Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.
Joshua L. Liebman
Grammies 2012
I used to follow pop music very closely; as a young man, I often went to the library to check out the latest issue of Billboard (this, of course, was some time before the Internet made the charts available in split seconds). I literally haven't listened to a local (or Internet) radio station for probably 2 or 3 years; I'll occasionally take a peek at the charts. I've never been a fan of rap or hip/hop (although I like some crossover R&B and, of course, Motown, which I'll feature on my musical interlude segment at some point in the near future). It seems legitimate pop hits rarely stray into the Top 10 of the Hot 100, although I've noticed clusters of Fox's Glee singles in the lower two-thirds of the chart (frequently covering hit songs during my youth.).
The big winner of the night was a British singer Adele; I'll be frank--I was not impressed by what she did on stage tonight (beyond winning every major award), but I find some singers and their performances are more of an acquired taste. She, like many musicians (including those from my generation), writes her own material. Songwriting and singing are different skills; I believe in the law of comparative advantage when it comes to pop hits. Almost any talented songwriter wants the hottest new singer to cover his or her songs; I have written some (very forgettable) songs, poems, short stories, etc. (no, I won't publish them on my blogs), but in the unlikely event I would ever get a recording contract, and I had songwriters like Jimmy Webb, Barry Gibbs, or Diane Warren (just to mention a few), willing to write for me, it's a no-brainer. Even the Beatles and Stones covered other people's material in their early days. The question Adele has to ask is how she follows up this year's sweep: go back over the history of those whom similarly swept the awards, and you'll find candidates for "Where Are They Now?" I bet every talented songwriter out there wants to be part of Adele's next project: if I was in her shoes, I would take full advantage of that.
I think the reason I tuned in tonight, for the first time in years, was more out of curiosity as to how they would handle the tragic death of Whitney Houston. I understand an autopsy was supposed to have been in process or completed today. There are more stories out today, although I don't know the reliability of the resources. There are some reports earlier over the past week she had a disheveled appearance and was profusely sweating; that her bodyguard found her and/or she had drowned in her bathtub. No evidence of alcohol or illicit drugs in the apartment, but reportedly there were (unidentified) prescription pill bottles in the suite.
I give a general thumbs UP to the Grammy organization for a respectful handling of Whitney's death, from a simple prayer at the beginning of the evening to Jennifer Hudson's reprise (below) of arguably her biggest hit--Dolly Parton's "I'll Always Love You" which hit #1 in the US and every other country tracked in her Wikipedia discography. She was the first (and only?) solo singer to hit 7 consecutive #1 hits (from "Saving All My Love" to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?"); she had 3 #1 albums and a #1 soundtrack. Unfortunately, she barely charted over the past decade, her last top 10 hit being in 2001 (in all fairness she did chart 4 #1's on the US dance charts afterwards).
I loved seeing Paul McCartney up on stage to perform his latest hit "My Valentine" which has a nostalgic, timeless sound about it. I was also thrilled to see the Beach Boys reunion and to see Brian Wilson at the piano singing what I think is one of the most brilliant pop music songs ever, "Good Vibrations"
And, yes, I'm also going to embed (for the first time in a while) the Boss' new song "We Take Care of Our Own", which led off the Grammies tonight. One of the reasons I did so was an interesting Heritage Foundation post suggesting that that the Springsteen song ironically speaks to American conservative values, that the references to Katrina is a testament to the failures of Big Government while conservatives believe in more decentralized authority at the state and local area, in alliance with charities, churches, and volunteer organizations (e.g., Habitat for Humanity, the Lion's Club, etc.)
I think that's a stretch, and before any of the GOP Presidential candidates think of trying to use the song as a campaign song (as if any Republican doesn't realize Springsteen's active support of Kerry and Obama), let's remember how many people completely misunderstood his song "Born in the USA" which really reflected more of a jaded point of view of a Vietnam veteran; the anthem feel to the song was more ironic. You can find a number of published opinions of "We Take Care of Our Own" (e.g., here and there)
I think people are overanalyzing the song. I believe that the title/chorus "We Take Care of Our Own" (and any trappings, say, ostentatious displays of the flag) is ironic, in the same way "Born in the USA" was: far from a patriotic song, he is criticizing not only the government, but the people themselves as being disconnected from what is going on around them. He made a similar pitch about the disconnected masses during his hit "Radio Nowhere", i.e., is anything I'm writing getting through to you? In fact, I view "We Take Care of Our Own" as an updated version of "Born in the USA". Consider this salient reflection on "Born in the USA":
This was the story of a Vietnam vet who returned home to his own country scarred by his experiences in the war, only to discover that the economy in his hometown was crumbling and he had little hope of a better future or even a job. After serving his country, his country failed him, leaving him with "nowhere to run / ain't got nowhere to go." The song's anthemic chorus its meaning (as Springsteen intended it, anyway); "I was born in the USA!" is not so much a rah-rah patriotic cheer, in this context, as it is a heartbroken lament. Is this really what it means to be an American, to suffer in a pointless war and then suffer doubly in unemployment and hopelessness upon the war's end? Is this really the American Dream? I was born in the USA! It's not supposed to be like this…
What's particularly interesting is how Springsteen's intro to his show-opening number was misunderstood. A Yahoo post, critical of the Boss' "unfortunate choice of words", notes (my edits):
At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, the Boss sounded tone-deaf [given the news of the death of the music industry’s own Whitney Houston] as he asked, "America, are you alive out there?"The writer does go on to note the Boss often starts out his concerts reprising the theme from "Radio Nowhere", but I think that the writer's overall point is a superficial analysis. It seems obvious to me: how do you know a person is alive? From his or her behavior: e.g., does he respond to something you're saying to him. From a songwriter's perspective, is my song nothing but "words, just words" or is my underlying message getting through to you? And I think what Springsteen is really going for here is not pops from the audience, but for them to show they get his message by reaching out to those other people in this disconnected world. Far from being oblivious to Whitney Houston's death, I think perhaps he was trying to say there are a lot of tragic stories like Whitney Houston all around us, but those individuals are largely unknown, without Whitney Houston's justly deserved celebrity.
