greil marcus on taking rock seriously.
You know, I think when people say, “You’re thinking about this too much,” it’s just another way of saying — and I’m not saying you’re saying this to me, but I’ve heard this or read this about me but all sorts of people forever — it’s another way of saying, “Shut up.” It’s also another way of saying, “This stuff really is trivial, this stuff is really not that interesting, this stuff is ephemeral and it has no lasting presence in our world.” I really do believe that this is just another way of dismissing those things that move us the most. And rock ‘n’ roll is one of the things that moves countless people as much or more than anything else.
— Greil Marcus, “The Other Rock History,” NPR Music, 30 August 2014