There is a Rolling Stones song from 1973 which described tragedies involving crime and drugs which I thought was a very effective form of protest. Be they aware or not, they were following a noble tradition of artists giving voice to the oppressed and victimized. Over time those type of concerns might predictably give way to maintaining careers, parenthood, copyright infringement and rehab. But they could always look back on their ‘caring’ years with a palpable wistfulness. ‘Sure, I may have sold out over time,’ they implicitly tug at you to understand, ‘but there was a time….’

That was then.  The entertainment industry today embraces the state.  Somewhere between seeing their ideas and candidates win elections, the rants against injustice have given way to an aggressive advocacy for expanding the role of government. Seemingly no public policy failures–high rates of poverty, abortions, inner-city unemployment, single-parent families, failed public schools etc–are enough to question the effectiveness of relying on the state to address those problems.

I think it fair to say that the only world angry artists want to tear apart today is one which acknowledges Judeo-Christian values as key to a just society. In its place, a secular sense of fairness, undefined [naturally] and enforced by the federal government. The Leviathan with a friendly face [for now], who heroically does battle vs. those pesky spiritual subjects.

The tragedies of everyday life continue to be confronted those who have always done so, parents and people of faith through their personal involvement and religious institutions. The rest are posers because they have no skin in the game. To put the fate of the neediest in the hands of those whose care for them is based on a salary and patronage, is to encourage the status quo.

A proverb notes that time reveals a person’s heart. Almost 40 years later, when I hear the song ‘Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker),’ I am reminded of heartbreakers, but they ain’t cops.

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Rolling Stones – Heartbreaker – LYRICS:

The police in New York City
They chased a boy right through the park
In a case of mistaken identity
They put a bullet through his heart

Heartbreakers with your forty four
I wanna tear your world apart
You heart breaker with your forty four
I wanna tear your world a part

A ten year old girl on a street corner
Sticking needles in her arm
She died in the dirt of an alleyway
Her mother said she had no chance, no chance
Heartbreaker, heartbreaker
She stuck the pins right in her heart
Heartbreaker, a pain maker
Stole the love right out of you heart

Oh yeah
doo, doo doo doo doo
Oh yeah
doo doo doo, doo doo
I wanna tear that word apart

Oh yeah
doo, doo doo doo doo
Oh yeah
doo doo doo doo doo
I wanna tear that word apart

Heartbreaker, heart breaker
You stole the love right out of my heart
Heartbreaker, heartbreaker
I wanna tear your world apart

Heartbreaker, heartbreaker
Stole the love right out, stole the love right out

Doo, doo doo doo doo doo
Ah yeah, you shot the kid, he had no chance
Doo doo, doo doo do
Ah yeah, Ah yeah, you stuck pins right in her heart
Doo doo, doo doo do
You heartbreaker, I wanna tear your world apart
Doo doo, doo doo do……..