The chorus is ironic if you read the verses: he's paraphrasing Christ on the cross (why have you forsaken me?) He's not only saying Big Government let us down during Katrina, but so did our local communities. I also think he wants to contrast how we treat and honor our military veterans with parades and holidays, standing ovations at airports, shout outs at church and public events, etc. But what about the people struggling at home? Where is their support system? Who's looking our for them? Where are their parades? What happens once the parades are over?
In fact, I think he's taking a slap at the evangelical conservatives with the Jesus reference, implicitly accusing them of hypocrisy (big surprise there), and I suspect that he is arguing that we are militarily defending is a system that doesn't take care of their own. I think far from reinforcing conservative or libertarian themes, he's implicitly arguing a communitarian theme: Big Government needs to go beyond its Big Defense mandate and pick up the slack for the failed status quo, but he's also arguing, as former Speaker Tip O'Neill, that "all politics is local". What is being addressed by the federal government seems abstract, remote and detached, disconnected from the everyday lives of most Americans: the Katrina tragedy calls into question the pragmatic significance of American ideals.
My interpretation would probably be rejected by Springsteen himself, but in any event I don't share his bleak, pessimistic view of the status quo. For example, during and after Katrina, I saw cities like Houston taking in a number of displaced New Orleans residents; I saw thousands (if not millions) open up their wallets (myself included) to the American Red Cross and other worthy organizations. I saw retailers like WalMart leverage their existing logistics network to get supplies into the city. I saw heroic efforts by the US Coast Guard.
Oscar-winning actress/singer Jennifer Hudson's Tribute
"I Will Always Love You"
Romney Hasn't Won Over Sarah Palin:
Should We Care?
Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Sen. Scott Brown, Christine O'Donnell, Gov. Nikki Haley... What do these candidates have in common? They were all high-profile Tea Party-supported candidates--and all are supporting Mitt Romney. So is Senator McCain, her running mate in 2008. RollCall is maintaining a list of Congressional endorsements of the GOP Candidates. Mitt Romney, the only one who has never served in Congress, has 76 endorsements to date, including a baker's dozen of Senators. Only 1 Senator endorses any of the other 3 candidates: Rand Paul, whom is supporting his dad. Gingrich has 11 endorsements, a third of which are Georgia Congressmen (i.e., his home state); Ron Paul has 2 Congressmen (besides his son), and all 3 of Rick Santorum's endorsements are from his home state of Pennsylvania.
I have to admit that this blog is not a friend to Sarah Palin. I have been one of her strongest conservative critics. But what annoys me is that Fox News is paying her big bucks to give trite commentaries that don't even begin to approach the quality and depth of this free blog. "I trust that his idea of conservatism is evolving, and I base this on a pretty moderate past that he has had, even in some cases a liberal past." This is a paraphrase of Newt Gingrich's talking points where he alternately calls Romney a "Massachusetts moderate" and a "Massachusetts liberal". And this is after she endorsed Gingrich for 2 primaries: South Carolina and Florida.
This is pathetic analysis. First of all, Gingrich is on the record in praise of RomneyCare (before he became a Presidential candidate). Gingrich supports industrial policy (Romney doesn't). As I mentioned in a prior post, Romney was a venture capitalist, not a community organizer. Second, what Romney did in Massachusetts was very similar to what the Republicans put up in 1993-1994 as a preemptive compromise to HillaryCare. The Bush Administration was threatening to blow open a nearly $400M hole in the Massachusetts state budget by withdrawing Medicaid money. ObamaCare differs in many ways from RomneyCare: it expands the Medicaid program, it is determining benefits and mandates on a national level, subsidies are radically expanded and funded differently, the IRS is expanding to enforce a mandate (and Romney's version of the mandate allowed people to opt out with a bond of responsibility). Romney redistributed money going to support hospitals in the form of subsidies for private-sector insurance carriers.
I'm not concerned with what Romney said on social issues to get elected in a liberal state like Massachusetts. He didn't want the Democrats to portray him as a right-wing ideologue. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state multi-fold. The only way a Republican can win is to draw independents and moderates to his or her side. Romney wasn't going to be able to enact a right-wing agenda when nearly 90% of the legislature is Democratic.
Finally, let us point out that Ms. Palin has been a hypocrite: she raised business taxes, she was a poster child for earmarks as mayor and governor, and state spending went through the roof while she was governor--almost the exact opposite of what happened under Romney as governor.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Guess Who's Randy Bachman: BTO, "Let It Ride"
