Just now, driving through town, I had the radio tuned to the local AM talk station, and after the local news (interesting item, see extended entry) the intro music for the Sean Hannity show came on. This is the Unpleasant Situation part. The intro song has this, oh, I don't know, America-Kicks-Ass/Retribution/Nasty-but-Sung-Sweetly vibe to it:
.... Let freedom ring, Let the white dove sing Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay It's Independence Day
Then the song transitions to Carmina Burana, a very stirring classical piece (though others have discussed it, and this intro before.) And there I was thinking not only was it bad enough to hear the "roll the stone away let guilty pay" part which manages top put top man of peace Jesus in the same vicinity as, oh well, you get the picture, but that Orff's piece was every day associated with the (along with some other hideous uses in movies, including the not-very-much-redeeming-value-besides-a-hot-young-Helen-Mirren Excalibur ) delights that flow from Hannity's mouth.
Then, oh yes, I had a Happy Thought. And oh! what a Happy Thought it was, because I then remembered the other thing that is regularly introduced by the playing of Carmina Burana. You lucky few know what I am talking about, yes indeedy, I am talking about the live show of the Flaming Lips. And rather than being followed by Sean Hannity, Carmina Burana is accompanied by the frenzied swatting of giant multicolored balloons and followed by (at least in the most recent concert tour) Race for the Prize, confetti and delirious fun.
The Happiest Thought yet? At this weekend's
"Life is a lot better if you don’t have to escape from it all the time. If you can deal with the bad then the good’s gonna come just by accident. Imagine the good days after that!"
Ah yes, Orff and balloons and confetti. Very good days indeed.
As we at Bloodless Coup speculated some time ago, the US military has been having troubles meeting its recruitment quotas. Last month the targets were missed by over 14%. West Virginia recruiting, however, does not follow that pattern, and its National Guard units are at 100% or better. The report said that in Washington, WV was considered a "shining jewel" because of its recruiting success. Hope they remember that when they reexamine the base closings.
Posted by binky at July 13, 2005 04:10 PM | TrackBack | Posted to MusicBinky,
I'm glad you're having a good day. I just want to make sure you know that song wasn't written for Hannity's show. It's by Martina McBride and it's about an abusive alcoholic who's beating his child until finally the child's mother stops putting up with it and shoots him. It's about rebirth through overcoming those who bring suffering, and even if you don't like Hannity or even Bush, it's a beautiful song.
Morris, I know that none of those songs were written for Hannity. I do think Hannity is, well, not worth listening to, as opposed to some of his talk radio brethren who actually produce evidence of rational thought (e.g. Boortz, with whom I do not generally agree, but do not doubt engages his brain cells on a regular basis).
I do disagree with you on the beauty, however. And as for the message and author, well, I'm not going to come out in favor of vigilantism and my church upbringing was far too New Testament to not experience cognitive dissonance with the juxtaposition of the resurrection and punitive message. The tune itself sounds like pop pap to me, but, hey, not everyone like Led Zepplin either.
As for Bush, he wasn't anywhere in the picture.
Posted by: binky at July 13, 2005 11:44 PM | PERMALINKAnd, it's finally become clear to me what the nagging annoyance of the song was, the one I couldn't put into words. It reminded me of some other song, that very well could be by the same woman, if not, well... it's the song from the America's Funniest Home videos. You know "America, America, this is you... (bump bump da da dump)." Urgh.
Posted by: binky at July 15, 2005 11:24 AM | PERMALINK