I mean this in more than one sense of the phrase. People who are not associated with
music will hardly ever notice the
bass playing and when told by a
bassist that he is a
bassist they will tilt their head to one side and look genuinely
stupified. After asking what the
bass is and seeing the actual
instrument, they will more often than not come to some conclusion along the lines of "oh, it's a
guitar". Any self-respecting
bassist's blood will go up at least 10 degrees at this degrading and inconsiderate statement of ignorance and either, try to explain further the importance of the
bass or just get up and walk off to mull about taking up
drums in the corner. The
bassist's life is a depressing one, the number of
jokes floating around regarding
bassists make us an
insecure and
unpopular bunch of
alcoholics.
Drummers for instance, who, if ever tried to sit an
IQ test did not find the building, generally act like
morons, yelling things like "fuck me in the
brain!" at the top of their
lungs still get more
chicks than
bassists after
concerts.
Oh naturally after a long series of taking the piss out of some
bassists, when asked to answer very seriously and still then, even after a few more
jokes, will a person admit than a
bassist has an important role in the
band, namely to tie the
drums,
chords and
vocals together. Without the
bassist a
band would be as screwed up as the
source code to
Windows, he is like the
C++ class that holds everything together. And due to people's inability to realize this, the
bassist is treated like a
maggot, small and insignificant, useless and with nothing to offer. No one congratulates the
bassist after a
concert, he doesn't have the
car, or the
hair and this is rigidly reflected onto his
social life.
The lack of acknowledgement towards the
bassist makes him a broken
television set permanently on
mute to his
friends. When the
bassist, debating with his group of
friends on what to do for the evening, offers an
idea, he is
shun, ignored and habitually told to shut up. He only speaks when spoken to and that is typically only when someone wants something from him, for instance a
ride home. He is never
telephoned, and has to beg to be allowed to tag along with his
friends. If the
bassist is not still a
virgin, he has not been with many and is definitely not screwing
groupies by the dozen.
Take the conventional
gig for instance, after the
show is over the
singer and
lead guitarist will sit down at the
bar to impress
chicks because they can get them free drinks for being in the
band. As the
bassist sits down, his two
colleagues will act as if they've never seen him before, and he will certainly not be served any free
drinks for being in the
band. Alas, unfortunately there will be no stories of a
bassist's sexual endeavors the next morning regarding two 18-year old
college girls. There will be no happiness or fulfillment, there will only be pathetic-ness. A
bassist is doomed to lead a dark, lonely life wallowing in self-pity and passiveness.