So, after having a full 12 hours to digest last night's Bob Dylan/Will.I.Am Pepsi commercial, I have come to this conclusion: It certainly could have been worse.
Which also means that it's probably the best thing Will.I.Am has ever done. But let's not let my feelings for the man cloud the issue: For all the hype, the Pepsi commercial — dubbed "The Refresh Anthem" — was not nearly as terrible as I expected it to be. It took Dylan's "Forever Young" (from his '74 album Planet Waves) and, uh, "mashed" it into a duet with Will (or, more specifically, he raps a verse), and the end result was a surprisingly satisfactory hip-pop tune, not — as I had feared — a pornographically harrowing violation of a treasured artist's legacy, as is usually the case with these sort of things.
Still, while I am (relatively) at peace with the song, there's one thing about the spot that still bugs me: the sentiment. Are we asked to believe, just because they trade verses — and a pair of Ray-Bans — that Will is this generation's Dylan? That he is the voice of our times, a rambling, shambling wordsmith who battled injustice and unrest with his songs? If that's the case, then is "Let's Get it Started" the answer to "Blowin' in the Wind?"
And if that wasn't enough to make your head explode, the commercial went on to juxtapose images of John Belushi with Jack Black — you know, one portly, unshaven comedian to another — and Gumby to Shrek. The point, as we are reminded at clip's end, is that "every generation refreshes the world" and that we are supposed to feel hopeful, like keepers of the flame or makers of great art. But all it made me feel was sad. We don't have a Dylan, or a Belushi or even a Gumby. All we have is a rapper/producer who always wears hats and is playing Nightcrawler in an upcoming "X-Men" film. And Jack Black. (Oh, and an animated Ogre.) There's no permanence in our generation ... nothing is tangible. Sure, it's easy to get caught up in the joyous vibes of this election, but if you stop and look around for a second, you'll notice that things are pretty lousy right now. They will probably get worse before they get better.
So, you know, in a cripplingly depressing aspect, Pepsi's commercial was a rousing success. And, for once, it wasn't entirely Will.I.Am's fault.