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Jun 23, 2012

Bob Seger - Ramblin' Gamblin' Man (1968)

Was at some point known as Tales of Lucy Blue

But then it was not


Bob fuckin Seger. Not the most popular dude I've ever posted music by, and maybe for good reason. But here's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man any way

Some of Seger's most hateful haters like Ramblin' Gamblin' Man because it's so different to what you expect from him. They find it's either good, admirable, or interesting. Or maybe all of those, I dunno. Seger fans on the other hand (I half count myself as one), might find issue with it because it's NOT unpretentious HARD WORKING blue collar heroism, and is in fact PSYCHEDELIC. I have my reasons for not giving a shit about psych-seger, but here's some RAMBLIN' ones to flesh this page out: Seger's hard-working blue collar freedom loving lyricism, aesthetic, and fanbase, are largely at odds with the idea of the psychedelic if one takes Morrison's and then Kael's (>implying I've ever read Kael) ideas seriously- that the naivete of the psych-fan is a sugar-coated pill of lies and optimism available solely to those of privilege, the denial of things evil, which is dangerous as for all that optimism, hedonism, and intellectualism, when those of high-profile get involved, it's all the more irresponsible, blinding, and is in fact wholly immoral. Make sense? No? Good. Ramblin' Gamblin' Man has a few really good tracks on it- 2 + 2 = ? might be a protest song, but it's a good pissed off garage rock one that'd indicate the tipping of the pendulum toward Seger's world-weary working-class narratives, or at least the end of all the dumb joy to the world bullshit that Ramblin' Gamblin' Man accidentally half-embodies. Is it his fault? Nah, it half seems like he's tried to cover up his psych material (okay, I made that up), and the fact that this was released in 1968 just reminds me how hard he had to work to break into any real fame. Also, I haven't read any of the lyrics 'cause frankly I'm not moved by how this record sounds. For all I know, he acknowledges time, place, gender, ethnicity, and income, making even his psych record far from blind, but I'm just so indifferent to Ramblin' Gamblin' Man that I guess I'll never know. I mean, that hardly ever happens! I find music crazy polarizing! Ramblin'? Good! Check it out if you're a Seger-hater! Or maybe get it for 2 + 2 = ? 'cause that song rules

C

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