As I venture through middle age, it’s amazing some of the strange and obscure things I remember from my adolescence. Such as the middle name of my first serious girlfriend: Miriam.
One truly inexplicable memory that’s stuck with me is that of my high school youth group buddy, Stacey. When it came to music, she didn’t have a favorite band, or even a favorite song. No, Stacey had great affection for brief moments in the middle of popular tunes. Like a fleeting Keith Richards guitar lick. Or a Mariah Carey high-C note. Or — since it was the 80s, after all — some fancy synthesizer work.
For me, always a voracious reader and wannabe writer, my passion has been directed toward a brilliant lyric. Sometimes, it’s just a line that is particularly clever or moving or instructive.
So, in salute to Stacey, I offer my Top Five Pop Music Lyrics:
5. “…And Then Meeting His Beautiful Husband.”
I hate Alanis Morisette’s “Ironic.” I simply hate it. Here’s this extremely bright and insightful singer/songwriter who just set the world on fire with her extraordinary breakup song, “You Oughta Know“; she comes up with a catchy tune and a great thematic idea…but then totally flubs the execution. Nearly every example she gives of “irony” is not irony. Rain on your wedding day sucks, but it’s not ironic, unless maybe you’re a meteorologist. A black fly in your Chardonnay is gross, but does not even approach irony. I get Marvin the Martian angry whenever I hear the song; so when an acoustic version popped up on the radio recently, I used it as a teaching moment for RPette #2, who was sitting shotgun in my car. But as I was about to explain to her why learning that an attractive, appealing man is married is not ironic, Alanis pulled a fast one on me and changed a word from the original version of the song: “It’s like meeting the man of your dreams/and meeting his beautiful…husband.” As a recently admitted and very proud gay marriage proponent, I had to smile: One of my favorite lines appears in one of my least favorite songs. Isn’t that ironic?
4. “This’ll be the day that I die.”
“American Pie” is one of those songs you either love or completely despise. Some claim it’s a brilliant symbolic exposition of the history of rock music; others term it a childish recitation of popular events, a la Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (which would be #2 if I compiled a Top 5 list of horrible songs by musicians I love — right behind “Ironic,” of course.) Blame it on my adolescent nostalgia (“American Pie” was one of the few songs I could play and perform roughly in tune), but I fall in the former camp. By positioning Buddy Holly’s death as a critical moment in rock history, and transposing Holly’s most famous lyric, McLean evokes tragedy with appropriate reverence to one of rock-n-roll’s original masters. With forty years of distance, the Mick Jagger/Satan metaphors later in the song seem a bit overwrought, but “This’ll Be the Day that I Die” still rings sincere and true today.
3. “OJ Simpson…Not a Jew”
In every generation, there’s that seminal moment: An event so memorable that you can remember exactly what you were doing when you learned it happened. For the Greatest Generation, it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor. For Boomers, it was JFK’s assassination. For us Gen Xers, at least of the Hebraic variety, it was Adam Sandler’s first performance of “The Chanukah Song” on Saturday Night Live‘s “Weekend Update.” As I’ve argued previously at this site, America’s Seinfeldization — the prominent public emergence of so many proud and open Jewish comedians during the 1990s — helped pave the way for the historic Joe Lieberman candidacy in 2000. And the pivotal moment was learning from Sandler that so many revered celebrities (Paul Newman! Harrison Ford!) had Jewish blood. So, midway through the song, when the comedian name-dropped OJ Simpson — who infamously was in the middle of the trial of the century — I took a deep breath, and was finally able to exhale with a belly-quaking laugh, relieved that he was no Member of the Tribe. That line doesn’t provoke as much laughter today, but at that precise moment, it was the funniest line ever written. (2011 Postscript: Casey Anthony…Not a Jew).
Read the rest of… The RP: My Top Five Favorite Pop Music Lyrics
Last Friday, in my role as a contributor to Politico’s “Arena”, I responded to a question about the presidential candidacy of guitar-playing, wise-cracking Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter. Was there room for him in the Republican field?
Sure, I replied. He can join Newt Gingrich in filling the comic relief void. He starts out, I noted dryly, with national name ID approximating that of my dad.
Several people told me they found my remarks amusing. But as I had the chance to reflect over the weekend, I realized that – with all due respect to Mark Halperin – I was being a dick.
I disagree with most of what Thaddeus McCotter – who calls himself a true constitutional conservative – espouses, but people shouldn’t mock passionate, sincere candidates just because they are longshots. And of all people, I definitely shouldn’t mock them.
***
When I decided to run for Congress in 2004, I was a nobody: a 29 year-old adjunct lecturing at a local university while trying to complete my Ph.D. I had no money, no political base and no name; my staff was a ragtag crew of students. The leading candidate was Russ Carnahan, scion of Missouri’s most powerful political dynasty: the “Kennedys of Missouri.” Russ’s dad was a two-term Governor and his mom a U.S. Senator; my dad had been a golf coach, a sportswriter, a pool hustler, and adverstising copywriter, and my mom counseled children with special needs. Ten candidates filed; Carnahan led the field by 40 points.
I set two benchmarks for myself, one concrete, the other less so. The real benchmark was that I vowed to raise $100K in my first quarter, somehow.
The second benchmark was somewhat less scientific. One evening after teaching, I went across the street from campus and canvassed a neighborhood to see if people would take me seriously as a congressional candidate, or if they thought I looked too young (I was a boyish 29, 5’6” and 120 pounds soaking wet). I knocked on about 40 doors.
