Greatest Song Evah 11/10/23

Powderfinger

A damn near perfect song. This was a song that Neil Young was working on for a while; as he has cleared out his archives in recent years we have heard several embryonic versions of it, but it finally saw the light of day at the exact right time. It kicked off the electric Side 2 of Rust Never Sleeps, one of his creative and commercial peaks.

In the 90’s people started calling Neil Young the Godfather Of Grunge, and this is a prime example why. With its muddy guitars and heavy bottom it almost sounds like it could have been recorded in Seattle in 1992. It’s the lyrics that raise this one to a whole ‘nother level.

It tells the story of a young man killed while defending his home from a gunboat invasion. It’s never specified what it’s all about; the best guess is that it’s part of a battle between rival bootleggers. The song is narrated from beyond the grave by the young man & is filled with so many lines that are gut wrenching and/or heartbreaking.

“And I just turned 22, I was wondering what to do. And the closer they got the more those feelings grew.”

“Just think of me as one you’d never figured would fade away so young, with so much left undone.”

And that’s not to mention the shocking description of the actual moment of death.

The production on the song makes the whole thing even better. The heavy guitar hook following each verse really resonates, and the guitar work in the instrumental breaks is even more ferocious. This one is now almost 45 years old, and it still kicks just as hard as the first time I heard it.

Dems In Array

Election Day was sooooo close to reaching perfection for the Democrats. Kentucky governorship - retained. Abortion rights codified in Ohio. Legal weed in Ohio. Holding on to one chamber in Virginia and flipping the other. The only loss came in the governor’s race in Mississippi, but that was always going to be a longshot. It is worth noting, however, that Brandon Presley ran on an anti-abortion platform. Would a pro choice Democratic candidate have stood a better chance?

Because it is clear that defense of reproductive rights continues to be a winning strategy in many races. We are seeing signs that transphobia is a big losing issue for the GOP as well. It was also a great sign that in a large number of school board elections the book banners took a beating.

Election results in the post-Roe era have been consistently encouraging. (Insert dog catching the car metaphor here.) That’s not to say that Democratic voters can be complacent going into next year’s election. That NYT/Siena poll that came out the other day showing Trump’s strength in swing states was discouraging, but so much can happen in the next 12 months. As concerning as Biden’s age is, just watching Trump these days shows that his cognitive decline is much more apparent than Biden’s physical decline. And we have no idea if Trump will be a convicted felon by the next election. So, keep calm, carry on, don’t take anything for granted, and remember that so many of those GOP reps from Biden districts have put themselves in serious electoral jeopardy with their support of Mike Johnson.

With this as a backdrop we heard the news yesterday that Joe Manchin will not run for another term in the Senate. He’s long been a perfect example of “with friends like this who needs enemies?” Too often he has sabotaged the Democratic agenda, but for better or worse we’ve been stuck with him. West Virginia is no longer a state that can send someone like Jay Rockefeller to the Senate. It has become one of the reddest states in the nation. Manchin is literally the only man with a D next to his name capable of winning a statewide election in West Virginia. So now we know that seat is lost; it makes it that much more vital that Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester win their races next year. There is little margin for error to hold the Senate.

In other words, Tuesday was a good night. But there is still a lot of hard work ahead.

TV Of the 21st Century - Justified

Before proceeding, a few words about the recent revival. Yes, it was solid. No, it didn’t match up to the original run. No, it didn’t require too much knowledge of the series to grasp the premise, but it helps. Yes, I wouldn’t call it essential viewing, but I would recommend it.

Now, to the original. Based on a series of novels by Elmore Leonard, Justified starred Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. At the show’s onset he was reassigned to an office near the Appalachian region of Kentucky where he had grown up. This caused him to reconnect with several figures from his past, such as his ex-wife, his abusive father with a criminal past, and most memorably an old colleague from his coal mining days who now runs a criminal enterprise of white supremacists. I like the fact that the show never tried to hide the fact that Givens is a bit of an a**hole.

One easy way to determine how great a TV a series is is to think of how many memorable characters it contains and this one had many. Olyphant was magnetic as the lead character, but no one stood out more than Walton Goggins as the aforementioned Boyd Crowder. One of the recurring themes was Givens’ divided loyalties between his past and his lawman present. He and Crowder dug coal together, and he could look at Crowder as a lesson of how easily his life could have turned out differently. And Goggins was revelatory in that role; he had already gained acclaim from his previous role on The Shield; this just solidified how amazing of an actor he is.

Like many shows, this one followed the Big Bad model of storytelling, spending an entire season combating one chief villain. One of the more memorable ones was Neal McDonaugh’s Robert Quarles from season 3. As a big city criminal from Detroit he assumed that the backwoods folks of rural Kentucky would be easy pickings. He soon learned that he was out of his element. He paled in comparison, however, with season 2’s big bad. Mags Bennett was portrayed by Character Actress Margo Martindale in an Emmy winning role. This was such a stunning depiction of subtle evil. She was intimidating without ever needing to raise her voice, or even threaten anyone in a menacing manner. She simply carried herself as someone not to mess with, and if anyone would dare cross her that would be the last mistake they ever make.

