American Crisis Playlist #3

What year is this?

You might be forgiven for forgetting what year we’re living in (not to mention the day — JUNETEENTH — or even the day of the week). I am looking forward to yoga with Jessica at noon, so it must be a Friday. My older daughter is in town and will be practicing too. We won’t be in the same room — too little space, too much feedback — but we’ll be together in Namaste.

I’m unsettled this morning, though. I had forgotten that the state of Mississippi still harbors the Confederate battle flag in its state flag. That’s quite a message. I thought life was easing some in the Old South. The Southeastern Conference is asking Mississippi to remove that emblem of defiance and slavery. What place does it have, what purpose does it serve, today? When I was a kid growing up in Alabama, we studied the Civil War in at least three grades.

History, despite what some believe, doesn’t evaporate just because we no longer fly or worship certain symbols of oppression.

And speaking of Alabama and the SEC, former Ole Miss and Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville is running for the US Senate, hoping to displace Democrat Doug Jones. Jones successfully defeated accused pedophile Roy Moore for that seat back in 2017. Jones also successfully prosecuted Klansmen who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham back in 1963, a story I feel sure you’ve heard.

Tuberville’s claim to fame is leading Auburn to an undefeated season in 2004 and finishing third in the final poll that year, and defeating Alabama six times in a row — a remarkable achievement, which absolutely qualifies him in Alabama to enter politics, with the endorsement of Donald Trump. Tuberville’s primary opponent is Jeff Sessions, and far be it from me to say who goes with Satan more closely in this matchup.

But I don’t live in Alabama any longer, and I don’t vote Republican — not even as a crossover renegade.

As Joseph Goodman at AL.com writes this morning, once Tuberville wanted Ole Miss students to quit bringing the Rebel flag to football games. Now…well, let’s say that he doesn’t end his twitter feed with #BLM.

I wonder what music Tuberville, Sessions, and Trump listen to? Actually, I don’t really care.

So here are more tunes to disquiet you or rouse your inner anti-Confederate spirit.

AMERICAN CRISIS PLAYLIST #3

1. “People Make the World Go Round,” The Stylistics. From the Best of, which absolutely should be in your Tunes library. Old 1970’s Soul rushes through me like nothing else I hear. I see my mother driving us to Birmingham on a rainy day, our radio helping us negotiate traffic and my anxious moods. Man, the brass section in this one and the steady, soothing rhythm. Plus the voice. It’s hard to love people these days, yet it’s what we have. Ourselves, that is.
2. “1979,” Smashing Pumpkins. From Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. When the bass kicks in, I drink more coffee by reflex and want badly to dance. The song looks back to a year we can all claim. I graduated from the University of Montevallo then. Twenty-three years old, I thought I knew so much. What does infinite sadness mean to me or you? “Justine never knew the rules, hung down with the freaks and ghouls.” I knew girls like her. Like Jada.
3. “I’m Afraid of Americans,” David Bowie, from Earthling. I stole this one from a story my Medium friend Jessica Lee McMillan wrote a while back, found on this site (The Riff). I miss David and had somehow missed this song. There’s an alternate version, enhanced by Trent Reznor, so have fun and take a moment or two to wonder what non-Americans think about that stupid flag still flying over Mississippi. Despite what you might think, Bowie was British, and Finland is not a part of Russia.
4. “Straight to Hell,” The Clash from Combat Rock. I’ve written before how watching The Clash on SNL back in 1981 felt strange then and impossible now. Joe Strummer with his mohawk. My friend Les talked to me about a friend of his who more or less freaked out at watching Strummer do this song. At Strummer, which means he didn’t listen closely or think about the residuals from our incursion into Viet Nam. It’s what we said to those poor children; it’s what our Leader is still saying to them, and us.
5. “An Cat Dubh,” U2, from their first album, Boy. I remember when Jimbo bought this record at Charlemagne in the 5 Points South section of Birmingham. This was 1979 again, and I wondered what else Jimbo knew that I didn’t. Think about the first New Wave record you ever heard and what doors it would open for you. This was my first, not counting David Bowie who, as we all know, transgendered white rock earlier and more often. In some ways, I think U2 was never better than on this record. In most ways, I’ll amend. Boy.
6. “A Day in the Life,” The Beatles. If you don’t know this album, what is so wrong with your world? Do you live in Mississippi or Alabama? In Alabama, we used to burn Beatles’ records. How many Beatles songs can Jeff Sessions name? I think today is Paul’s birthday. “Woke up, fell out of bed…” Sorry, that was me. My favorite Beatles’ song next to “Cry Baby Cry.” And while I’m not putting it on this list, follow this one sideways with ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky,” but only if you’re happy or stoned. Or both.
7. “At Your Door,” Chromatics, from Cherry. In case you want to know, while I write, I drink medium roast coffee from Red Rooster roasters out of Floyd, VA. I also listen to heavy doses of Chromatics. I used to listen more to Beach House or The XX. “Give me your hand…” I think I want this playing in the minutes that I fade on out of here — a good while from now, so please note and remember. And don’t open if you see the whites of their sheets.
8. “Double Oh-Oh,” George Clinton, from the 1985 record, Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends. So much I could say here. Actually, I just wrote about jokes and friends a few days ago: https://readmedium.com/can-we-still-be-friends-d1519ed8ca09?source=friends_link&sk=1ed2e65d4e1c6917b903c5b3d74a9fce. But back to George: now, when he says “This is My Country…My Country Tis of Thee,” it somehow means more. Still out there from the Mothership? You can dance and protest at the same time on this one.
9. “yankee and the brave,” Run the Jewels, from RTJ4. I think they know “charlatans” when they see ’em. RTJ gets better with every release, I think, but what do I know? More doors to enter and discover what I didn’t consider. More people are turning on to Killer Mike these days, and we know why. I’m not gonna bait The Great Divider/Denier by asking what he thinks, because I know he doesn’t. He can’t. Nor can he dance, though I can’t get the image of him and Jeffrey boogeying that one night at one of his clubs.
10. “Missed the Boat,” Modest Mouse from We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Danceable, too, but I’m afraid that everyone isn’t ashamed and while I’m feeling positive right now about “change,” as they say, I might be “laughing all the way to hell.” But let this one carry you and me on the newer wave of anti-racism and prove that all of us were and are created equal. Which means we have to face our inner Tommy Tuberville some day. Why not start this moment?

Thanks as usual for listening and indulging. Send me a postcard, drop me a line. I’ll be here.