Does Rock have origins in AS?

Post Reply New Topic

At least one of the Dead Kennedys was either an Aspie or an Aspie sympathizer.

"I am Governor Jerry Brown. My aura smiles and never frowns. Soon I will be pre-si-dent!" This is a song in which the singer adopts an imaginary, apparently psychotic persona of Jerry Brown, ranting about his vision to create a fashionable, hippie-fascist dystopia in which all the "uncool" people are rounded up by a "suede-denim secret police" and poisoned with "organic poison gas." The song is, quite obviously, bitterly sarcastic, but, as with many of their songs, it is highly critical of obnoxiously "neurotypical" behavior, appearing even to portray the neurotypicals as artless interlopers bent upon destroying a beautiful, enlightened world created by apparently AS or Aspie-like intellectuals.

This is especially apparent in some of the lyrics from, "MTV Get Off the Air," which I think is a song worth listening to. In it, they complain about the same neurotypical locust swarm robbing Rock and Roll of its very soul by infecting it with the same mindlessness that it was designed to retaliate against.

I view the movement, itself, as actually an outgrowth of liberal protestantism, the roots of which go back to a number of spiritual movements that may, themselves, have been sparked by the actions of individuals who were more AS and less NT. This may sound like a definite pro-AS bias, but I honestly doubt that true NTs would have had the sort of aggression and intellectual rebellion that it would have taken to speak out against truly murdrous religious authorities. For all of the flap that we're given for apparent "aggression," I feel that I am justified in suggesting this. I don't think that NTs should accuse us of aggressive behavior without allowing us to contemplate alternative consequences of the same behavior, whether it is real or perceived.

Returning more or less to the topic, though, the name for the movement actually seems to originate from the rocking that black protestants would engage in while experiencing religious ecstasy. Whether or not this is an outgrowth of culture, it almost had to have come from some natural reaction to have become so widespread. Not to offend any religious observers, I think that this rocking is actually a stim that the movement's founders were known to engage in particularly while going through their religious experiences. I don't deem it as unlikely because the founders of American Protestantism were very little like the people we know as protestants today. They were religious non-conformists and scriptural literalists, and they were known for being very stubborn and rejecting of religious authority. Even the Methodists, which are an outgrowth of Episcopalianism if I recall correctly, were founded by a group of students who were known for obsessive Bible Study.

I'm unsure as to the historical accuracy of any of this. It's all pieced-together from half-remembered, partially filled-in facts. In fact, I only developed the thesis that Rock is an outgrowth of liberal protestantism as I wrote it.

In any case, however, does Rock and Roll historically have AS roots? I'm going back a great deal further than the Beattles, here, whom I honestly believe were textbook examples of adolescent ADHD. Although ADHD bears a similarity to AS in some respects, I think that, if I had known John Lennon as an adolescent, I would have punched him square in the nose.

Rock just evolved (some might say devolved) from jazz.
I'm sure there must be some aspie rockers out there, but I wouldn't say speaking out against religion and the like is rooted in AS.

The thoughtstream actually originated with the casual observation that the Dead Kennedys often seemed to express frustration with typically NT behaviors. In fact, their notion of intellect and artistry seem to be biased toward AS qualities. Besides, they're from San Francisco. Come on, man.

I think that it runs deeper than that, though. The very idea of non-conformism and social rebellion is, at the very least, contrary to the demands that neurotypicals are prone to put onto Aspies.

Craig Nicholls of The Vines could be called an 'aspie rocker'.

While not a 'rocker', Gary Numan also has AS.

I think the Dead Kennedys did not seem to express frustration with typically NT behaviors. They expressed the casual liberal frustration with republican views. After all, they're from San Francisco...

For the uninformed, Republicans are all sociopathic vermin. It's commendable that the DKs manage to keep up with the times, but I think that I did point out a couple of sound examples of lyrics that have a great deal of sympathy for attitudes typical of Aspies.

Furthermore, cowboy, neither of the songs that I pointed out delved into partisan politics. The issues they raised in both are bipartisan phemonena. Rampant consumerism is typical of both liberal and conservative audiences. In fact, there are large audiences among both liberals and conservatives who would rail against the same. Some of the most venemous Southern Baptist Bible-thumpers, for example, would probably concur with many of the complaints voiced in California Ueber Alles and other songs that this group has produced over the years.

