So what is this thing? An epic compromise of Bruce's vision? Or one of the most subversive "fun" albums ever made? Either way, it's a jarring experience, for me. If you gave me just the music to "Workin' On A Highway," I sincerely doubt I'd give it lyrics about abducting a girl and going to jail. I probably wouldn't arrange the rather bleak lyrics of the title track around the simplest, most stupidly crowd-pleasing synthesizer riff in Bruce's canon, either.
Do we call this fusion of pop and art the work of a "genius"? Or of a "sellout"?
I suppose these questions beg the larger question of whether "serious" lyrics always require "serious" music. We've been told for a long time that, yeah, they do. Hence, "Plastic Ono Band" is a serious album built on seriously minimal pieces ("Ram" is not understood as "serious," because it has colorful arrangements and a less confessional tone. Bah!).
Isn't this a rather restrictive way to look at music? Why can't we sing about never wanting to go outside again to the squeal of a fun, funky guitar riff?
I don't know.
