An election-day special, while I fret all day about the Democrats winning a few Senate races hundreds of miles away, with a few songs I’ve talked about in the past, and one new one.
Vote – The Submarines
A fantastic song from my favorite band of the year, with a message (“this system’s broken and I’ll never vote again”) that I’m not quite ready to believe in yet.
Let’s Not Talk About It – The Mendoza Line
Who doesn’t love The Mendoza Line? This is one of my favorite songs by them, about the elephant in the room we all do our best to ignore.
Power and the Glory – Phil Ochs
A great song from one of the best politically-oriented artists in American history. He emphasizes the important message, reminiscent of the famous quote from Eugene Debs (who received 913,664 votes for President in 1920, while in prison, by the way):
Yet she’s only as rich as the poorest of her poor
Only as free as the padlocked prison door
Only as strong as our love for this land
Only as tall as we stand
In addition to being a beautiful piece of poetry, this is a profoundly optimistic vision. To believe in America is to believe that it can continue to grow, that the situation we find ourselves in is not inevitable.
State of the Union – David Ford
His take on love, life, society, religion, politics, and pretty much everything else, it does a great job of engaging the modern zeitgeist in a steadily escalating stream of short verses. It begins quietly and then just builds and builds. It is not a screed directed at any particular group or idea. Rather, it is a lament for 21st century life, with two short phrases being repeated throughout the song: “it’s a shame,” and “we are lost.”
This is nothing new, of course. Artists have been fighting against the meaninglessness of life since time began. But the beauty of this song is that it does not purport to be anything more. It is not an explicitly political song, except insofar as it reveals the difficulty in being a political being when faced with what can often seem to be a world gone mad. It is a song about trying to find your way in a world that often doesn’t make much sense. Nothing more, nothing less.
President – Dan Bern
It isn’t a presidential election year, but this is more of a platform-oriented song than anything else, so it seems to apply. Dan Bern is hilarious, and pretty right, and it shows here. This is from Stuart’s Opera House back in 2004.
Vote early, vote often, and vote for Democrats. Let’s get Nancy Pelosi some power…
I’ll leave you with some thoughts from a great Simpsons episode:
Kang: Abortions for all!
[crowd boos]
Kang: Very well, no abortions for anyone.
[crowd boos]
Kang: Hmm… Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others.
[crowd cheers and waves miniature flags]
Also:
Kent: Senator Dole, why should people vote for you instead of President Clinton?
Kang: It makes no difference which one of us you vote for. Either way, your planet is doomed. DOOMED!
Kent: Well, a refreshingly frank response there from senator Bob Dole.