The Cover Of The Rolling Stone

If you are a member of my generation, you most likely remember the song The Cover of the Rolling Stone which premiered in late 1972. Written by Shel Silverstein and performed by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, the song was intended to be a parody of the lifestyle of rock singers. However, upon hearing this classic hit a few days ago I realized that it was a wonderful lesson in the power of visualization or, as Dr. Wayne Dyer often says, “thinking from the end.” This forward thinking viewpoint shows up in the first verse of the song where the lyrics declare:

Well, we’re big rock singers
We’ve got golden fingers
And we’re loved everywhere we go (that sounds like us)
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten thousand dollars a show (right)

Even though these lyrics most likely did not reflect the band’s objective reality at that time in history, they set the intention and stated the objective as a reality. This is a practice often recommended by life coaches and spiritual teachers but seldom understood by western students. Western students tend to confuse the power of visualization and the spoken word with wishful thinking and fantasy because they lack a critical ingredient – action. In order for the Universe to guide you to your goal, you have to be moving! Simply saying something does not make it so, and is properly identified as wishful thinking or fantasy. However, with the combination of word and deed, we find the true power of transformation. By stating the goal as an objective reality and declaring that reality to the universe, we not only set the intention, we also commit to the vision. This, in turn, animates our intention which, guided by our supporting action, manifests into objective reality. In the case of Dr. Hook, they produced and preformed a parody song that although written to poke fun at the lifestyle of rock singers, set their intention and notified the Universe that they intended to be on the cover of the Rolling Stone – a long shot to say the least for a little known band who, in 1972, could claim only one hit to their four year career. However, by combining intention and action, they animated forces that took them to the number 6 spot on the U.S. rock charts and landed them on the cover of the Rolling Stone on March 29th, 1973…three months after the release of The Cover of the Rolling Stone.