Gonna See My Smiling Face on the Cover of the Rolling Stone!

"Cover of the Rolling Stone" was a novelty song written by humorist Shel Silverstein (famous for his book The Giving Tree, and his other novelty songs like "A Boy Named Sue.")
The "joke" of the song is that every rock group looks and acts very much like each other in order to get approval from the Rock and Roll Industry - and such an achievement is verified by the groups appearances on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine, the premiere publication of the music industry. The song was made famous by Dr. Hook an the Medicine Show, who put it on the charts in 1973.

The lyrics reveal some of the things "expected" of Rock and Roll groups to be accepted by the industry:

• Song topics: Beauty, Truth
• Making Money: 10k a show (trust me - it used be a lot of money)
• Drugs
• Groupies
• Clothing (Embroidered Jeans - trust me - it was a thing)
• Limos
• Eastern Religions

But, in spite of all this, the group can't find acceptance and vaildation in the Rock and Roll community. (They can't get their picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone.)

Well, we're big rock singers
We got golden fingers
And we're loved everywhere we go (that sounds like us)
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten-thousand dollars a show (right)
We take all kinds of pills that give us all kind of thrills
But the thrill we've never known
Is the thrill that'll gitcha when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone

want to see my picture on the cover
(Stone)Wanna buy five copies for my mother (yes)
(Stone)Wanna see my smilin' face
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone (that's a very very good idea)

I got a freaky ole lady name a cocaine Katy
Who embroideries on my jeans
I got my poor ole grey haired daddy
Drivin' my limousine
Now it's all designed to blow our minds
But our minds won't really be blown
Like the blow that'll gitcha when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone

want to see our pictures on the cover
(Stone) want to buy five copies for our mothers (yeah)
(Stone) want to see my smilin' face
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone
(talking) Hey, I know how
Rock and roll

Ah, that's beautiful
We got a lot of little teenage blue eyed groupies
Who do anything we say
We got a genuine Indian Guru
Who's teaching us a better way
We got all the friends that money can buy
So we never have to be alone
And we keep getting richer but we can't get our picture
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone...

The ironic thing is, that once Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show have a hit with a song about not being able to get on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine, they make it! Rolling Stone puts the group on the magazine cover in March, 1973.

The interesting takeaway for this class is how the "culture industry" of old media (networks, film, publishers, radio, etc.) tends to homogenize cultural content. Music is a perfect example: each time period is dominated by music that sounds alike, groups that look alike, artists dance the same way, wear the same style clothes, etc. (Read Adorno for more on the Culture Industry.)

Compare this to Chris Anderson's comments (in The Long Tail) about how new media fractures the dominant style-setters with more agency, more choice etc.