The first door was answered by a thirty-something woman who immediately after my introduction asked me point-blank if I was pro-choice. “Absolutely,” I said. She said she’d vote for me as long as I didn’t waver on that issue. I thought to myself, OK, there’s one vote, at least I won’t get shut out.
A few doors later an older man asked me if I supported stem-cell research. “Absolutely,” I said, and he said he was a genomic researcher and would back me as long as I supported the right to unfettered scientific research. Two for two. I can do this.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman opened her door, and I introduced myself. “Hi, my name’s Jeff Smith, and I’m planning to run for Congress next year, but just wanted to come by today and see if you have any questions for me.”
She looked at me quizzically. “Where are you coming from?”
“Uh, well, from campus, actually.”
“Oh, yes, you must want to see Janie. Hold on one second.” She called up the stairs, “Janie, come on downstairs, there’s a young man here who wants to talk to you, he’s running for Student Congress.”
“Tell him I’m busy, Mom,” came the disembodied voice of a college girl.
I was too embarrassed to explain myself. I said goodbye, walked back to campus, and started thinking of how I could raise $100K in 3 months, which I did, barely.
***
No, I'm Thaddeus!
Thaddeus McCotter knows exactly what I realized back in 2003: Primaries are about finding niches. And the terrain he encounters is not unlike the one I faced nearly a decade ago: a crowded field, but one in which he can identify possible niches to fill.
I knew there would be at least seven candidates (ultimately there were ten), and with each candidate to enter, the race became that much more attractive to more candidates, given the declining percentage needed to win. I spent weeks looking at numbers, analyzing different combinations, figuring out if there was enough space for me to fill. I estimated that with seven candidates, one could win with just 28-29% of the vote, and that the entrance of another candidate or two could reduce that number to 23-24%. For me, every decline in this number made the race more appealing, because the fewer votes needed to win, the more important each vote became. And the increased importance of each vote magnified the influence of a grassroots campaign relative to a money-and-media-driven campaign.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jul 6, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Laughter
Did you ever play the telephone game when you were a kid? It’s the one where you whisper a message to someone, send it around the room and see what it turns into. Well, this website has a similar tool that uses Google Translate to translate your message into over 20 different languages. [Translation Telephone]
Who ever created this advertisement probably was not an engineer. [picture]
Yeah, I’m not sure things work the way you think they do, Observer in Hampton. [newspaper]
In today’s Facebook culture, we all have an opportunity to share with the world our favorite pop culture: books, magazines, musicians, movies, etc. Head to my page, and you get a candid look at the artists and writers whom I enjoy — from Springsteen to Twain to Tony Soprano.
But while I don’t mislead my “friends,” I must admit — particularly from my previous political perch — that I’ve never engaged in full pop culture disclosure. Indeed, I have some unusual favorite acts and shows about which I’m a little embarrassed to admit.
Since part of my recovery as a recovering politician is complete candor, I will now finally admit some of my most guilty pop culture pleasures. I hope you still respect me in the morning.
Here goes:
5. ” I Want it That Way,” The Backstreet Boys
A boy band? Why are you looking at me like that? First of all, two of BSB are Kentucky boys; one’s even from Lexington. Sure they’re purty. And frankly I can’t stand most of their music. But have you ever listened to this song? The harmonies are exquisite, the lyrics are charming, and the performance is pitch-perfect. I even get a little verklempt listening to it. So what if I make sure my car windows are closed before I start belting the chorus along with them? I am proud to finally admit it — I want it that way!
4. People Magazine
Finally, 20 years of blackmail by my barber are over. No longer will I hide my People underneath a Sports Illustrated cover. I will revel in the celebrity-friendly gossip, the true tales of ordinary bravery or tragedy, the truly significant debate over who is really the sexiest man alive! (My vote still goes to George Clooney.) While I never touch the mean-spirited tabloids, and I’ve outgrown the uber-sophomoronic lad mags, I will now fully embrace my inner fanboy and simply accept that a haircut is not complete unless I have scoured two Peoples. And I dare you to try to resist its all-American charm.
3. MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenges
If Real World is the grandaddy of reality programming, than this “spinoff” is its seriously deranged cousin. I’ve recently grown tired of the standard Real World formula: take 7 great looking, stupid young people, give them lots of alcohol and watch them fight and “hook up.” The Challenges take the prettiest, the stupidest, and the least alcohol-resistant, take them to an exotic location, ply them with booze, place them in ridiculous competitions, and offer the “winner” loads of money. Watch them scheme, backstab, betray, and otherwise destroy each other. What results is the week’s funniest 60 minutes of television.
Read the rest of… The RP’s Top 5 Guilty Pleasures: What Are Yours?
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jun 15, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
The Politics of Laughter
A woman turns to social media (Facebook, specifically) to try and gain an upper-hand on her ex-husband. Not everything was as it seemed. [Time Newsfeed]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jun 8, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Laughter
The U.K.’s version of America’s Next Top Model allowed fans to vote on their website for who they want to see as contests during the next season. All I have to say in regards to the person holding down the #1 spot in fan voting is “Go, Roland, go!” [next.uk]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed May 25, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Laughter
President Obama’s trip to Ireland in 12 parts. [picture]
You really learn how many people just do not get satire when you look at the reactions to The Onion’s article: “Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex.” You have to imagine these people don’t get out much. [Facebook]
A very cool (and unexpected) exchange between an iPhone app user and the creator of the app. [XSellize]
3. “OJ Simpson…Not a Jew”
