Planting Seeds

Rip It Up, Issue 239, 1 July 1997, Page 15

Planting Seeds

The American sitcom actor Brett Butler summed up comedian Bill Hicks best; “It was Jesus Bill wanted to be, he wanted to save us all. But Bill got freeze-framed in the scene where Jesus went to the temple and said, ‘this is my father's 'house and you've turned it into a den of thieves That’s what Bill always wanted to do, he wanted to be Christ at his most angriest, " /■

Bill Hicks died of pancreatic cancer in February 1994, aged 32. A stand-up comic since he was 13, Hicks enjoyed, at the most, four years of serious notoriety

before his death.

Hicks used the stage as a soapbox, to expound his theories, his philosophies, and his ideals. He called it “planting seeds”, and hoped that by spreading his visions, he would somehow make the world a better place to live in.

“I just want to change the world, and you do that by changing our perception.” In his execution, Hicks was never anything less than razor sharp and uncompromising, for he made it his mission to expose lies and tell truths. Whethfer he was speaking about the Gulf War, American politics, Waco, or pornography, Hicks had one rule: “Let’s not mince words, because our very lives depend on the truth.” At the absolute extreme of Hicks’ wish for the world, was a return to some kind of Garden Of Eden-like utopia. He referred to

Earth as “the third mall from the sun”, a place where the materialistic concerns of industrialised nations spelled certain disaster for the planet. Hicks believed that we are out of touch with the way we should be living, and he laid the blame in many corners. He recognised that in the so-called civilised world, so much of our lives are dictated to us, and we’re barraged by the media with advertising and propaganda. He wanted people to wake up to

that, so they would question the world around them. Hicks loathed television, and saw it as an opiate for the masses, sanctioned by governments to keep people stupid. “Go back to bed America, your Government is in control again. Here’s American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up! Here you go America, you are free to do as we tell you.” Hicks’ foes numbered many, and included the following; Christian anti-abortionists: “I’ve always found religion to be fascinating, ideas such as how people act on their beliefs... pro-lifers murdering doctors.” George Bush; It’s not that I disagree with Bush’s economic

policy or his foreign policy. But that I believe he was a child of Satan, here to destroy the planet Earth.” Advertising and Marketing agencies: “You are Satan’s spawn filling the world with bile and garbage. You are fucked and you are fucking us... quit putting a goddamn dollar sign on every fucking thing on this planet!” And Hicks, a fan of pot and mushrooms, held a special hatred for the stupidity of the war against drugs; “Isn’t it interesting, the two drugs that are legal, alcohol and cigarettes, are two drugs that do absolutely nothing for you whatsoever. And drugs that grow naturally upon this planet, drugs that open your eyes up to make you realise how your being fucked every day of your life, those drugs are against the law. Coincidence?”

But not everything was a crusade for Hicks. He was also expert at raising a laugh. “It is hard to quit smoking. Every one of them looks real good to me right now. Every cigarette looks like it was made by God, rolled by Jesus, and moistened shut with Claudia Schiffer’s pussy.” Last month, the Rykodisc label released two previously unavailable Hicks albums, Arizona Bay, and Rant In E-Minor, and rereleased his two early 90s albums, Dangerous and Relentless. All four are worth and deserve your attention. Listening to the words contained on these recordings, it’s obvious that Hicks did want to save us all. He wanted to bring people together, in order to open our eyes and massively expose us to a different, ■ clearer way of thinking. The reason Hicks is so special, is he cared about life intensely, but knew there was no reason to take it so seriously.

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our

minds are... it’s just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and

defences each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of

the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”

JOHN RUSSELL