This does not make me swoon

Apparently Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie & The Postal Service) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt & Uncle Tupelo) are collaborating to create an album dedicated to Jack Kerouac, the lyrics of which being taken from Kerouac's novel Big Su. Read about it here. This, to me, is about the most drab, banal tribute possibly ever constructed.

Now to preface, I'm not the biggest Kerouac fan, although I sort of have to be an admirer of his for his accomplishments, but that's an entirely different conversation. That being said, from what I've read, Kerouac was an intellectual giant, an undeniable presence who, regardless of your feelings about his work, created work that was astonishingly new; It was the impetus, it was the vanguard, at least to a certain extent. Now, no offense to the two collaborators, but they're hardly Kerouac, and I'd venture to guess they would be the first to admit that. But to salvage words from a novel written in 1962 and juxtapose them against some of the most trite pop music being created today (as evidenced here) seems, if nothing else, a bit off.

I understand their desire to embody the feeling and presence of a man they obviously admire, but fulfilling that embodiment here goes only half way; the half which Kerouac realized himself with the words from Big Su. These songs will not embody Kerouac's philosophies/feelings/presence, if anything they will only attempt to diminish them. Luckily for Kerouac and those of us who have a respect for the new, these songs will likely only ping off the legitimacy of Kerouac's work. Maybe the album will be played in Urban Outfitters the next time I'm buying a pair of wayfarer sunglasses. That's my embodiment. I'm no Kerouac either.