It was January 1984, 35 years ago this month, when I first heard Van Halen’s then-new song “Jump” while on a shopping trip at (Canadian drugstore chain) London Drugs. I was mesmerized. And it’s been one of my favorite songs ever since. A few months later, I was watching the afternoon Canadian rock video show Video Hits on […]
Van Halen
How to worship yourself: Lessons from Sheila Larson and Van Halen
In 1986 Robert Bellah and a coterie of other sociologists published a landmark study called Habits of the Heart. One of the most memorable characters described therein was “Sheila Larson” who describes her own religion as “Sheilaism. Just my own little voice.” (Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life (1986), 221) While this might […]
