What kinds of jobs are as cool as being a rock star?

[sliverjazz]

Mafia boss...

secret government agent...

 

 

[lame ass security]

Organ grinder and deodorant tester are pretty sweet gigs.

[soon]

International art thief

Pinball wizard

Hot sauce baron

 

[DieselDaisy]

I wouldn't really say a rock star is that good in all honesty - a musician maybe, a pub musician in a blues band say, but not a rock star. I'd rather be a writer, historian, farmer, fisherman, plodding county cricketer - multiple occupations actually. Firstly, your life expectancy decreases automatically just by being a rock star; the age twenty-seven is especially difficult to navigate, and the cause of death, ''choking on one's vomit'', ominous. Secondly you instigate a career centred around rebellion but, middle-aged, have to face-up to the indignity of becoming a corporate sell-out; some try and justify it; others (e.g., Rose) don't even bother. Your muse is shattered. Your integrity disintegrates as you proceed to flog a bunch of tat and ply nostalgia. With one or two exceptions (Dylan) there is a trajectory downwards. Thirdly: look at the state of them (the living specimens)? Richards has been a walking corpse since 1971. Rose now resembles a pink rotund ball with faux Trumpean hair plonked on top. None of them, with one or two exceptions (e.g., Daltrey), come our of their youth in decent shape. As a comparison, compare them to actors like Connery and Caine.

[soon]

11 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

I wouldn't really say a rock star is that good in all honesty - a musician maybe, a pub musician in a blues band say, but not a rock star. I'd rather be a writer, historian, farmer, fisherman, plodding county cricketer - multiple occupations actually. Firstly, your life expectancy decreases automatically just by being a rock star; the age twenty-seven is especially difficult to navigate, and the cause of death, ''choking on one's vomit'', ominous. Secondly you instigate a career centred around rebellion but, middle-aged, have to face-up to the indignity of becoming a corporate sell-out; some try and justify it; others (e.g., Rose) don't even bother. Your muse is shattered. Your integrity disintegrates as you proceed to flog a bunch of tat and ply nostalgia. With one or two exceptions (Dylan) there is a trajectory downwards. Thirdly: look at the state of them (the living specimens)? Richards has been a walking corpse since 1971. Rose now resembles a pink rotund ball with faux Trumpean hair plonked on top. None of them, with one or two exceptions (e.g., Daltrey), come our of their youth in decent shape. As a comparison, compare them to actors like Connery and Caine.

Hammet and Ulrich seem in pretty decent shape. If one went on the others shoulders and they wore a trench coat, that would be one more man who survived rock stardom in good form.

[willl]

I think being a web developer or anything to do with computer programming is a cool job, but Im biased. Pretty well paid, it's future proof, offers remote working so theres freedom to travel a lot, you keep your privacy, and you get to use your brain all day

Being a youtuber would be a pretty sweet gig if you can make it work financially - just sit around playing video games all day, or be a travel vlogger and film yourself going from one holiday to another whilst getting paid. I like the sound of it, but I actually think it would be a lot more pressure than being a programmer since you're open to public criticism/backlash, you always need to think up new content, you've gotta be great at filming/editing/search and keyword optimisation/marketing yourself etc. You'd also be entirely dependent on the Google algorithms, so your fame and fortune could be as fleeting as most rock stars

[rocknroll41]

I want to be a writer. Any kind of writer, really! Stories, blogs, poems, etc. I’ve been trying my hand at all those things recently.

If covid weren’t an issue, then professional writing could be just as “cool” as being a rocker, cause authors go on tours too and stuff.

[Len Cnut]

Rock star hasn't been cool since the 70s or 80s, both in terms of cultural currency and the actual doing of the job.  Reminds me of a thing I once heard Orson Welles say (cuz we were good mates, me and Orson).  He was being asked about movie stars, the golden era etc and whether they were truly that great etc and he said yes they were, followed by 'when the greatest thing in the world is to be a movie star, thats when you get great movie stars' and I think the same applies to a lot of different fields, including rock stars.  If you look at it, your greatest rock stars came in an era where we had a culture where there was a lot of cultural currency in being a rockstar, the best albums were coming out, they were kind of on the cutting edge in terms of popular culture, they were afforded umpteen luxuries and lived these kind of cool bohemian lives.  Pop music doesn't really matter that much anymore, sad as that is to a lover of it such as myself, same with movies, you won't get Errol Flynns and Robert Mitchums that live these swashbuckling lifestyles etc, they were afforded the oppertunity to be that way because in society the greatest thing to be in the 30s/40s was a movie star.

