Every week, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 40-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
In creating content that somehow ties together David’s illustration, Mecca Normal’s history and a specific song, I grapple with archived ephemera and various milestones, while recognizing that we aren’t big enough as a band to warrant an ongoing dissemination of evidence. Thank god the songs I write are about significant subjects that, due to being mostly unsolvable, are still relevant. The patriarchy, sexism, poverty, conformity, prison justice.
Personally, I’m a bit worried about Taylor Swift’s future. If I understand the situation correctly, by the time she’s my age, she’s going to have a long list of songs about guys she doesn’t actually ever want to think about again. She’ll be 64, having to dredge up memories of Bobby and Billy, and whoever else she’s unsuccessfully dated.
“Beaten Down” from Mecca Normal (Smarten Up!, 1986) (download):
