Seattle and the Sell Out

            We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Declaration of Independence- July 4, 1776

Martin Luther King Day 2002 brought this quote to the loudspeakers and bull horns as the marchers wove down 23^rd ave. They walked past the gas station with $1.99 chicken strips, over the hill, around the parking lot of a synagogue, down to Yesler and 1^st… or 3^rd, I don’t remember.

The Central District was a presence there. From 23^rd Ave to 29^th was mostly black, middle class or poorer. The separation between Leschi and Madrona neighborhoods marked (sort of) the class division. But most everyone there was funky and out of sorts with the government. Lesbians, Jews, black kids, criminals, poor to the point of borrowing bus fair, professors, yuppies- we all lived there, 20 minutes from downtown.

Jimi Hendrix.

Born November 27,1942 in Seattle,WA. Played guitar left handed. He allegedly hated the sound of his own voice.

We remember Hendrix for his rendition of the Star Spangled banner at Woodstock in 1967. I think it must have thrown the authorities flat on their asses to hear it- if they did. Maybe they finally got the message as spelled out in distortion.  It was Jimi’s state of the union: “I love my people but fuck the institution”, so articulated using an electric guitar and our national anthem.

 

 As the Encyclopedia Britannica defines it, Seattle is the “chief city of Washington, U.S., on a neck of land between Elliott Bay (Puget Sound) and Lake Washington (a 24-mile [39-kilometre] stretch of freshwater), seat (1853) of King county and the largest metropolis of the Pacific Northwest”

 

After setting a guitar on fire at the Monterrey International Pop Festival (1967), braining another against the stage, and completely blowing everyone’s mind with Bold as Love, Jimi died. Drug overdose- Sept 18 1967. Age 27. There’s a bronze statue of him cradling his guitar on the corner of Broadway and Pine.

 

In the C.D. we had a house on 29^th Ave. It was green craftsman, built in 1910.

The designer who remodeled our house based the interior on a wash of desert color. The living room was orange, sweeping into a crimson sitting room, followed by a kitchen with copper counters.

My room was green with a slanted ceiling and a nook for my bed.

I learned the constitution at a garden table I had filling the far back corner.

 

Seattle was once a logging town burnt twice to the ground. People had to have their toilets on hills so that the sewage would flow away from their houses.

 

My biological mom got a job with the Teamsters as the “in house attorney” for Local 117. The truckers she worked with made her laugh out right- loud, brash, honest cussers. Once unleashed from the law firm and set upon the greedy employers- we traded in her Toyota for a blue Ford.

After Hendrix- the other hometown poster boys came along: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Temple of the Dog.

And while Tacoma was labeled the City of Destiny, the railroad backed out and decided not to end at Union Station. Instead, the investors moved their route 45 minutes north- to Seattle.

We moved. My bio mum toured this empty shell of a house in process and declared it fit for a law school Dean. Non bio mom said “Honey- you choose”.

 

Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain died young- like Hendrix. Shotgun to the head following fallout with wife Courtney Love. His house in the Madison Beach neighborhood still stands, eternally sought out by tourists in black nylons and skinny jeans.

            Personally, I don’t like to go there. I hate thinking of Kurt face up in his living room. I imagine Smells like Teen Spirit hugging the turn table (even though it probably never came out in vinyl) …

 ….Hello, hello, hello, hello, how low?

****We ended up on 56^th Ave- Seward Park. The most “diverse” zip code in the U.S., which is basically a lie because the neighborhoods are so fucking segregated. The wealth starts at Lake Washington and ends at Rainier Avenue. On the opposite side of Rainier Ave is low income housing and old Buicks with silver rims shooting up and down Martin Luther King St in the dead of night.

 

 Suddenly, the 90’s ended and grunge died. The flannel shirts were buried in closets, lyrics about chemical saviors faded off of CDs and the radio. 103.7 the Mountain still plays Pearl Jam, but only the soft stuff- like Daughter or Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town.

I once volunteered at a community center across Rainer Ave. We had to be careful of needles on the playground.

 “Now, this- this is classy.” No- this is beige mum.  No more salsa colored sitting room, noxious cheese living room- hot breath and tortilla chip kitchen. No more Catfish Corner with collard greens and French fries. No more Verite- cupcakes and coffee. No more getting hit on at the bus stop unless I make the effort to walk across Rainier, past the DMV, and down to the beach.  There are no more black women yelling at me to “get the hell off my lawn!” ‘cause I cut corners on the way back from the park.  

I’m never scared. I walk through this place on autopilot. *******Pioneer Square swallowed Tacoma’s hopes of expansion by providing the end station for the Railroad. It became the foundation of Seattle as it’s first “downtown”/ center of commerce

There are sky lights and tasteful furnishings and huge windows.

My moms still love each other and sleep in a queen sized bed. They wake up to Mt. Rainier when the morning is clear.

 

rock ‘n’ roll (def) A form of popular music arising from and incorporating a variety of musical styles, especially rhythm and blues, country music, and gospel. Originating in the United States in the 1950s, it is characterized by electronically amplified instrumentation, a heavily accented beat, and relatively simple phrase structure

************************************************************************We drink red wine and Red Stripe, we have students and teamsters over for parties and use R rated langue. We talk about court cases. They wear silk, pant suits, jewelry from Nordstrom’s and Ben Bridge. They promise not to buy more clothing for another year. They pay for my college and tell me not to feel guilty. It’s better not to incur debt or student loans. ************************************************************************The only people still listening to rock ‘n’ roll seem to be me and the over forty crowd. Every bubble gum popping, latte dropping kid on the street will tell you that they listen to “indie”. As in independent. As in the wailing and unedited soulfully sung sweet nothings playing from KEXP that have substance equivalent to cotton candy.  

 I don’t feel guilty- but we’ve lost the ability to separate self and clock.  Cause money means time and we all need money but…

Watches rule their waking hours and camping is no longer an option, nor are rain dances or patchouli or rolling naked in the snow only to burn oneself in the hot tub.

We hold these truths to be self evident: no musicians are created equal, and if you want to pick a fight about it, go ahead and lift that guitar.

Endowed by a Creator (Jah) with certain unalienable rights, that among these are: Breaking the Circuit Board, Writing about What Matters, and Providing Fodder for Local News.