When I was in college, I coined the phrase “the Led Zeppelin Effect” to describe a type of imitation that irritated me. It’s quite true that Zeppelin’s sound is imitative of the best of blues, folk, and roots music, but they are competent musicians who fused those artistic elements with rock and roll. This fusion became known as heavy metal. The imitators who irritated me had long hair and played loudly but lacked the competent writing and playing skill to create anything worth listening to. This was true of many, many bands in the 1970s continuing until today. They want to play their guitars loudly without understanding what the guitar solo in “Kashmir” accomplished musically. They like loud drums without hearing the way in which the bass line and drums create a leitmotif within the song narrative. The wink and nudge in the lyrics is at least partly humorous rather than just gross. Most bands also lack a John Paul Jones-level talent that elevates every song he touches.
Some of the worst of this occurred during the 1980s when the “hair bands” became a regular feature of pop culture. Screaming, banging, and hairspray were not a great team. While there are certainly a few talented musicians still producing music, I do not think that popular music has yet recovered from this syndrome. One can see it in the obscene cavorting of modern performers.
If one is inclined to notice, many areas of life suffer from the Led Zeppelin effect. I’ll start close to home. In the traditional community one finds many good-hearted people trying to live our faith. Occasionally, though, one will find writings of or have an in-person conversation with a traddie who thinks that the high-culture time we should imitate is the 1950s. All women should be in fascinators and synched-waisted dresses. I understand the desire for an easy or pat visual to cling to when surrounded by porn, but we peasants may not wish to dress like that. There are plenty of ways to dress modestly.
Lev Vygotsky’s Center for Defectology in Russia broke actual ground on methods of teaching children with disabilities. Most academic research now is a xerox of a xerox of a xerox. Too much disability research focuses on jargon and self-esteem rather than interventions that might be helpful. Why would we need another study on the use of terms like “ableism” when those students drop out of school at over double the rate of the non-disabled? If one can tolerate blue language, look up the hoax journal articles published by Peter Boghossian, James Lindsay, and Helen Pluckrose. They imitate the language and silly ideas of academe with such panache that it’s impossible to fault them for the scam.
Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Fred Allen said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of television.” Find any successful television program or movie of the last twenty years and following it will be dozens of imitations in form, characters, or narrative arcs. Even those originals that are not actually high quality, but are merely financially successful, will find many imitators on their heels. One need only count the number of superhero movies since Bryan Singer brought the X-Men to the big screen to see this phenomenon at work.
All of protestantism suffers from the Led Zeppelin effect. Could one actually walk away from our Risen Lord in the Eucharist if one truly understood who He was? I do not mean to disparage protestants by saying this. I know many protestants who are sincere in their faith and trying to lead holy lives that lead them to heaven. Protestantism is the problem. It is an imitation that fails to understand the gold standard.
I love reading about the lives of the saints. Many of the details of their lives inspire me and give me hope. I find much in their lives worthy of emulation, but if I’m not careful I can find myself living the Led Zepplin effect in my faith. When I first read the revelations from Fatima, I began praying the rosary daily. Because I didn’t really know how to pray it, though, I started as just an imitator. But with prayer trying seems to count, and as I learned how to meditate on the mysteries while saying the decades I began to truly pray the rosary instead of just saying it.
Over the years I have read about saintly austerity and been deeply moved by the willingness of those who wish to be closest to Christ to sacrifice even basic necessities for him. Little Jacinta Marto was only six when she deprived herself of water while tending sheep. The Franciscans I knew in South Bend slept on the floor and did not eat if food was not donated to them. They went barefoot even in the northern Indiana winter. Saint Rita lived on the Eucharist for something like four years.
When I have tried to imitate certain of these austerities, I have found that they are not sustainable for me. While it is laudable for any Catholic to seek greater austerity and mortification, we must do so with the humility of our station in life and the dispositions God has given us. If I lack humility or self-awareness, I could do my own faith or the faith of those around me real harm.
It is also true that certain calls go to certain people. Padre Pio could actually see his guardian angel. I can’t. Anthony of Padua, Francis Xavier, Martin de Porres, María de Ágreda, and Alphonsus Liguori, among others, were able to bilocate. I’m here in one place. Saint Vincent Ferrer could speak to tens of thousands of people without amplification. Even with my operatic training I can’t do that.
God asks me to live my life, not just imitate the lives of those who are my betters. I want to be a saint. That means I have to listen for His voice in my life, not just imitate the mortifications I admire.
Part of why Led Zeppelin was a great band was that they were working to be the best in an area where they excelled. If I can’t be excellent in a particular area, that doesn’t mean that I can’t excel elsewhere. That’s what we all need to do. There’s plenty of work in the vineyard; we need to find our own work. I have a friend who is great at recovery counseling, but shies away from pro-life work. I have another friend who is fearless at the gates of the abortion clinic, but can’t imagine counting money after Mass. If I’m great at cleaning, I should clean the parish every month with the altar society. If I’m not already great at cleaning, I can mortify myself by doing a great job at that task even if I never actually clean my house that well.
We are our brothers’ keepers. I count on those around me to tell me when I’m falling short if I don’t see it. If we all pull together toward the Kingdom, we will not only have a more fully realized aesthetic experience while here on earth, but we’ll have many more saints among us to learn from.
