Pilgrimage to Play God

Everything is, everyone is, broken…

“Pilgrimage,” R.E.M.
“A Pillar of Salt,” The Thermals
“Pillar to Post,” Aztec Camera
“Pineapple Head,” Crowded House
“Pink Cashmere,” Prince
“Pink Houses,” John Mellencamp
“Pink Moon,” Nick Drake
“Plan of the Man,” The M’s
“Planet Telex,” Radiohead
“Play God,” Chagall Guevara

Mellencamp’s reach exceeds his grasp a bit on “Pink Houses,” but I love what he’s grasping for. The heart of the song is a genuine affection, a genuine love even, for “people and more people.” It’s patriotic without being chauvinistic, which is a tough trick to pull off nowadays. Contrast “Pink Houses” with Mellencamp’s more recent attempt to recapture its success — the Chevy-ad anthem “This Is Our Country.” The word “our” there is, I think, intended to be an inclusive echo of Woody Guthrie, but in the current atmosphere it’s difficult to hear “ours” without being reminded of the poisonous “not theirs” that the Dobbses, Malkins and Tancredos would reflexively add.

In the town of Elsmere, Del., the local councilman who has been the force behind efforts to duplicate Hazleton, Pa.’s, anti-immigrant statutes there is now also advocating new zoning laws to enforce “community standards” on the appearances of buildings and businesses. The proximate cause of this was a Mexican restaurant in town that’s painted red, white and green. Little pink houses? “Those people” might go for such garish colors, but according to the Elsmere town council, that ain’t America.