Friday Music
Good one this week, in my humble estimation.
First off — long-time readers will recall that I introduced many of you to “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, months before it hit the airwaves, and then was stunned when it became a radio hit. Well, I’ve got a treat for you: the lead single from their follow-up album, The Odd Couple, which won’t be released until April. It’s just as brilliant, although whether the fickle radio-listening public will react, or whether Gnarls Barkley will be enshrined as a “one-hit wonder” remains to be seen. But DAMN — listen to this: Gnarls Barkley – “Run.”
At the Sharon Jones show this week, the between-acts DJ played a bunch of soul, including an instrumental version of this track, which reminded me how much I like it. I’ve always preferred this grittier, darker version, over Dionne Warwick’s more famous and far more sugary take. Isaac Hayes – “Walk on By.”
One of the best bits of news for a New Yorker like me: Rudy Giuliani, the fascist thug once described by Jimmy Breslin as “a small man in search of a balcony,” failed to convince voters that he was “America’s Mayor” and dropped out of the presidential race. In honor of this joyous news: The Specials – “A Message To You, Rudy.”
Speaking of New York, I’m quite pleased that I managed to track this down.
At the request of The Minion, here is the song that Apple is using in the ads for their new MacBook Air. Yael Naim is an Israeli singer-songwriter, and this particular track is quite sweet. Yael Naim – “New Soul.”
I know that I’ve already posted this one, but it’s been a couple of years. One of my favorite tracks from Rufus Wainwright, both for its lyrical content, and for it’s blending in of Ravelle’s “Bolero”: Rufus Wainwright – “Oh What A World.”
Lastly — time to share the pain. From the god-awful soundtrack to the cringeworthy mid-80s film Dragnet, a song that Tom Hanks would probably like to see stricken from the cosmic record, but which contains one of my favorite lyrics of all time: “We just like to dance in our GOAT-SKIN PANTS, around this ancient ruin!” Dan Aykroyd & Tom Hanks – “City of Crime.”
Ouch.
Stupidity
A reader over at Andrew Sullivan’s blog sent in a response to one of his posts that so totally echoes my opinion, that I’m not going to bother with a “Me, too” post — I’m just going to quote it in full right here.
Sullivan had ended an earlier post (about the potential that Clinton could win the nomination) with the line: “the Democrats aren’t that stupid, are they?” To which a reader wrote:
“Yes, yes, we are.
In fact, we’re probably even more stupid than you can possibly imagine. After all, we’re too stupid to realize that when we worry that the Republicans say we’re weak, we are being weak; too stupid to realize that when you consent to an Attorney General who won’t say whether waterboarding is torture, you get an AG who says later that waterboarding is not torture if it’s done to the right people; too stupid to realize that people want us to confront Bush more, not less; too stupid to realize that Hillary voted for the war with Iraq and another possible war with Iran; too stupid to realize that the Clintons both supported limited torture until the polls said otherwise; too stupid to realize that the Clintons are totally unethical (and why? because Bill is so damned charming!); too stupid to recognize that Bill Clinton sold us all out (I’m sorry, but gays and lesbians were not the only ones to give hand over fist only to be disappointed); too stupid to realize that 50% of the country will never vote for Hillary; too stupid to realize that we’ve got our Reagan, the reincarnate of JFK, staring us in the face; and too stupid to realize that, for the first time that I can think of, the most liberal candidate is the one that is most acceptable to independents and Republicans.
We don’t deserve to win this election if we don’t nominate Obama. And you’ll see a lot of Democrats like me abandon the party if we don’t. Just watch. It’s hard to keep associating yourself with this kind of ineptitude.”
That’s exactly where I’m at — after years of meekly backing down, rolling over, not fighting for us, equivocating on the shredding of the constitution, on warrantless wiretapping and even on goddamn TORTURE…. If, after all that, the Democratic party is so fucking stupid as to reject a new and inspirational paradigm in favor of the same old shifty, triangulating approach to politics, pulling campaign tactics out of the Rove playbook, hoping for a 51% win…..
Well, then, if that’s the case, then they deserve to lose, and I’m done with ’em.
I don’t even understand why it’s even close — If a Republican had dismissed Obama’s win by saying “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina twice” and then pledged to grab delegates that don’t exist (after earlier pledging to honor the rules), we’d be screaming our heads off in anger. Just because they’re The Clintons doesn’t make it forgivable.
She voted for the war on Iraq. She compounded this by voting to declare Iran’s republican guard a “terrorist organization” — giving Bush another opening. She was in favor of “harsh interrogation” before the polls made it clear that the American public knows torture when they see it. Plus, she has refused to say whether she’ll roll back the power-grab of the executive branch.
And yet, she could still win this. Wake up, people.