
What are you trading your life for?
5 Comments:
i think your commentary is poignant, and as far as america is concerned, it is a much more relevant concern than the one i'm about to bring up. what i've been thinking about lately, however, is the degree to which christians sometimes perceive spirituality to be a fixation on the next life. in effect, they are willing to trade this life for the next. again, this is NOT the problem most plaguing america, but as a young follower of Christ, i wonder how much of the world i've been willing to dismiss or avoid because it is not directly relevant to "the kingdom come," which i've pigeon holed to mean "the life after death to come."
I'm with you. Check out Dallas Willard's Divine Conspiracy. His thesis touches on just this point, and it's the best writing (of this sort) I've read in a while. I'm not done yet, but I'll be blogging some reflections as a I work through it. Glad we're thinking similar thoughts.
Didn't Nickleback used to be Creed or something like that? Whatever.
I too was struck by the irony of their song, but even more so by the enthusiasm with which people in the video declare their allegiance to the American Fantasy. How can anyone listen to the hollow, hopeless words of that song and think that it espouses a dream that should be sought?
The subversive message of Jesus calls all of us to deny the hallmarks of worth and wealth fed to us by our culture. I think that includes our church culture – as Bryan pointed out. It is just as wrong to abuse one’s family through poverty and neglect – in the name of a coming kingdom, as it is to sell one’s life for fame and fortune. As disciples we are not worth more to God based upon the amount we sacrifice, this is just the perverted flip-side to the American Fantasy.
but what does it look like to not "trade this life for the next" in a christian context? i think it means something much more than just comfort. i think it means being able to appreciate a good Merlot, or a cuban cigar. i think it's being able to explain why a piece of art is beautiful, or what pieces of literature are moving. i think it's a hunger to see the world or experience (and respect) other cultures and ideologies. and i think all of it is motivated by a desire to _love_ the world as God's creation (without compromising your integrity).
James, I suppose I agree with you in theory. I just don't know anyone, in church culture or otherwise, that commits this mistake. I've heard of people doing so, such as James A. Harding, but it's hardly the reality I know.
I don't find it helpful in a context that knows no such over-sacrifice to emphasize how more sacrifice does not make us more valuable to God, since that wasn't the point anyway. My point was about priorities, not about a competitive or extremist level of sacrifice, but let me add that there are implications. Priorities will be lived out in a tangible way, or they are falsehoods. If the priorities of the American Fantasy manifest in a low level of sacrifice, and I am judging this to be bad, then a higher level of sacrifice is necessarily good. It may not make me "more valuable" to God, but it is certainly more right(eous) to seek the kingdom first. I will not soft-sell that fact because I run the risk of being "self-righteous" or advocating "works righteousness." I am not the point, and if I prove to be more righteous for making God the point, great. But God and his kingdom are the point, and stressing to a culture of egocentrics that sacrifice for God doesn't make them "more valuable" obscures the point that it better than not sacrificing and that God is in fact happier with sacrifice. When that ends up resulting in an unhealthy extremism, then I'll address it. Until them, my keystrokes go to addressing what I perceive to be the problem affecting everyone.
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