One of Hunter S. Thompson’s most famous quotes isn’t – a quotation, that is.
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.
It turns out that Mr Thompson wasn’t even describing the “music business.” His actual lines, first published in 1985 in the San Francisco Examiner and later in Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the ’80s by Hunter S. Thompson (New York: Summit Books, 1988), follow:
The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
Which is more or less true. For the most part, they are dirty little animals with huge brains and no pulse.
Originally posted January 18, 2008 at DrHGuy.com, a predecessor of AllanShowalter.com
not to say that at some point he didn’t use the exact similar wording for the music biz
I have a feeling that writers like Gonzo, in their spare time, sit around and hone words and phrases to a razors edge, like so many steely knives. Easier to surgically cut you and laugh while you’re bleeding. We’d all be nearly bled out before even knowing… AND LOVING IT! I miss his ability to tell it like it is, even if through a mescaline fog. RIP Gonzo!