They think mentioning something is a good deed.

We like Nancy Griffith too, and many of her songs, one of which she says she wrote for her ex-husband who had fought in Vietnam. In introducing it, she says it took a long time for her to recognize the heroism and the suffering of those who fought in that unpopular war, and seems to be apologizing for her own ignorance.

It is interesting that you mention Joan Baez. I just bought her newest CD – “Day After Tomrrow” – I listened to it in the car and could not last through the whole disc. First, her voice is very, very worn. Stephen Holden (NYTimes) reviewing her most recent concert was very kind to her tho he did note that her voice is worn. He said that her sense of humor made up for it. But in addition to that, almost every song is morbid – the combo of her tired voice (she thanks two, not one, vocal coaches in her notes, which are not in the booklet – that is just pictures of her – but under the CD) and the morbidity of the songs is just too much for this old folksinger and admirer of Joan of Dark who used to be Joan of Light and Love. Although she was always dead serious about what she sang, the lightness of her voice made the sad ballads of human suffering into paradoxes of joy as well as sadness.

Three of the songs are by Steve Earle, and he is the producer. There are also songs by Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Eliza Gilkyson and others – but under her interpretation they all come out sounding the same – grim. In the song by Waits that gives the CD its title, we hear a soldier thinking that the enemy surely does not want to die any more than he does. If Waits is writing about the current war, I am not so sure he is accurate about the other side for whom death seems preferable to life.

Personally, although I voted for John McCain (please don’t tell the Blues!), I am excited that Obama was elected – from an historical perspective. And I do hope, following your Blog lead, that he rules from the center rather then from the Left. The ecstasy of the Obamamaniacs is understandable if a bit scary for it allows for no difference of opinion, or nuances beyond total acclaim.

But, as always, one has to deal with the arrogance of the Left who feel, almost monolithically, that they have the Truth and now are in ecstasy which goes beyond just feeling good that the country has in some respects taken a giant step forward. It is a very human, very religious, kind of feeling, but has little connection to reality.
Folksingers have a long history, from Joe Hill (who fought the Salvation Army by using their tunes and changing the words) on up or down (depending on one’s perspective) of preaching the Word of (not God) but The People (a kind of paganistic substitute for the Big Guy/Gal). That some of The People supported McCain – 46% – does not enter into the illusion of The People, Yes. Thank God (and The People) for your blog which seeks to bring us back down to the good old earth with all its complicated ingredients. Shalom, Bob Cohen