The Musical Stimulus Plan
Posted at 5:11 AM on January 29, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(37 Comments)
This just came in from Congressman Loomis Beechly, who represents all the water surface area in the state of Minnesota:
Greetings Constituents!I'm delighted to report that here in the House of Representatives we have successfully pushed the enormous new economic stimulus plan on to the Senate, where they have lots more desk room for this massive document. Hooray!
This package is important for the ruling party especially - they have to appear to be doing something, and this is certainly that. Over 800 billion of anything is a massive amount, even if it amounts to nothing eventually. And the opposition needs something to oppose so they can be the opposite of something, and this is sure a great big something to be on the other side of, so that's an important part of our political infrastructure that is already in place, and we just got started. Pretty impressive!
I abstained because I'm disappointed the plan did not have any bail-out language for fishing boats and canoes, nor did it include my proposed bait subsidies for hedge fund managers. Getting Wall Street's remaining financial wizard-people out on our lakes, sitting there for hours waiting for fish to bite, is crucial to the task of re-calibrating our economy. Right now these money manipulators live in a world where they expect to get paid huge amounts no matter what they do. The Hedge Fund Manager Bait Subsidy Package would do a lot to change that harmful bonus culture as it would teach these key individuals what it means to put in vast amounts of time on a project that has no measurable reward at all.
But I'm not going to dwell on the loss of my pet provision right now. It's up to everyone to develop their own stimulus package for the economy, so get out there and do what you can. Anything will be something, and something is what we're all about doing at this perilous time.
Sincerely,
Congressman Loomis Beechly
That brings me around to the only helpful course for a disc jockey; to provide some kind of musical stimulus. What songs should be played to help spark the economy?
Tunes about roads and bridges? Songs of the electrical grid? Should there be a direct infusion of money songs, or should I search for music about tax cuts?
If you give me a suggestion I can use, I'll list you as a sponsor of the plan.
Comments (37)
The first songs that come to my mind are the Beatles' tax man and what's the other one about money...titles? (early morning senior moment here).
the song i have in mind may not be uplifting in its message, but it does make me laugh every time i hear it. could you please play "when a rock falls on an egg...."
it's just so true. i gather about 12 dozen eggs a week it's true out in the coop and it's true in life. but i'm not trying to be depressing! it's stimulating to know the truth.
Morning Heartlanders. How about a song to make us feel loved and secure, warm and fuzzy... something to stave off panic and fear. Something like "You Butter My Bread" by the Divers. I haven't heard it in awhile.
The money song from Cabaret...
For inspiring songs, Marvin Gaye's "Save the Children" would be up there, to remind us of why we should be doing any of this.
For saving the environment, how about J.J. Cale's "Stone River". This should make Congressman Beechley think again about all his water surfaces.
And any songs about keepin' on workin', perserverance-wise. And being thankful for what we have already.
I'm hoping you could go over the the Current library and borrow a copy of something by the local musician Dosh to play for us tomorrow - Martin Dosh is playing this weekend at Carnegie Hall, opening for and accompanying Andrew Bird. Lots of us who have known Martin ever since he was a little boy would appreciate the tribute to him. (And I think we all listen to Heartland Radio.)
How about playing "She Works Hard for the Money?"
Good Morning RH!
Nostalgic songs influence my spending. This week's Captain Kangaroo conversations brought selections from his program to mind. I remember Horse in Striped Pajamas, Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch, and Swinging on a Star. If you could play any of those, I promise, it will send me into a buying frenzy! Of course, I'll be spending in SD, not Congressman Beechly's state. Will that matter?
To Mark - I appreciated your good natured remark yesterday on my post concerning elem. school administrators. I especially hope Elinor saw the humor in it since she must be an elem. principal herself? Most of all, I hope she doesn't personally know the school captain that I work for. Did I mention that 'Donna' isn't my real name? It's actually "Bunny Green Jeans."
How about encouraging songs along the lines of "Tomorrow" from Annie and the Beatles "Here Comes the Sun" OR reminders that we are in this altogether with "This Land IS Your Land" especially the more radical verses not sung in elementary schools AND especially for our governor some reminders to not balance the budget on the backs of the less fortunate like "In the Ghetto" but not the Elvis version?
Maybe Congressman Loomis Beechly could raise funds for the 9th District by selling the mix tape of your stimulus music.
The first song that came to my mind was Tom Waits "'Til the Money Runs Out" from the Heartattack and Vine album. Hopefully, the economic stimulus plan doesn't include verbiage about the selling of blood as a means to increase consumer spending on scotch.
I've got a feeling that Todd Snider's "Doublewide Blues" from his "Viva Satellite" CD might become relevant to an increasing number of folks.
And there are two obvious choices from Greg Brown.
"Worrisome Years" from "Down in There" and "All the Money's Gone" from "In the Dark With You"
I just requested "If I Were a Rich Man" but now I just thought about "Tomorrow" from Annie also. Have an abundant day!!!
