The List #57: A Song of Sorrow and Hope
A Neglected Work that Lives Forever
One of the funniest celebrity moments I can remember was at the MTV music awards in September of 1994. Homosexual pedophile (alleged) Michael Jackson came onstage with his wife-slash-beard (alleged) Lisa Marie Presley and told her: “Just think, nobody thought this would last.” They had been married five months. They were divorced fifteen months later.
The relationship of art to time is also funny, but strange-funny not funny-ha-ha. While there is always something compelling about good work made in our moment, it takes at least a lifetime to wipe the gloss of modernity off to see if it speaks to the ages. Many a work ignored on arrival has endured when, like MJ’s fake marriage, nobody thought it would last.