America, You Great Unfinished Symphony

How do I begin to write about Hamilton? The original cast album came out about a week ago. Before that, NPR was streaming it free for several days. From the very first listen, it took over my brain.I've been listening to it non-stop ever since, fighting with myself over the logisitics of going to see it on Broadway (next Spring/Summer depending on how long I continue to dither).

This is an incredibly dense musical, which accounts for most of my early listenings. While the story is straight-forward and easy to follow, there are so many layers that I'm still peeling them away, 20+ listens later.

Hamilton is a perfect melding of two American art forms: the Broadway Musical and Hip Hop, used to tell the early history of America while highlighting how relevant that history is to our country today. Of these things, I am most familiar with musicals and current events, so it was through these that Hamilton first got its hooks in me.

There are a wealth of references to other musicals scattered throughout the soundtrack. Everything seems to make an appearance. George Washington introduces himself "I am the very model of a modern major general." Lafayette boasts, "Who's the best? C'est Moi!" Hamilton falls into bed with his mistress claiming "nobody needs to know". The only missing reference is one to Miranda's earlier musical In the Heights, even though one would have been perfectly justified by the fact that Eliza Hamilton founded the first school in Washington Heights.

There are lists of references to musicals, which I had a lot of fun going through, but I almost had more fun learning about all of the hip hop references. Hip hop isn't a genre I'm all that familiar with, despite coming of age in the late 90s. Sure, I own both of Destiny's Child's albums, and I've heard all the music that made it onto TRL or the Now! CDs (basically the same set). I could give you a list of rappers like Biggie and Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog and Jay-Z. I could probably even identify some of their songs. But this was still something of a crash course in the history of hip hop. In between Hamilton songs, I listened to the songs in that article linked above. I've always loved books that encourage me to look things up and make new connections, and the fact that Hamilton encouraged me to do the same and made it so easy is a big part of the reason I've become so obsessed with it. It's a fantastic entry-point for a culture that I grew up adjacent to but never explored.

Other than the music, the big draw of Hamilton is the history. And this is what keeps me coming back for more. I'd hear a line and wonder, is that true? I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia and other sites, re-learning things I probably learned in high school. I spent time learning about the Compromise of 1790 and Hamilton's vision of Wall Street. I learned about the Federalist Papers and the Reynolds pamphlet. This musical highlights John Laurens, a strong anti-slavery voice. Who knows what would have happened if he'd survived the war?

And all of this history ties in effortlessly to the present day. Hamilton and Lafayette were both immigrants, and the show celebrates that status, even though Jefferson and Madison later use it against Hamilton. Hamilton and Jefferson fight about states rights, how much power to give the federal government, whether we should get involved in foreign wars. These are fights we're still having today. Moreover, the second half of "My Shot" is reminiscent of protests in Ferguson. It's a call to action that rings very true.

There are the more blatant jokes, too: a voter commenting that presidential candidate Aaron Burr seems like someone you could grab a beer with, Jefferson complaining that Hamilton's financial plan is too long to read. It all drives home the idea that we aren't so far removed from the founding fathers. They were human, too, trying their best to build a country.

This is the version of America that I love. The unfinished version. Things are better now than they were in the late 1700s. Things are always better now than they were yesterday, because that's the direction America moves in. There are people out there who like to talk about returning to when America was great, but the fact is that America is and always has been better in the future than in the past.. It probably always will be. And we'll claw our way towards that utopia, fight by fight, bill by bill, election by election.

More than anything else, this musical reminded me what I do love about America. It's so easy to get bitter during election season. To look at the mass shootings and sex scandals and endless debates that go nowhere and convince yourself that things are getting worse. But the truth is that it was always this messy. We have the tools to make it better, and while that doesn't make it easy, it does mean that we have to keep trying.

I've been talking about this non-stop since I first heard the album. Kevin commented the other day that he's never seen me this obsessed with something (to be fair, he didn't know me in high school). It's been a long time since I've been this obsessed with something. But I'm going to say it one more time. Go listen to this album. Open yourself up to a new art form. Learn something. Be inspired. Don't miss out on this masterpiece.

And once you've listened, come find me so we can dig into the details.

Christmas Concert

Kevin's mom sings in a number of local choirs, and every holiday season she performs in a variety of concerts in various venues around town. We usually try to make it to a few, but with time constraints this year, we were only able to attend one.

That one was the National Choral Arts Society's concert at The Kennedy Center. When we're in town, we attend this one on Christmas Eve, but this year we went to the abridged version earlier in December. The concert was on Monday night, and the length was cut down to accommodate that. But it was still a great show, perhaps better for clocking in at under an hour and a half.

Every year this concert is sponsored by a different ambassador, and music from that ambassador's home country is included in the program. This year the chosen country was Argentina, which made for a very fun concert. The Argentinian songs were performed by the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, who traveled to DC for this show. The music and language was just familiar enough for me to follow it, but different enough from my usual experience.

