Thursday January 6, 2022 “State of the Art” Jesse Malin

Born in Queens, NY Jesse Malin fronted the band Heart Attack and also was part of a successful NYC glam rock band D Generation who were caught in a genre that was being replaced by grunge.  Although a popular cult band D Generation was never able to break out of NY.

Malin would then go onto a solo career and his first effortThe Fine Art of Self Destruction was produced by Ryan Adams with whom Malin would also record a punk oriented album calling themselves The Fingerand  titled We Are F$ck You.  Neither work achieved much success, the latter of which seemed quite obviously doomed based on it’s title.

In 2008 he released an album of covers including songs originally done by artists likeThe Ramones, Sam Cooke, Neil Young and The Hold Steady, as well as a long-time live favorite of Malin’s,  Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin' '' previously a big hit by Nilsson from the movie “Midnight Cowboy”.

Jesse Malin has collaborated with a number of high profile and diverse artists like Lucinda Williams, Bruce Springsteen and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.

He describes his voice as reflecting “...both parts of my personality as the guy who grew up on Iggy Pop but also loved Elton John”.

Stay safe and well… and nice bathtub in the video, probably not in Queens.

Staring out the window as I ride on
I’ve been thinking about the world, where I’ve been and gone
Rolling like a river that heads upstream
I hear you’re happier now since you got clean
They put you through the paces when you were young
And they still drink the Kool-aid back where you come from
You walked around town with your collar up
And you never got off on that racist stuff
Living in the state of the art
I’m trying not to take it to heart
While everything is falling apart
I know you wanted more this time
Oh, it’s been a while since I heard from you
I know you don’t like talking when you’re feeling blue
I think I get it, man, cause I’m the same
When everybody else is trying kill the pain
I heard you called your sister from a holding cell
And your friends from the protest, they all wish you well
Another broken system and some killer cops
I read the papers and I cried a lot
Living in the state of the art
I’m trying not to take it to heart
While everything is falling apart
I know you wanted more this time
You always saw the sadness behind my jokes
While all your other friends were busy blowing smoke
Rolling with the punches in a world of lies
With Johnny on the jukebox singing “Born To Cry”
Like a faded picture of a starless night
All your dead heroes couldn’t get it right
You find the silver lining as the thunder rolls
Well the night is dark but the moon is gold
Living in the state of the art
I’m trying not to take it to heart
While everything is falling apart
I know you wanted more
I know you wanted more
We all want something more this time