It's hard to see the human faces on our heroes

I have been a pretty huge Badly Drawn Boy fan for the last three years. I saw them at the Cat's Cradle during the 1+1=1 tour, and had the wonderful opportunity to hang out with them after the show a little bit while a radio colleague of mine interviewed the different members for our college station. About six months ago I caught snippets of a Badly Drawn Boy song in Target commercials. Of course the hipster in me recoiled a little bit, thinking "oh crap, now everyone will love him", but I got over that quickly, as it makes me happy when the things and people I love are succesful. I didn't care that Damon Gough had "sold out", Target, on the whole, is a fairly harmless company when compared to some of its competitors (though not to hear Planned Parenthood talk about it, though that is a whole other issue).

Sunday night however, I saw something that made me reasses my thoughts on the matter. Trackback... When I finally bought my copy of 1+1=1 in 2005, I read the liner notes (because I'm compulsive like that) and found that Badly Drawn Boy had been involved with a carbon neutral program for the production of the album. I don't have the exact information in front of me at the moment, but I will add it when I get home. What the partnership means is that Badly Drawn Boy paid to offset the production of harmful carbon emissions created in the production, packaging and distribution of 1+1=1. I thought that this was an amazing program to be involved in, and Badly Drawn Boy rose exponentially in my esteem. I used the carbon calculator to examine the ways in which I could reduce my own carbon emissions. I rode my bike more. Not that all of these things were a direct result of the band, but to give some context.

Imagine then my debilitating disappointment to hear Something to Talk About in a Hummer commercial Sunday night. Beyond Bob Dylan selling out to Victoria's Secret (a company which uses virgin growth for their catalogues), this was upsetting because of the pure hypocrisy of the action. I understand that there are all sorts of issues at stake in areas of marketing, intellectual property, negotiations with labels, and such matters about which I know very little. I also know however that artists negotiate their contracts, and that even while including the ability to sell songs for commercials, it is possible to say that they won't allow the songs to be sold to specific companies.

I love Badly Drawn Boy's music. I really enjoyed spending time with Damon Gough and the members of his band. I love his lyrics and his melodies. Returning the music that I have legally purchased does not send a message, but I don't think I will be purchasing any future albums. Additionally, I find it disconcerting that the thread to discuss this issue on the band's official website has been systematically shut down.