This is what one of the Gallagher brothers (of the band Oasis) asked the audience halfway through a concert attended by Dalrymple, who was serving at the time as ‘vulgarity correspondent’ of a British newspaper. Dalrymple reported:
Gallagher’s attitude of untouchable snarling insolence was not lost on his audience, of course; and neither will have been its effective endorsement by [then prime minister Tony Blair’s] invitation. What is the point of restraint and circumspection if such stream-of-consciousness vulgarity can win not merely wealth and fame but complete social acceptance?
