Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 26-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
“Political”: A song about me. John Mann (boyfriend circa 1985), singer in Spirit Of The West. I could respond, never have, as to why “every little thing had to be so political.”
And ya, I wrote a couple songs about him, too—on the first Mecca Normal LP (Smarten UP!, 1986). “Not With You” (“I won’t live my life, no, not with you … I’ve got my dreams, they’re nothing to you … I’ve got my dreams, I’ll see them through … I’m gonna see my dreams come true … If you’re not changing, well, that’s OK, that’s OK, too … I’ve got my life, it’s not with you”) and “Sha La La la La” (“You vote Socred next time, instead of NDP, and I’m gonna have to wonder about you me … Sha la la la la la”)
“When we started out [in 1983], we were quite folky,” Mann recalls. “We were trying to write as best as we could about things that were going on in British Columbia, hence the name. And around Expo 86, the band became more politicized.”
It was a time of labour unrest, of Downtown Eastside hotel evictions, of Bills Vander Zalm and Bennett (Socred party leaders in British Columbia). It was also around that time that Mann became romantically involved with Mecca Normal singer Jean Smith, who remains an influential figure in the Vancouver rock underground.
“She was—and still is—a really political person, a political being who really walks the talk,” Mann says of his former partner. “And the effect of her views on me in turn affected the band. We started looking at the world differently—and certainly from more of a left-of-centre viewpoint.” —Georgia Straight.com
Jan. 20, 2010
Hi John,
Popping up, out of the blue, to send powerful thoughts your way. Wishing you every form of strength you need to overcome this current health situation.
Jean (so political) Smith
Wait … January 20 … an anniversary.
On the morning of Jan. 20, 1983, the Vancouver Five were captured on the road to their training area by an RCMP tactical unit disguised as a road crew. The five received sentences ranging from six years to life. —Wikipedia
To avoid having any more songs written about how annoyingly political I was, I took up with someone even heavier than me. Gerry Hannah of the Subhumans and the Vancouver Five—someone even more “so political” than me, albeit, when I knew him, he’d served his time and was more in-tune with the great outdoors and freedom. The direct act of being free. Direct action in terms of, as Gerry put it in an interview—”The song (“Nowhere To Run”) describes more of a personal struggle with depression, anger and a fear of failure. It’s a song about how easy it is to keep making the same mistakes over and over again when one is afraid to make the necessary changes in one’s life to become a whole person. It often seems easier to run away from the fear and pain one feels inside, but eventually (hopefully), one realizes that you can’t run away from something you’re carrying around inside of you. You have to deal with it. You have to understand it and to meet it face to face in order to eventually be free of it.” —Culture Bully
The Subhumans have been playing shows recently. John Mann is playing shows. Mecca Normal continues on. The politics are not obvious. The personal is political. Carry on, my wayward ones ( … don’t you cry no more —Kansas).
One reply on “Normal History Vol. 44: The Art Of David Lester”
Jean Smith and David Lester are continual inspirations. I wish that I could channel their creativity and output for my own work. Thank you for sharing as much as you do, and with such bravery. Your lives are your work of art, and that is what I admire most of all.