“Ballad of Mott the Hoople (March 26, 1972 – Zurich)”

I’m still not quite sure what indie rock is, but apparently one of its mandates is to lower your expectations far enough so that they’re already met. This is why almost none of the indie rockers can sing worth a damn – instead of attacking a vocal, they don’t bother to try too hard and end up sounding like pitiful white boys with day jobs. And rather than daring to be great, indie artists seem to avoid success with a passion. Which leaves their fans talking incessantly about “integrity” and both camps declaring victory. Booooring.

So it should be mandatory that every self-righteous indie-rock dweeb in the universe hear the song “Ballad of Mott the Hoople (March 26, 1972 – Zurich).” The music’s gorgeous, and Ian Hunter gamely tries to sing in a key that’s not quite his – making his attempts to hit the high notes all that much sweeter. In the first line, Hunter admits that he hungers for fame. He soon goes on to damn near apologize to Mott’s fans because the band didn’t hit it big! (Imagine Fugazi singing such lines.) He declares rock ‘n’ roll “a loser’s game” – thereby admitting that every aspiring rocker’s parents are right. In the last verse, he admits that while even though the whole rock ‘n’ roll game is a sham and a ruse; he still loves it so, though he can’t explain why. His bandmates’ sound fills in the gaps.

Apparently, the only premise that indie rockers and their fans picked up from this song was the loser’s game one. It’s too bad they settle for less.

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