The choir also performed a number of traditional USian carols. And this year there was an extra treat. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers fame, joined in on guitar for a few songs. The guitar isn't an instrument I normally associate with Christmas music, but Silent Night was apparently originally composed for the guitar. It was cool to hear variations of these songs that I'm not used to. I left wishing we would be in town for the full concert this year. Hopefully next year's concert has some similar surprises.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Death

Oh man, it's the last day of the meme. Now I'll have to find something else to fill this blog with. I may have to go back to writing about actual stuff I'm doing. Which, okay, I do have some things floating around that are worth posting about. Not least of which is this year's super successful Halloweiner.

But for now, we will talk about songs about death. This actually took me the longest to come up with, which is a little weird. Given all the country music I listen to, I know plenty of songs about death and dying and grieving. But my brain kept getting stuck on Warren Zevon's I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, which is barely about death at all.

Once I got past that song, my brain moved on to Whiskey Lullaby, a duet between Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss. I fell in love with her voice all over again the first time I heard this song.

There's LA County, by Lyle Lovett. This song is so upbeat that it took me several listens to realize he was singing about a murder. It definitely seems like a murder he's happy to commit.

And I would be remiss to let this category pass without mentioning Will the Circle Be Unbroken, a staple of road trips for as long as I can remember

And so ends the music meme. If you come across another meme that looks fun, let me know!

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Breaking Up

I really like The Race is On by The Grateful Dead. Something about using the horse race as a metaphor is just so clever. Well, it was clever when I was seven, and I still love it.

I also really like Nickel Creek's Someone More Like You, which is wonderfully bitter and angry. Especially the line

I hope you meet someone your size
So you can see eye to eye
With someone as small as you

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Love

I will always have a soft spot for Warren Zevon's Let Nothing Come Between You.

I'm also a big fan of the Dixie Chicks' Lullaby. It so soft and beautiful.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Politics

My go-to song for raging about politics is Joe Jackson's Evil Empire. I listened to it non-stop when we declared war on Iraq and Afghanistan. I used it in a class project when we read The Handmaid's Tale. It was written in the 80s, but it remains relevant in today's America.

This video isn't the best editing job I've ever seen, but it was the only one on YouTube.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Religion

This has to be Emmylou Harris' song, Deeper Well. I heard enough Emmylou Harris in my youth to recognize her voice, but I never really listened to her. It wasn't until I finished college and really started exploring folk music that I burned all of my mom's Emmylou Harris CDs and started listening.

But that's not actually what introduced me to Deeper Well. Joss Whedon references the song in an episode of Angel. After I listened to the commentary for the episode, I found the song in my library and sat down to really listen to the lyrics. They're pretty fantastic.

Music Meme: Favorite Song About Drugs

I have a lot of drug-themed songs in my library. I even have a whole mix CD devoted to this topic, which my mom and I made after my stepmom gave me a very strange and rather belated "Don't Do Drugs" talk. One of my go to songs, which was actually included on that CD thanks to my mom is John Prine's Illegal Smile.

I've also long been a fan of Warren Zevon's Carmelita, probably even before I realized it was about heroin

Then I went to college and was introduced to Afroman's Because I Got High, which got played an awful lot. Listening to it still transports me back to the dorms at school.

Music Meme: Favorite Story Told in a Song

I'm a sucker for traditional folk songs and the Sweet Polly Oliver trope. My favorite story song, Jack A Roe, encompasses both of these things.

It's about a girl who's fiance, Jack, goes off to war. When she doesn't hear from him, she starts to worry and decides to follow him to war to make sure he's alright. She finds him on the battlefield and ends up saving his life. Then they get married.

But my favorite part about this song is that it turns into a marriage proposal at the end. The final verse is

This couple they got married, so well they did agree
This couple they got married, so why not you and me?

I've always loved that little twist, and I like the way it breaks the fourth wall of the song a bit.

Music Meme: Favorite Instrumental

I'm not generally a big fan of instrumental music. I tend to prefer songs with a plot, and that usually requires lyrics. But there are a few instrumental songs I've come to like over the years. The first is Black Mountain Rag, which was on a CD I listened to constantly growing up. Here's the legendary Doc Watson performing it:

And the second is by Nickel Creek. Most people prefer Smoothie Song, but I've always been partial to Scotch and Chocolate

Music Meme: Favorite One Hit Wonder

Can I pick The Grateful Dead? I mean, technically they only had one hit.

I went and looked up VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders to help me answer this question. And I was quickly reminded of such ridiculous songs as The Macarena and Who Let The Dogs Out?. A lot of these artists really didn't deserve a second hit. Which is probably why they never got one.

But there are some songs on the list that I enjoy. Songs like Tainted Love

Come On Eileen

And Eye of the Tiger

I'm not sure I could ever really pick a favorite, though.

Music Meme: Favorite Duet/Collaboration

A few weeks ago, a duet by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris came on my Pandora station, and I literally stopped working and just listened to the song. Their voices and styles fit together so perfectly. Then I discovered that they released an entire album together, and I got even more excited. I still need to buy the album, but here's a couple of songs from it

This Is Us

Romeo and Juliet

Music Meme: A Song You Don't Like By a Band/Artist You Do

I really like Nickel Creek, and I actually own all of their albums. But I can do without The Hand Song, which is a bit too overtly Christian for my tastes.

