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A new low for Mitt Romney has been a repeating theme for months. How many times can that superlative be applied? Unfortunately, every time he earns it. And he has, yet again, even at the very end. His campaign is stealing dead people's music.
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We have all seen conservative politicians steal music and then incur the wrath of the songwriters and performers who would never want to be identified with them. Remember when Sarah Palin stole Heart's "Barracuda" and blasted it at rallies until Ann & Nancy Wilson put the heavy legal threats to her? Similar experiences were reported by the Eagles, Willie Nelson, Neil Diamond, and many other artists.
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Now, Mitt Romney -- famous for profiting from the dead, in the form of assassinating companies he acquired and then liquidated through Bain Capital -- has found a way to steal music and escape the disapproval of its writer: Just use music by a dead guy. And make it a REALLY arrogant act that rubs the nose of the dead guy in it, by stealing WHAT you steal.
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When his private plane pulled into the hangar full of supporters in Ohio late Monday, the loudspeakers blasted "Fanfare for the Common Man."
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That is a signature composition by Aaron Copland (1900-1990). The same Aaron Copland who wrote "Appalachian Spring." Same guy who won an Oscar for Best Film Score. Same Aaron Copland who was acclaimed as "The dean of American composers" during his lifetime. And the same guy who was Blacklisted in the '50s during the McCarthy era. Copland was a friend of FDR and a lifelong progressive.
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Safe bet he'd have been pissed, not just because SOME Republican stole his music. After all, he wrote his famous "Lincoln Portrait" on a WPA grant, when the Federal government supported the works of artists during the Depression. No, not just some Republican stole his music. It was Mitt Romney, the poster child for the 1%, the guy from the Monopoly Game boxtop without the monocle and top hat.
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Clearly, this is one more example: Romney just feels entitled, to anything he wants.
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So we must now find some way to purge the offensive image of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, two champions of unapologetic greed, waving at a crowd from the steps of a private jet backed by "Fanfare for the Common Man."
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We soooo want this episode of the Twilight Zone to be over!
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The Acoustic Americana Music Guide's coverage of tonight's live music scene in Southern California, plus good music on TV today and tonight, is in a separate edition available two items below or in the sidebar at left, depending on which edition you are reading.
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9 comments:
Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead! Karma, baby.
Somewhere I hope Aaron Copland is enjoying the last laugh.
You raise profound issues: how often do the power elite embrace the anthems of the common man while feeling a sense of entitlement to have or do whatever they want, all with utter disregard for what that does to the well being of the common man?
Beautiful statement, Larry; thank you so much for writing it and calling my attention to it. Dylan used to play Fanfare for the Common Man (not perform it, but play a recording) before he came on stage. It was very moving and perfectly captured the spiritual background of his own music.
But then, more in line with your observations, Anita Bryant recorded Phil Ochs' Power and the Glory.
Despite the comic absurdity of such associations, it is also a testament to the power of music to transcend political categories--not necessarily a bad thing if you believe in music.
Fingers still crossed; it is so nice to hear from your always reliable and illuminating voice on Election Night.
Warm Regards,
Ross
I feel like Browning once said of God in his Heaven:
Obama's in the White House And all's right with the world.
Another chance to get it right.
Ross
I just want to point out that lots of people steal music and feel entitled to do it. But burning a bootleg CD or copying tunes to your iPhone is different than USING someone's music for self promotion. And I get it that politicians talk about leadership and set such crappy examples. Maybe if they said 'you're not entitled to steal something just because you can' and behaved that way, we would have more people we could respect.
Isn't this throwing salt in the wound? So your guy won. Our guy made a lot of mistakes running. Your guy has been one big mistake that all of ys have to live with.
(Here it is, with typo repaired)
The editor replies, RE: "salt in the wound..."
The Guide published the piece Tuesday morning. At that time, most political pundits were predicting a late night, and possibly days before we would know who won. So it was not published to gloat, when the outcome was yet to be decided.
Beyond that, every recording artist and songwriter / publisher is faced with theft of their music. The article touches on that, and emphasizes the difference between a thief who takes for personal listening and one who steals and exploits someone else's music for their own very public self-promotion.
The best way to stop theft for exploitation and to prevent it happening again, is to call to account anyone who does it. That especially applies to someone on the national stage who claims to care about all of us, and espouse entrepreneurial money-making as the solution to every problem. Does that not include the artist who composes original music?
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