Waxing Nostalgic: Devo, “Beautiful World”

By Jeffery X Martin

Americans were all primed for the Eighties. It was a decade where something was supposed to happen. Perhaps we all had a touch of Orwellian paranoia, a sense of not knowing which way to lean or who to trust. It was like a great atmospheric pressure swell that needed to break, dark heavy clouds heralding the coming shitstorm. We lived under the constant threat of nuclear war, fearing the goose-step marching of fascists and neo-Nazis down our tree-lined suburban streets. We also went to see The Cannonball Run enough times to make it the sixth highest grossing film of 1981. What were we thinking? Even now, it is hard to believe that anyone needed escapism that badly.

I realize that, if you weren’t there, the Eighties seem shiny and gleeful, like a candy cane on a Ferris wheel. That’s bullshit. Doom and gloom surrounded us and we continued to distract ourselves from it all with whatever we could find. We had to. Nobody wants to wake up every single fucking morning, facing their own mortality! Hell yes, I’ll take that Rubik’s Cube. I’ll play with the colors and make weird geometric designs, whatever, man, just don’t let Reagan push that Big Red Button!

Should we deal with the clear and present danger or should we play with the cool shiny distraction? We’ll take that distraction every time. And why?

We’re devolving.

Devolution: the theory that instead of going forward and becoming advanced, enlightened beings, the human race is actually in a state of decline, going backwards instead of forwards. We’re not getting better. We’re getting dumber. We’re making worse decisions. We’re distracting ourselves out of existence.

Devo wanted to help us. They warned us. While they came across as a little too art-rock for Middle America when they first hit the scene (can’t you just hear the flyover state frat boy giggling over a song called “Jocko Homo,” not realizing the song was all about them), Devo believed in devolution. They knew what was going down and it was us, all of us, down with the ship while the sharks gently circled and Battle of the Network Stars played softly in the lounge.

Although you can now find them in cahoots with multinational conglomerates like Viacom and Disney, can you blame them? Devo joined the ruling class. They’re not buying Disney/Marvel/Time-Warner/Nickelodeon life solutions and underwear at the local TargetMart. That’s evolution at its best, survival of the fittest.

Everyone, please allow Booji Boy to show you the past and the future at the same time. If you think of “Gangnam Style” instead of missiles when you hear the word, “Korea,” you’re probably not paying attention. This video is for you.