the grammys and me

i did it. i sat thru the whole three hours of the awards show. i don't know why really since i'm neither a fan of awards shows, or awards even, and know very few of the bands nominated for the awards. but we watched 60 minutes and anderson cooper interviewed lady gaga. one thing led to another and the grammys were on next. we didn't watch 60 minutes because of the lady gaga interview. i mention it because lady gaga came across as a genuinely sincere entertainer with a big sense of humor. i liked her immediately. i like her sense of theater. her music is another matter. i won't be buying any of her albums soon. but what does that matter since i'm not her intended audience.

no, the real reason we watched the grammys is because the arcade fire was up for album of the year and they were performing. we sat thru one spectacle after another, like gaga's egg -- which reminded me of that scene in spinal tap where the bass player gets stuck in an egg -- and the posed agitprop of the glam band muse. there was one heretofore unknown to me band that i thought quite good, mumford & sons, who performed with bob dylan who i thought again was quite good. eminem ain't my cup of tea. neither is dr dre. the less said about lady antebellum the better.

after the three hour ordeal the arcade fire performs one of their weaker songs, 'month of may', from the otherwise stunning album the suburbs. there is a bit of critical backlash from the hipsterdom regarding arcade fire lately but that matters not to me. they are, to this older rock&roller, one of the best bands to emerge in the past 10 plus years. their songs are for the most part epic and their live performances are transcendent experiences. then they won best album. win butler's stunned what the hell?!. . .as he accepted the award was priceless. the band leaped back onto the stage and ripped into the glorious 'ready to start' but was cut off in midsong as the credits rolled for the telecast.

one more thing. we noticed that the broadcast was tape-delayed to censor any outrageous behavior or cuss words. i find that odd because if rappers like eminem and dr dre who are well-known for their raw language, and cee lo's song 'fuck you', are nominated for grammy awards, doesn't that make a phrase like 'fuck you' part of the accepted norm of the culture.

here's to cee lo's marvelous song. 'ain't that some shit'.