I don't really have a lot to say on this prompt. Sorry for the short entry

Music Meme: A Song You Like by a Band/Artist You Don't

I mostly don't like Rascal Flatts. They're one of the first country bands I sampled, since my mom owns their first album. But I could barely even make it through the whole CD. Even though I mostly enjoy country pop, they come down a little too far on the pop side of that line. It's as if N*SYNC decided to record a country album.

I can tolerate Rascal Flatts in small doses. They aren't offensive enough to my ears that I switch the station when they come on or anything. I just don't seek out their music.

That all changed with the release of their latest single, Banjo. I cannot get enough of this song. At first I didn't even believe it was the same band, because I enjoyed the song so much. Whether this is a one-time thing, or a sign of a new direction for the band, I'm really happy they produced this song.

Music Meme: The Most-Played Song in Your Music Player

At this point my love of country, and especially pop-country is inescapable. Eight of the top ten most-played songs in my player are by Carrie Underwood. Although that has a lot to do with my iTunes being reset shortly after college, which wiped all the statistics from before that and my discovery of Carrie Underwood around the same time. I basically had her first three albums on repeat for a month.

So the most-played song in my music library (with a whopping 36 plays) is We're Young and Beautiful. It's a fun song that reminds me of summer and young love and just being happy.

The other two artists that managed to break my top ten are The Dixie Chicks, with Long Time Gone

And Christian Kane with Crazy in Love

Music Meme: An Artist You Like that Your Parents Listen To

This is a bit of a weird question. There isn't much music my parents listen to that I don't like. It's where I got my love for The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Jackson, etc. Even artists like The Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris, and Nickel Creek came from my mom's CD collection. My musical tastes (except for the love of country) were pretty heavily influenced by my parent's musical tastes. So I could answer this question with "nearly all of them" and just move on. And I think I'll do just that.

Music Meme: A Song that Makes You Think of Spring

I love Nickel Creek, so I had to get them in this meme somewhere. They've got some great Spring-like songs, which makes them a good fit for this prompt. A lot of people go straight to Smoothie Song, which is pretty great. Though I personally like Scotch and Chocolate better. But for a real Spring song, I have to go with The Fox, for being nice and lively

I also find a lot of music by The Beatles to be very Spring-like. Especially this song about falling in love, though I'm grabbing the video from Across the Universe because I love it so much

Music Meme: A Song That Makes You Think of Winter

Winter is my favorite season. So I'm actually going to cheat here a bit and use a song about winter. It captures some of my favorite things about the season in a beautiful way. Emily Smith's Winter Song:

Most of my winter music falls under the category of Christmas Carols. And I am going to post one, even though it's a bit early in the year. Winter Wonderland has always been one of my favorite songs:

Music Meme: A Song That Makes You Think of Fall

Fall is a harder season than summer. There's not an awful lot of music about this season. More to the point, Fall wasn't something I experienced at length until I moved to Virginia. In Colorado it lasts about three weeks and in Southern California it's almost entirely non existent.

When I think of Fall, I think of things slowing down a bit. I think of that cozy warmth you get from sweaters and blankets, which is entirely different from the kind of warmth that accompanies a summer BBQ. So here are some songs that invoke some of those same feelings in me.

Almost anything Suzanne Vega sings has that warm cozy feeling associated with it. Here's one of my favorite songs of hers, Gypsy

Tom Waits also has a good Fall voice. I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You has been popping up on one of my Pandora stations a lot lately, so it's the first song that comes to mind.

Music Meme: A Song That Reminds You of Summer

 There are so many summer songs out there. And every year brings new ones that must be added to the list. I guess it's because summer is the season of parties, when you get to be carefree and just hang out. I certainly have a few songs that signify summer. They always remind me of those long, lazy days. Back when I wasn't working for a living and could actually a few months off from the rest of life.

First there's Smooth by Santana, featuring Rob Thomas. This song came out back when I was in middle school. It didn't even come out during the summer, but I feel like I've always associated it with the hottest season. Maybe it has something to do with the video. Either way, it never feels like it's officially summer until this song comes on the radio.

The next song on my summer play list is Maroon 5's Harder to Breathe. Actually, their entire first CD, Songs About Jane. I received it shortly after finishing high school and listened to it all summer long. I can barely remember listening to anything else that summer, though I'm sure I did. Any time I hear Maroon 5, I'm transported back to those post high school, pre college days.

A more recent summer jam is Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Spearhead. Again, I'm not sure this song was even released in the summer. But it's the perfect song for a hot, summer afternoon.

Finally, my most recent summer anthem is a song that came out last year. Kevin spent most of the summer in Alabama and his mom was out of the country for about a month, leaving me to feed her cat. It seemed like every time I drove over to her house Jason Aldean's Dirt Road Anthem came on my radio, which is impressive as it only takes about five minutes to drive to her place from mine. I think this song was just all over the radio, and I was spending a lot of time in my car. Either way, it makes me think of a warm, summer evening.