Their chief complaint in both is that the cost of their genre's success is seeing it watered down to such a point as to ruin its meaning. Early country music prodigies may well have voiced the same complaint, perhaps in the same words.

What I'm trying to say, cowboy, is that I think you're simply prejudiced against them because they're a punk band from San Francisco. Shallow of you. Pathetic, really.

Try actually listening to their music before reading stuff into it that isn't there, or I'll take that god-damned cowboy hat and use it to smother your children.

Furthermore, I don't like the undertone I'm detecting in the term, "casual liberal." (Hint: I'm HFA, not stupid)

It sounds like a typical, memorized, oft-repeated slur turned universal currency by overuse.

Shove it up your ass.

If you don't take the DKs seriously as musicians, say so outright instead of playing these ridiculous word games.

They're shameful even for NTs. You should know better, cowboy.

Oh my. I did not mean to offend you, sorry. I think you misunderstood me a bit.

But to call ALL republicans 'sociopathic vermins' is a bit more you should let yourself do. Also, I'm not a cowboy.

I used to listen to the Dead Kennedys a lot, I like the first album and the In God We Trust, inc. EP. I just don't happen to agree with everything Jello Biafra says. Also, from wikipedia : "Politically, he [Biafra] is a member of the Green Party and actively supports leftist political causes."
And yeah, that is quite obvious from his lyrics. Whether you like it or not. And I don't think it has anything to do with AS.
Also, the lyric of California Uber Alles is not critical of 'neurotypical behaviour'. It's simply Biafra's distorted views on then-governor Jerry Brown, as much as We've Got a Bigger Problem Now, the updated version of CUA, is Biafra's distorted views on Reagan.

It makes for effective rhetoric.

It's a useful slur, though.


Neither do I. In fact, the only politician that I've ever really felt any connection to is Bill Richardson. My only hang-up with him is that he's affiliated with the DLC, which is a bunch of third-way pols who were too chicken-hearted to break with the Democrats and form their own party. I've been third-way since I was a tyke and never looked back, but the DLC is a bunch of chicken-hearted vermin who had a chance to change American politics for the better and failed to act on it. Instead, our country is more broken up than it's ever been. They should have known that the American Left wasn't just going to bend over. Idiots.

I know the guy's politics.

Whether you like it or not, you're an ass, but that shouldn't keep you from trying, sir. Jello Biafra touches on a number of universals, many of which even the most right-winged Wall Street Republican could identify with. It isn't an unlikely thing for a musician to do, particularly a reasonably successful one like Jello Biafra. They're an artist's bread and butter.

I doubt he even knows about AS. I was suggesting that his philosophical bent seems to be sympathetic with the mindset of your typical Aspie. This is the contention that I make.

It's simply Biafra being a perverse ass, in which he is your chief rival for some sort of award. I'll think of it later. Biafra does, to me, seem to be speaking from the standpoint of an Aspie. I don't find it illogical to suggest the possibility that he is one, but this is not what my thesis was to suggest. My thesis was, very simply, that his worldview seems to have parallels with the inclinations of those who have AS.

Reagan was a commie.

There was a great BBC series called 'soul deep: thestory of black popular music'. It showed how 'Rock'n'roll' was a sanitised commercial version off RnB, made acceptable for white audiences. Many of the early hits were inferior covers of songs originally written/ performed much by black artists.

Thank you very much, you're a real nice person.


You started with 'At least one of the Dead Kennedys was either an Aspie or an Aspie sympathizer.' Now what ? Also, what is a 'typical aspie' ? Maybe I'm not a typical aspie, or even not an aspie at all, god knows, but I just can't find anything common in my mindset and Biafra's philosophical bent. That of course doesn't mean you're wrong, just that it's strong generalization.


Oh, really ?
Don't answer. I won't, anyway.

If you were as nice a guy as I am, you'd be cranky, too.

Language and mathematics would be impossible without generalizations.

Yes.