I feel somewhat validated, for I just saw a show on ABC where there is a small group of people who talk about the latest releases in art (books, film, theatre, paintings, and so on). I was curiously watching but then to my surprise, who should turn up on screen but Nick Cave, with his newest album under scrutiny. I started cringing, because I thought that these well-read, high-culture critics would tear apart this seemingly out of place album, and with it any hope of rock music being taken seriously.

But, to my pleasant surprise, they were quite receptive of it - one of them gave it five stars, would you believe!? One of the reviewers, an old lady, said that she didn't care too much for the music itself (understandably), but she did love the lyrics, and drew comparisons to the works of poets of yesteryear. And another reviewer chipped in to say that he thought that the lyricists of rock are the poets of today (he thought the greatest modern American poet was none other than Lou Reed)! I felt a sense of relief, and it's hard to figure out why exactly. I suppose I've always been "scared" of finding out that people with "real" taste dismiss the same stuff I fawn over when compared to real poetry. It's heartening to know that my poor rock-lyricists aren't spit upon after all. I mean, I've never really thought that they were necessarily as good as real poets, but I've held the view that some of the rock-lyricists' writings are more than just rather good, so it's good that this view isn't hopelessly inaccurate.