You Gotta Have Kicks

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04900840dyxtip.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>The First Church of Holy Rock and Roll</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The First Church of Holy Rock and Roll"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Gotta Have Rhythm"><U>You Gotta Have Rhythm</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Gotta Have Soul"><U>You Gotta Have Soul</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Gotta Have Laffs"><U>You Gotta Have Laffs</U></A>   |   <B>You Gotta Have Kicks</B>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Gotta Have Your Mojo Workin"><U>You Gotta Have Your Mojo Workin'</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Your Partys Gotta Be Open"><U>Your Party's Gotta Be Open</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Gotta Have Attitude"><U>You Gotta Have Attitude</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Cant Lick Boots"><U>You Can't Lick Boots</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Cant Navel Gaze (Too Much)"><U>You Can't Navel Gaze (Too Much)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Cant Deal Bullshit"><U>You Can't Deal Bullshit</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04311c00egerdp.gif"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0c2c8c80.gif" border=0 width="200" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Hold our lives, please?</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0c3aaaa0.jpg" border=0 width="170" height="170" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Ig, riding a wave of broken glass, peanut butter, sex, and NOISE!</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Commandment Four: You Gotta Have Kicks</div> <div> Get this straight: We of the First Church do <I><B>not</B></I> outlaw <I>a high time</I>. As the Greeks (that's not a typo) understood, Apollo ain't doodley-squat without Dionysus. Responsibility, good sense, intelligent choices, a healthy diet, and regular exercise are fine...in moderation. Too much of these, and you become, say, the equivalent of a contemporary "country" Hat Act or Calendar Cowgirl: pretty on the outside, empty on the inside, distortion- and grit- and idiosyncracy-free, an air-brushed 'borg. As Tom Waits has often said: "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy." And the wonderfully weird <I>je ne sais quois </I>of his work testifies that he knows whereof he speaks. <I>Celebration</I>, careening emotion and audacious whim, </div> <div> sublimely ridiculous notions, <B>THE PURSUIT OF FUN</B>, is the essence of great rock and roll. It ain't illegal; it's <I>good </I>for you, though what you use to get you there might not be. 'Cause fun might be right over that (l)edge....</div> <bR> <div> Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint), rock and roll has offered martyrs (see left, for example) who've died or come close exploring the furthermost boundaries of fun <I>for us</I>, just to let us feel that feeling when the needle hit the groove (or the laser begins to read or whatever the fuck it does). Just remember, though: wearing a "WWGCD" ("What Would George Clinton Do?") bracelet <I>ain't enough</I>. You gotta at least <I>try </I>to walk in those footsteps, too, if you're gonna sip from the Grail of Good Times. That might mean something as simple as grabbing a six-pack and a guitar, calling up some friends, and doing what old Nashville cats called some "roaring." Or it might mean something more complicated, like disrupting a George W. campaign rally by blasting Alfred E. Newman's "It's a Gas" during the Bush One's speech. Either way, it's holy rock and roll fun-power!</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>