Douglas Brown

The day I was born, in 1965, the number one hit in America was (Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones. Despite the obvious sexual overtones (taken up again by many including Elvis Costello's "Mystery Dance"), this song marks for me, and perhaps many others, a turning point in contemporary society. Not only do The Stones initiate the conversation of sexuality in rock music, but the reality of commodification of pop culture, music and everything else echoes in Mick Jagger's voice.

From Jagger's lack of satisfaction Western culture quickly moved toward "Satisfaction Guaranteed." What exactly is 'satisfaction'? And, can it be guaranteed, or is it the result of more lost meanings in an obscene world? I am beginning to think, in this post-punk, retro-Stones era of pop culture, that satisfaction is similar to 'happiness.' The current store front we call Western Society blinks and flashes the term satisfaction at us with continual regularity. From Wrigley's "Pure chewing satisfaction" to any number of Guarantees, the message behind the word may be lost. I realize this may cross a number of boundaries here, but I am thinking mainly in terms of Baudrillard's world of the "Trans-." More than ever, we seem determined to find this satisfaction, but apparently it is only obtainable through consumer goods. This 'product' has become the backbone for marketing and advertising for many years.

For the music industry, the sense of satisfaction may never come through. Always in favor of creating new marketing tags (alternative, light jazz, etc.), the music world of Jagger's "Satisfaction" is dramatically different from that of The Replacements "Unsatisfied." Paul Westerberg's ballad/tribute to commodity and the generation lost within the newspaper supplements gnaws at the core of my absent definition of "satisfaction." The catchy introduction of The 'Mats (80's slang for the Minnesota band) tune draws the listener in, wanting and waiting with advertisement-like appeal. Suddenly, in his low raspy voice, Paul Westerberg begins: "Look me in the eye/Then tell me/That I'm satisfied/You satisfied?." The droning, desperate voice reveals the emptiness left by consumer goods and MTV flash and dance. Rather than elaborate and lament about the loss, by repeating this verse a number of times, Westerberg achieves a similar effect, however, his heartfelt dissatisfaction overrides any sense of hope or guarantee.

In an almost nonsensical way, The 'Mats single- handedly address the issue of satisfaction, or the lack thereof, so predominant to twenty-somethings of the mid 1980's. Those of us who were musicians and fans before MTV realize Westerberg's plight, not only in our music but in our lives. As The 'Mats belt out that "Everything goes /Well, anything goes/All of the time/Everything you dream of/Is right in front of you/And everything is a lie", those of us lost in the dysfunction of early pop suicide find some relief, some identification. This particular song has carried with it the weight of major life decisions, initiated the end of relationships, and generally caused me to become weary of any possibility for/of satisfaction. As the eighties moved along, in the wake of the Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks, and The Damned, The 'Mats were the next great thing. Unfortunately, they lost out to such MTV-ites as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Duran Duran. The influx of cheesy bubble gum pop carried MTV through the 80's, but repulsed some of us away from television, music videos, and high ticket prices.

"Customer", another of The 'Mats thrashings of commodity culture adds to their awareness and attitude toward the rise of guaranteed satisfaction. Screaming along at the rate of too many drum beats per minute, The Replacements took the torch of dissatisfaction from The Stones and elevated it to new heights. As a member of the "dysfunctional generation" (my own term for those born between '62 and '69), I (obviously) hold much regard and respect for the Minneapolis quartet. Now, 10 years later, I find them still very relevant to the current trend of commodity exchange and the loss of meaning. If I were able to reveal a definition of 'satisfaction' it may (of course) come from The Replacements themselves when they sing about MTV and its followers. In the song "Seen Your Video", Westerberg complains of the lack of variety and emotion on MTV by singing: Seen your video/That phony rock-n-roll/Seen your video/We don't wanna know. The label of "phony" continues to haunt MTV acts, but the rise in popularity of the network reveals that many out there don't care about being (un)satisfied, as long as they get the hits piped into thier living rooms "twenty fours hours non-stop, all day, all night, all music videos."

I return to the idea of "satisfaction" and how it plays (gets played) into our lives. Media bombardment of inages, ideas, toys, cars, luggage, and food innodated our minds and ideas. Furthermore, these new found values and indea(l)s infiltrate our very systems of thought. As Buadrillard has noted, this over emphasis upon meaning creates a void, whcih will eventually lead to the implosion. Satisfaction, or the great myth of some sense of "good(?)", encourages the implosion by forcing people to search over and over and over for new ways to fuflill this ad hoc destiny or sense. (I find no other word better than "sense.") As the world creates more stuff to encourgae more meaning, at least I know I still have my original copy of "Hootenany" by The Replacements. When the implosion draws near, and I look for my own persoanl escape, it will come in the form of a song. That song will echo then as it does now:

Look me in the eye
And tell me that I'm satisfed
Look me in the eye
Unsatisfied
I'm so, I'm so unsatisfied
I'm so dissatisfied
I'm so, I'm so unsatisfied
I'm so unsatisfied
Well, I'm-a
I'm so, I'm so unsatisfied
I'm so dissatis,dissattis...
I'm so.........