Who wants to be a fuckin' rockstar now?  You're extremely unlikely to be top of the charts or very popular, there's nothing like the million of bajillions in pop music in general now for you to be able to live a Mick Jaggery lifestyle and get up to the crazy shenanigans, so whats left?  A lot of hard slog really. 

[EvanG]

10 hours ago, soon said:

Hammet and Ulrich seem in pretty decent shape. If one went on the others shoulders and they wore a trench coat, that would be one more man who survived rock stardom in good form.

Ha! Truth of the matter is, most old rockers look pretty damn good. Just because there are some bad examples, doesn't mean it's a slippery slope for everyone. I was watching a clip with Lenny Kravitz the other day, that guy hasn't aged at all, doesn't look a day older than in 1991. Bruce Springsteen is in his 70's and still doing three hours shows and he's as energized as always. Anthony Kiedis has lived the rock and roll lifestyle more than anyone else, but he is in great shape, could easily pass for a man 15 years younger. And the list goes on.

[EvanG]

9 hours ago, downliner said:

Being a youtuber would be a pretty sweet gig if you can make it work financially - just sit around playing video games all day

It's crazy how much some of them are making. There's this 21 year old kid in my town who dropped out of uni and started doing YouTube. All he does is make videos of himself playing videogames and within a few years he has become a millionaire. He uploads a video once or twice a day and each one of them reaches millions of views.

[soon]

1 hour ago, EvanG said:

Ha! Truth of the matter is, most old rockers look pretty damn good. Just because there are some bad examples, doesn't mean it's a slippery slope for everyone. I was watching a clip with Lenny Kravitz the other day, that guy hasn't aged at all, doesn't look a day older than in 1991. Bruce Springsteen is in his 70's and still doing three hours shows and he's as energized as always. Anthony Kiedis has lived the rock and roll lifestyle more than anyone else, but he is in great shape, could easily pass for a man 15 years younger. And the list goes on.

True. Jimmy Chamberlain too.

[Gracii Guns]

I've always fancied being an architect, but it's too late for me to retrain now. A good friend does it, but it seems like all jobs; same shit, different day.

I like being a designer, but the job's only as cool as you make it. And it's impossible to create anything original these days. Having said that, I'm thankful that I'm standing on the shoulders of giants. There's so many opportunities now thanks to the internet. 

[soon]

People saying being a rock star today isnt cool anymore?

I think being a rockstar is still an amazing job! Its all about the platform, baby! They are grandfathered in as "influencers"

I was just discussing a Canadian singers work for positive social change (Tanya Tagaq) and it reminds me of all of our illustrious activists singers. Bruce Cockburns work with Oxfam, Unitarian Service Committee, International Campaign to Ban Landmines. His songs about illegally occupied lands in Canada, about deforestation in the Amazon and of course If I Had a Rocket Launcher about the bloody US imperialism in LatAm. Or Sarah McGlouglans Lilith Fair. Amelia Currans mental heath advocacy. Buffy Saint Marie. The list goes on and on.

SOAD just reunited 100% for the sake of activism. Pink Floyd did a similar thing once. And Gilmour recently auctioned of his iconic guitars and donated the proceeds to climate initiatives.

Being a rockstar today is double awesome. You get to be celebrated for your craft and then you also get to help people and planet

[SoulMonster]

Not sure you know what a rockstar is. 

[megaguns1982]

I always wanted to pretend to be a marine biologist

[DieselDaisy]

11 minutes ago, megaguns1982 said:

I always wanted to pretend to be a marine biologist

According to Billy Connolly, everyone in his youth wanted to be a marine biologist as it seemed to be the only occupation that would get them out of Scotland. 

[-W.A.R-]

1 hour ago, megaguns1982 said:

I always wanted to pretend to be a marine biologist

[YouCouldBeMine_2029]

1 hour ago, DieselDaisy said:

According to Billy Connolly, everyone in his youth wanted to be a marine biologist as it seemed to be the only occupation that would get them out of Scotland. 

Hahahaha

[sliverjazz]

How about Organ Grinder?