I Sing the Body Politic
With apologies to Walt Whitman and Weather Report
As I’m sure you will all recall, my last blog post was July 13, 2021. So it’s been a minute. What’s going on? How’ve you been? Anything new?
That last post announced Storytown’s first gig since the pandemic’s onset, at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn. So how did it go? Well, there was a big and unfortunately timed thunderstorm, very few people showed up (BIG thanks to those who did – I heart you), the band was shuffled on and off for one brief set, and … why are we doing this? Subsequently I fell into a bit of a funk about our inability to build much of a club-scene audience, I lost my will to write these posts, and eventually I gave up (for now) on performing live.
I’ve been intending to restart the posts for a few months, figuring I’d kick things off by a lot of whining about all that stuff I just shared. But – good news! – I have something else to talk about. I’ll probably still write a whiny post at some point, but let’s move on…
I recently released a new single, “I Hate Politics”:
It’s a bit tongue in cheek, but there’s a core of truth in it. And the recent and sad passing of Queen Elizabeth brings to mind the interesting relationship of the British monarchy to the politics that I rail against.
I admit, a tad ruefully, that much of my knowledge of Queen Elizabeth and the modern British monarchy comes from watching The Crown on Netflix. At least for me, the series did a good job of showing how the British monarch tries to stay “above” the fray of politics. As I understand it, in the UK’s version of a constitutional monarchy, the monarch “is above party politics or factional interests. The monarch is thus said to be a focus of national unity.”
Whether or not I (or the show) got it exactly right, I appreciate the appeal of having someone represent the ideals and values of the nation, both by emulating them in words and deeds and by not “taking sides” in the debates and disagreements of the moment. Those bickering factions on both sides of such debates do share the nation’s values, ideally and aspirationally at least, so that, no matter what “petty” political disagreements are roiling the populace, there should be some ultimate comfort and clarity and stability that derives from the monarch as the “focus of national unity”. Ideally, anyway. That said, it is a bit odd – even confusing and unsettling -- for someone in such a prominent position not to take sides in crucial matters. What do they really think, I want to know?
We don’t have a similar non-political “embodiment” in the US. Ok, maybe you say that the US Constitution is it. But the Constitution is static and quite flawed. (But AHA, you’ll say, the British monarchy is certainly flawed as well. Yeah, yeah, ok. Moving on…)
In the US we are saddled with interminable debates about what the “Founding Fathers” intended and whether all moral and ethical dilemmas were anticipated by this “sacred” document. And yeah, those so very wise “Fathers” made it so that we can amend the Constitution as necessary. But, well, in the end I don’t know if it’s actually succeeding as that robust core providing us all the comfort and clarity and stability that we yearn for. We yearn.
In the absence of some “above the fray”, shared core that we all can unambiguously love and celebrate, I find myself frustrated with all the hypocrisy, the compromising of principles, the erosion of ethics, etc etc. There seems to be no place (intellectually/spiritually) to gather as one nation and feel okay about how we’re doing.
I know I sound simplistic and naïve. Sorry! Just trying to make a simple point. I’m not a scholar of forms of governments, ok?
Some of you may remember that a couple of years ago my attempt to promote the “Broken Promise Land” song and video was flagged (and rejected) by Facebook as “related to credit, employment or housing, or about social issues, elections or politics.” I was then required to confirm my identity as a US citizen and to flag the ad as “paid for” by me. When I submitted the promo for “I Hate Politics”, I figured it had a 75% chance of being rejected. It talks about politics in the title! But, to my surprise, it sailed right through the process. Go figure….
In the meantime, I am somewhat disheartened by the level of “discourse” that the “I Hate Politics” promotion has engendered. Check it out. I guess I asked for it. Sigh…
My next post is TBD but will include more whining as well as more about what’s been going on musically in the last year. Thanks for listening.