Special mention should also go to Dewey Crowe. An exceedingly stupid man who was way over his head in the criminal game, it was a testament to Damon Herriman’s depiction of the character that we kinda liked him despite there being every reason why we shouldn’t. One of my favorite episodes centered on him; a rival gang convinced him that they had removed both of his kidneys and would only reattach them surgically if he pays back the money he’s owed. That led to an episode long attempt to get that money which culminated in his trying to hold up a liquor store.

If you want an absolute hall of fame level supporting character, look no further than Wynn Duffy. A shady businessman who has his fingers all over the local criminal scene, he was a spectacular character who was perfectly cast. Jere Burns has got such an amazing face that allowed him to fully inhabit such an inscrutable character. His obsession with women’s tennis was such a wonderfully specific character trait as well.

All this and I haven’t even mentioned Mary Steenburgen or Sam Elliott or Kaitlyn Dever or Patton Oswalt. I admit I was torn I heard about the revival. On the one hand, the character of Raylan Givens did appear in a series of novels, so there is clearly a lot of story to be told, and there is no need to keep him tethered to Kentucky. On the other hand, the initial run really nailed its conclusion, more specifically it featured the perfect closing line. If you’ve never seen the show, I won’t spoil it. If you have, you know what I’m talking about. But Olyphant slipped so comfortably back into that role and into Givens’ signature cowboy hat. And I won’t spoil the way this one ended either. Suffice to say that it was another good one.

Final Thoughts On The Class Of 2023

Now that this year’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame class has been formally inducted with trophies and everything we can close the book on this year’s cycle. It’s worth noting that as strong as this year’s class was, it could have easily been better. Without much thought I can come up with an entirely different lists of 7 artists just as deserving as those that were enshrined, and so can you. That just shows that no matter what the results of any election are, it will always come with some disappointment as well. That’s partially due to the fact that voters focused on the boomer generation of rockers much too long, leaving too many deserving artists on the outside looking in. Current Chairman John Sykes appears to be aware of the generational/gender disparity/racial disparity issues and is proactively attempting to correct those problems, but it will obviously take quite some time to more ideally balance the composition of the Hall.

It’s never too early to look ahead to next year. Sometime in early January the nominating committee will meet to construct next year’s ballot. Looking at next year’s list of first year eligibles I don’t see anyone who jumps out. Lil Wayne? John Mayer? So it’s more likely that next year will be a good chance to catch up. I always wonder if some of the choices of performers/presenters at the ceremony are meant to serve as reminders for the committee. Does that mean next year could be OutKast’s year? Will Dave Matthews Band get another chance? Will Missy Elliott’s acknowledgment that Pepa was in the audience convince people that Salt-N-Pepa need to get in? I would imagine that the White Stripes and Cyndi Lauper will return from last year’s ballot, but which other artists from past ballots will be back? We’ll find out in a couple months.

Never Underestimate The Nanny

The labor movement has been on one hell of a winning streak. The latest evidence came with the settlement of the SAG/AFTRA strike. Few details of the agreement have been released, but the negotiation committee members say that it is an outstanding deal for the actors. To their credit, they held firm and called the bluff of the producers who claimed they had offered their final, best offer. Ultimately the producers blinked. They could have easily offered this same deal the first week of the strike.

It’s important to recognize that as glamorous as an actor’s life can be, in reality the majority of the union members are not much different from the auto & rail workers who have also recently staged successful strikes. This strike wasn’t about Leonardo DiCaprio, although he and others in his pay grade will benefit from the AI protections. This strike was about the actors who work in an industry in which long stretches of underemployment are the norm.

Now, the scramble begins. Which productions that had been shuttered will be the first to resume? How will the logistics of coordinating shooting schedules work out? When will new programming return? But most importantly, all of the crew members, caterers, surrounding businesses, etc. who had also been out of work are back in business.

SNL Preview

And one of the most immediate ramifications of the strike’s end will come with this weekend’s SNL, as Timothee Chalamet returns for a second time as host. Since there are no longer any restrictions on promoting material, the show is fully free to parody his upcoming Wonka & Dune movies. The strike likely ended too late for there to be any sketches - as quickly as the crew works, it still takes time to build sets & sew costumes- but expect some references in the monologue.

This is a week in which I am very excited over the musical guest - boygenius! You many recall what happened when Phoebe Bridgers was the musical act a few years ago; for some odd reason a lot of people lost their s*** when she smashed a guitar at the end of one of her songs. I certainly hope she’s once again planning on doing something that will p*** off terrible people.

Closing Laughs

Have a relaxing weekend, everyone! See you all on Monday.