People may no longer be feeling the Bern but everyone's favorite Democratic Socialist gave Hillary Clinton much more of a scare than anyone could have predicted.
The Vermont Senator needed music to pump up the crowds at his speeches across America and I must admit I am always intrigued by the musical choices. For example, Hillary Clinton has relied heavily on "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten which makes sense on several levels. Donald Trump, also fittingly sticks to Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It". Bernie's theme of course is the same theme of this project: revolution. He has often thrown this word around in speeches and the soundtrack fits this ideology. Here is a look at the list Who wins the music contest between these candidates?
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This week I thought I would go off course, ever so slightly, with this selection.
A few things you should know about Sam Cooke if you've never heard of him. Just like Elvis is the "King of Rock and Roll" and Michael Jackson is the "King of Pop" most music historians will tell you that Sam Cooke is the "King of Soul". James Brown may be the "Godfather" of soul music but Cooke came first in the heart of the Civil Rights Era where violence and discrimination stained many corners of our great nation. During a seven year period, coincidentally the same years as the Little Rock Nine to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Cooke had30 top-40 hits. Most of his highest charting singles were typical pop songs about young love and feelings of loneliness and infatuation. Yet his most famous work was a far cry from his mainstream musical repertoire. In 1963, Sam Cooke was denied access to a Holiday Inn in the South since the facilities were segregated. Cooke's anger combined with other folk songs that were openly questioning and critiquing racism in society helped convince the crooner to work on what he hoped would be an anthem. The problem is that a "crossover" artist like Sam Cooke could not dare go political or risk losing his rather large fan base. Although involved in the Civil Rights Movement, Cooke wanted to do more with his music. Hence, "A Change Is Gonna Come" was recorded in early 1964. In December of that year, Cooke once again found himself at a hotel except this day he would be shot and killed by the owner of the hotel. The police officers ruled it a "justifiable homicide" and less than two weeks later this song was released as a single. Revolutions bring about change and sometimes you are living in moments of immense change. You are simply anticipating these moments, the precipice of history. Without question this is one of those times of immense change and tension. This song is over 50 years old but it rings true today. Listen.
I am going to go a bit off script here and yet it makes perfect sense for this website to have it on here at the same time.
The song is a country song by stalwart musician Martina McBride called, appropriately enough, "Independence Day" (which is coming up soon). Of course, if you know the song, there is nothing about Founding Fathers or revolution. There is definitely a cry of freedom and a violent one at that. I do not want to be too much of a spoiler so you can watch the video now if you'd like but the point is that a victim of domestic abuse gets her "independence" from her husband in one of the more permanent ways possible. This song and video were quite controversial at the time but it shed light on an important issue in our culture and this song served as a "declaration" of independence for countless women who heard the song. It is a modern day usage of a concept 140 years old (and in truth, much older than that). It also allows us to see how groups completely left out of the Declaration process have taken those words and engrained it in their own struggles and hopes. So listen to the lyrics and appreciate the vocabulary of the story it is presenting. Have a great Sunday!
While it might be easy to think the world only got hip to the Founding Fathers because of Lin Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks actually performed a similar feat in 2008.
Hanks and his company Playtone Records took the biography of a misunderstood, pugnacious Founding Father and give him the spotlight he deserved. Except unlike Chernow's Hamilton as the inspiration he used David McCulloch's book about John Adams. Adams, like Hamilton, were both figures that were hard to embrace by the mainstream world before their pop culture reboots. Adams was short, ill-tempered and arrogant. Hamilton was a little better looking but also arrogant, deeply cynical about the common man and of course had his rough childhood that set him apart from the affluent Founders. HBO made an awesome miniseries that used to carry the Revolutionary narrative in the 2000s until "Hamilton" came around. I find it interesting that both series marginalize the other. In "John Adams", Hamilton is a bit of side note and never given the full depth all the other major Founders would get. John Adams in "Hamilton", however, never even gets to appear on the stage. He is only referenced a few times and every time disparagingly. Maybe these two needs to have an epic beat down or rap battle and, if they do, this will be John Adams' theme song. Enjoy Following our theme of bashing on John Adams, here is a bonus song for your Father's Day.
"Hamilton" was not the first musical created on Broadway based on the Founding Fathers. In fact, to capitalize on the bicentennial, Broadway debuted 1776 to more acclaim than you might imagine. This product of the 1970s has all the political polarization, distrust and general melancholy you would expect of a musical made in the era of disco. This musical, like the HBO mini-series focused mostly on the role of John Adams in getting the Declaration of Independence written and signed. Its success even led to a movie adaptation starring William Daniels (aka Mr. Feeny from the TV show Boy Meets World). Here is a snippet to show you that the Founding Father really did not like John Adams. P.S. Yes the name of this song was sampled by Lin Manuel Miranda in his "response" to Adams' real life criticisms of Hamilton during the Adams Administration.
The most anti-revolutionary revolution song of all time.
In 1968 the world was falling apart. The Tet Offensive and the massacre at My Lai led to American outrage over the war in Vietnam. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed leading to riots and the Black Power salute in the Mexico City Olympics. Bobby Kennedy was shot not too long later. Counter culture, anti-Vietnam protestors were beat up in the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. Oh....and the Beatles released their song "revolution". On one hand it seems like this would be the right time to articulate the angst and frustration young people across the world were feeling. Yet that's not really what happened here. Instead, it was more a complaint or critique of these violent tactics being used by these protestors and a rather flippant cry to "count me out" of the anger and tension. The political left were certainly angry with the sentiment but it helped demonstrate just how murky the line was between right and wrong, good and evil. Revolution is complicated and that is why we are working this entire summer on this project. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Each week, to get you in the mood for the Revolutionary fervor I'll give you some tunes for the soundtrack of our discussions.
I actually heard this song during dinner one night and I heard one person say to another "I always think of First Wives Club when I hear this song." It's true, the original version has been around for decades but since we are in love with superhero movies and recycling music, these forces combined for this remixed edition on the Suicide Squad soundtrack. For some reason this remixed version gave me visions of some hipster remake of the Revolutionary War. In this bizarre movie playing in my mind this is the song that plays when the drunken Sons of Liberty throw the tea in the harbor and essentially the fire the rebellious strike that sends Britain into the maelstrom of war. When you have an obsessive knowledge of history and pop culture these weird mash-ups happen I guess. Enjoy the song...or not, the choice is yours. |
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August 2016
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