A long while back — true enough, it HAS been a long time…

This band from the San Francisco Bay Area — where I’ve called home the whole of my life — they went through iterations…and as rock pop was blossoming in the 1980’s…Jefferson Starship was well in the mix,

and this song was the last track on their “Modern Times” album…and I can recall LOVING this song…

and it occurs to me, it’s similar to other super fast, many words songs…but this one, it made it for me, super happy to have found this one again…let’s go up the stairway —

“Stairway To Cleveland”

Whatcha gonna do about Cleveland?
Whatcha gonna do about rock & roll?
Whatcha gonna do about crazy crazy?
Whatcha gonna do about it?
Hey we gotta a new band – a new face – a new time!
Sing a song of rock & roll & drive us all crazy
People tell me everything I need to know about

Rock & roll
Politics n’ all about our new band
But some people never happy “don’t like it” – “didn’t see it” oh oh
They had to make a comment!

Your new drummer’s crazy, your manager’s an asshole! get a new shirt?
I can’t stand your guitar player!
Rolling stone, village voice, picky picky picky!
Said we can’t sing, can’t play, can’t write anyway!
New name – old name – carry on, with such insane fuckers everywhere,

Whatcha gonna do about it?
Whatcha gonna do about crazy crazy?
Whatcha gonna do about romance?
Whatcha gonna do about tense moments?

So I gotta new girl blonde girl big mouth big heart y’know I like her,
But they say she’s too noisy, atomic girl!… atomic girl!
New York – L.A. times rock & roll magazines, said we couldn’t make it
But here we go again on rock and roll radio, rock and roll radio,
People tell me everything I need to hear about what we need, what we
Got, what we’re never gonna get

Old singers gone away – whatcha gonna do about it? gold records rock &
Roll n’ why dontcha sound like you used to in ’65? ’69? ’75?
Everybody stand up, they got to make a comment, critics said they’ll
Never make it, never make it, never never never never never never never
Never never!

Fuck you! we do what we want!
Chaos comin’, keep strummin’, louder & louder & louder & louder,
Whatcha gonna do about it? whatcha gonna do about crazy crazy? whatcha
Gonna do about it? whatcha gonna do about dark ages? whatcha gonna do
About nite time? whatcha gonna do about Walter Cronkite? whatcha gonna
Do about romance? whatcha gonna do about the economic price index?
Whatcha gonna do about llluuuuuv? whatcha gonna do about tense moments?
Whatcha gonna do about crazy crazy crazy crazy?

Whatcha gonna do about it? [7x]
War & toxic chemicals and mister Rogers n’ true love n’ the end of
Civilization n’ muzak n’ the ptl club n’ Ronald Reagan n’ guns n’ the
Draft, b52’s n’ nuclear fission dc-10’s n’ cancer science fiction brain
Control drugs n’ sex n’ buddha n’ 714s 45s eight billion people jesus
Krishna n’ everybody n’ rock and roll surrealism – everything
Everything everything everything!

Fuck you! we do what we want!

writers: Jefferson Starship in 1976 (left to right: Pete Sears, David Freiberg, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Grace Slick, Craig Chaquico, and John Barbata)