I tried to play the guitar, but I could never get the rhythm. Anyone who’s heard me do Karaoke knows that was an alcohol fueled mess as well. But I got an idea for a cool cover. Willie and Waylon’s “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys,’ is a fun classic from the 1970s. There are a lot of fun country classics that I’ve yet to hear. My suggestion for a cover is simply the same title, but with ‘skaters’ or ‘skateboarders’ at the end. It can have a rock, punk, hip-hop, or whatever twist, depending on the musician’s preference.
In the movie ‘Lords of Dogtown’, Heath Ledger’s character ‘Skip’ calls the crew pirates. Later in the movie, he disses the Stacey Peralta character by saying he’s not a pirate. Pirates and cowboys are a good description of the aura of skateboarding. If you heard the term ‘Peter Pan Syndrome,’ that wraps up that concept nicely, too.
In reading the book The Answer is Never by Jacko Weyland. I’m about halfway through it, and in the 1970s, boom kids skated for the basic reason that it’s fun. But there was also the question of what was possible. He quotes CS Steyck as stating there was so much more potential with the activity. The book provides a clear explanation of how the 1975 and 1976 droughts in California affected empty pool opportunities. That must have taken guts and bravado to look at an empty pool and think I can ride up that and back down. The book also states how the larger cement wasteland of Southern California made it possible for skating to grow.
I’m pretty sure ‘Skip’ would not think of me as a pirate these days. I currently skate at parks, but my creativity and character developed from choosing a stigmatized activity in my youth. Movies set in more recent time frames, such as Street Dreams, Mid90s, Skate Kitchen, and North Hollywood, share the same theme. Their parents, family, and friends don’t understand, so they branch out and dive into the skateboarding world.
I never got to make a skate vid, but I had a good title, ‘We Are Today’s Hippies.’ Skaters are different than my other circles, but to me, some of the best people. Skaters live in the moment more than anyone else in my experience. Gypsies, vagabonds, pirates, outlaws, and cowboys are all part of the roller coaster that is skateboarding. We need more soundtracks. Covers with twists might be a good place to start.
