Henry Rollins: The Column! Rebelling in Sweet Home Alabama

By Henry Rollins Wed., Mar. 14 2012 at 3:32 AM

Without music, surviving high school for many of us would have been impossible. At this point, it hardly matters which bands or artists got you through those sometimes absolutely dreadful years. As long as you had the jams, you stood a chance. Adolescence is a plague on the senses. One of the only things that makes sense in those years of frenzy and uncertainty is the music that speaks to you.

The question is sometimes asked: Can music start a revolution? I always thought if the songs of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley weren't enough, then no, not on a large scale. Perhaps the question needs to be phrased differently. Can music start a revolution of thought and practice? Does music have the ability to change the way one looks at oneself and the world?

With the power vested in me by Joe Strummer, I say yes. That music can inspire and increase the stamina to sustain a "revolution of the mind" is an absolute. That's why Beatles records were burned. That's why Elvis Presley was censored on television. Rock & roll drove J. Edgar Hoover crazy. Jazz was drug music, the players and the audience were undesirable outsiders. Cool.

Music provided so many of us with an opportunity to separate ourselves from our parents, peers we felt nothing in common with and the establishment where antipathy was going in both directions. Our soundtrack was always better than theirs. Jimi Hendrix put it nicely in his song "If Six Was Nine":

White-collar conservatives flashing down the street
Pointing their plastic finger at me
Hoping soon my kind will drop and die,
But I'm gonna wave my freak flag high
High!

Tags:

Birmingham Alabama, Henry Rollins, Jimi Hendrix

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Guest

yeah so the southern states got a past...every state does...still, when i travel on business the nicest most laid back people in the country are "whites" in Wilmington, NC or Columbia, SC for that matter...some of them fly the flag...it's absolutely no different from present day LA RAZA bullshit that our Mayor supports...

wetcasements

This is awesome, Hank. Thanks for sharing.

Jennie Vasquez

I've always thought that music inspires from within and if it inspires the same emotions or actions in a group of people, then a movement begins but the music does have to be on an individual level. It has to touch you somehow like the song was written specifically just for you to feel it,want to experience it, and if it calls for change, to want to create change.

I've never been to Alabama but don't need to in order to see the rebel flag. I live in the Inland Empire and see it quite often. The comparison is not the same as the history of the flag in Alabama is intense and on a deeper level. When NASCAR pulls into Fontana next week, there will be many of the flags on display. I like to think that the majority of people who display it do so out of pride for being from the South I guess, but that they do so out of ignorance. I like to look on the good side of people and think that many just don't understand or know the hurtful history behind the flag. Especially when you interact with some of these folks, they are nice as pie and you can usually tell their intentions are not to purposely be doing something to hurt others. The darker side of me knows that are some that display it specifically because of the negative history and their message is one of exclusion and hate but in those instances I use the rebel flag as a warning of the type of individual I'm dealing with and to proceed with caution.

Paul Sivertsen

I actually had a white roommate once upon a time who started sporting a rebel flag ring and preaching about its positive aspects. These acts were made all the more bizarre by the fact that she had spent the first 10-11 years of her life in South Africa dealing with apartheid.

I don't know how much she actually had to deal with, being white and all, but it seems to me that if you're so desperate for a symbol to tout your general discontentment with America and its system, you might try choosing one without so much negative historical baggage. Even if only to avoid having to explain and defend yourself every time someone asked you about it (which isn't even taking into consideration the number of people who see you touting said symbol and are irked, but don't bring it up), there are better ways to express such sentiments.

Joy Barr

Coming from a punk POV, Rollins should have a more open mind about subversive choices. Like, why would GG Allin rub feces on himself? Why would someone cling to an archaic, offensive symbol? It's about "freak flags" flying, as he said; "...hey, knock yourself out." I guess to outsiders, a rebel flag is inextricably tied to the fight against America and progressive ideals. Growing up in Alabama and seeing usage of the flag's image, I perceive it to be more representative of tradition, pride, and just southern culture in general. I think the very fact that it raises eyebrows and blood pressures provides those donning the image with gratification, just like any radical would seek.