Why does Jon think he is right?

How long did this little speech take? If it was half or even a quarter of the concert, that's a little much, but 1-3 minutes out of a 2, 2 1/2 hour concert isn't that much to ask of your fans.

Adrian

I buy tickets to listen to his music, not hear his political views.
That's what it really comes down to.

If I want to form my own opinions, I can do that myself. I don't need any entertainer's help.

After thinking about this over dinner - I do agree with krb & Mousey.

Ppl go to listen to the music & if the entertainer is preaching about something they disagree with - it will leave a bad taste in their mouth.

Mike

Hmmm, to an extent, I agree with you on this one. I don't think a concert where people have PAID for tickets is an appropriate place for an entertainer who is being paid to entertain to start voicing extensive political opinions. If Jon wants to go off on politics and get a large crowd to hear his opinion, he should throw a free rally. If he wants to sing an anti-war song, fine. That's part of a concert. But a speech on politics is out of place at a concert.

Of course, I don't know exactly what he said, so I can't make a complete judgement. In principle, I think it's an inappropriate venue for political discussion.

Becky

Why do you assume Jon thinks he's right? Why do you assume YOU'RE right? Jon was expressing his opinion. He used his concert stage.
You're expressing your opinion. You used this message board.
You sit at home/work and look for reasons to insult, criticize and complain about the man, so you've found another one.

Personally, I don't like it when artists sign with a record company and in one hand grab their contract and in the other grab a soap box from which to preach. Bono, Sting, Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant, Don Henley... I may like their music gut their attempts at moral superiority are nauseating and turn me off from them entirely... I don't think Jon making an anti-war statement in the US on stage before he sang Eve of Destruction is cataclysmic. Funny, the same people chastising him for doing this are the same people on this site who chastise him for not including any surprises in the set list. Oh, I get it... you want changes in the set list as long as you dictate what they are. Hypocritical.

Five minutes ago I thought, 'Ah, maybe Mr Bliss will reply to this topic'. I was right!! Just when we all thought you ran off to fight for your country you show up. This is an interesting and thoughtful post, it isn't one that I made to cause trouble, it is one that I hope will generate intelligent debate. It seems that it worked until you posted. You think you are so intelligent and well informed, you reply to my thoughtful posts but all you do is complain and show absolutely no signs that you have an education.

Another interesting point i'll throw into what could be an intelligent discussion - is that u talk about Jon abusing his position - but isn't that what Newspapers do all the time?? They r surely meant to report news as opposed to influence ppls opinions. I probably spend more on Newspapers per year than I would a BJ concert - but I am often left with a bad taste in my mouth from some of the things I read.

Maybe Jon is trying to show an alternative view to - what I gather - is a pretty one sided view that is being promoted by US media (from watching CNN etc...).

Mike

one of the bravest things to do was to play that song at MSG - police refused to offer security - he did the shows anyway without security because he was making a point through his music rather than a rhetoric...

at same time he wrote rising praising emergency services etc - quite rightly too

but he still included 41 shots in a few of the sets to remind people that it's not a balance of scales, where one second they are completely wrong, then the next completely right...

you have to remember the things inbetween... and it was brave of him to offer those reminders[/quote]

I have to disagree with you on this one, LetitRock.

I saw it as arrogance, not bravery.

Don't get me wrong, I think Bruce is a great musician, hence my avatar, but I think he did the wrong thing in this matter.

I have a few friends that are NYC police officers, and it is difficult enough without having some celebrity put them down with his music. I was at MSG when he played it, and I just went to the bathroom during it.

Bruce wasn't there when it happened, therefore he can't write a song that is open-minded about the situation. If he witnessed it, then he would have a totally clear view on how it happened.

For 9/11, he discussed it with family members of victims, so he could somehow "relate" to what happened.

With 41 Shots, he didn't.

I know what you are saying... but he was giving a voice to the victim rather than criticising the police force... the lyrics seemed to me to be more a message to make people aware that many police forces are 'quasi-racist' (problem in UK and elsewhere)... not that all are like that...

i know what you mean though - and despite his other songs having very political messages, they are usually more to do with fictional accounts, whereas because this really happens it lays the blame right on the WHOLE of the NYC police force, which isn't fair considering it was a few individuals who did it...

it's always safer to do the thunder roads i suppose... having said that i do think it was a very powerful song...

was that MSG 2000? or 2002?

It's hard to discuss it with a person who has been shot 41 times though for having a wallet in their pocket.