I've been wanting to tell someone/everyone about the truly marvelous concert that Prudence Johnson and Dan Chouinard put on in Moose Lake Sunday afternoon. One of the songs Prudence sang so beautifully was "I've Got Plenty of Nothing" from Porgy and Bess. A little reminder of what things are important in this world that money can't buy.
@Bunny Green Jeans (Donna): As it turns out, I'm not an elementary school principal, though I used to be a teacher. (I'm a network engineer and Unix systems administrator. Not a very interesting thing to be.) I am well acquainted, though, with the jargon of the education environment. :D
Good Morning!
Pink Floyd's "Money" comes to mind (I'll be really impressed if it's in the MPR library!) and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" would be fitting as well and certainly in the library. Then there's "Time or Money" by Jim Ouska & Jane Aleckson that's right in line as well.
Dear Bunny Green Jeans,
You should have kept your real name private but the message that learning is more important than testing shouldn't be a private thought. Testing leaves open the situation where a district gets pinged for failing black students when in fact they are Somali students for whom English is their second language and their first language isn't commonly a written language. I wish our society had stronger support for education.
Oops, I'll get off the soapbox, sorry....
thanx for the Long and Winding Road, it certainly has been...
for me, anything by the Beatles makes me feel better!
ps, i like the strings too
Good morning....
The song that comes to mind for stimulating the economy and the funny bone is Tom Waits "Step Right Up".
"You can't always get what you want" - Rolling Stones
This song seams to be a perfect fit for a nation that is about to come to grips with the fact that our way of life is largely unsustainable.
"...you can try sometimes, but you just might find, you get what you need."
Well, who could forget Bob Dylan in his role as economic advisor during the Kennedy administration?
"My friend Bob, what do we need to make the country grow?" "My friend John, Brigitte Bardot...Anita Ekberg...Sophia Loren...country'll grow."
I don't think any of those babes were singers, but maybe there are some other bombshells that could sub...Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Eartha Kitt?
Love Noah's suggestion!
Also, the economic stimulus package certainly needs oversight to make sure that the money goes where it should, and there are no freeloaders. How about Jon Hendrick's "Freddie the Freeloader"? I was amazed the first time I heard this vocalese version. I had grown up listening to Miles Davis playing this song, but Jon Hendricks blew me away!
Well, I don't think Congressman Beechly is going to be much help on legislation to improve the economy, but let's hope our other legislators are able to do a little better than Beechly. Maybe a song like Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" or Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" would encourage some positive action.
How about "Break My Stride"?? Or "Oops there goes another rubber tree plant (High Hopes)"?? Being from Michigan, I think you should play any song that encourages folks to buy cars, too!
How about "You Gotta Know the Territory" from The Music Man? Gee, that'd be fun!
Good morning Dale!
How about "I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler" on the Precious Friend album by Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger? This seem pretty appropriate for stimulus/bailout talk.
-Eric
oh, yes, pink floyd! i second that one!
re captains: hey, paul, elinor, donna--i'm originally from sioux falls, living now in st. paul, and i too have a fond memory of being on the captain 11 show, and being lifted up by him to flip the switch to turn on one of the jewel lights---i picked emerald, as i recall--p.s. have you seen/read dave dedrick's autobiography? kind of a hoot, but kind of sad too (alcoholism).
so much fun to have these themes...
barb, i'm still thinking field trip to the goat barn...whaddayasay?
OR since you don't appear to be afraid of Annie, (I admit I'm a sucker for cheesey musicals. Perhaps this makes me a bad person, but I don't think so) we could remember how bad we don't have it with "We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover".
how about peter mayer's "easy street?" or is that what got us into this mess in the first place?
I know it's late, but maybe tomorrow B.B. King's "Help the Poor"
Albeit a poor venue for this comment, I just wanted to say for my family, we are so thankful for your show, the music, and your work. Up here, in bemidji, we've made the switch to running our internet radio through our kitchen radio, and after a few weeks of horrible mornings with only news or classical, you're back on our speakers.
Keep it up Dale.
Though I'm coming in late, I have read and like all the suggestions so far. I'm happy to see there are other musical theatre buffs who thought of the Annie & Fiddler song connections, but also thought of Billy Holiday's "God Bless the Child", which puts out some interesting comments on 'having' and 'wanting' in one's life. When you think about it, there are a multitude of songs about wanting good things in love & life that definitely translate to "economic" terms... It will be fun to hear the final results! Thanks for continuing to make my morning (and afternoon & evening) so musically enjoyable and stimuating!!
I'm late to add my comments, too - but what comes to mind is "Before the Money Came: The Battle of Bettye LaVette" (by Bettye LaVette) talking about when she was scraping by and what she did to keep kith and kin together...and her faith that it would get better. Gotta have that faith, and that pluck, in this economy (bait for hedge fund managers or no).
After all the songs about coins, cash, etc., I hope you'll play "Rich" by Neal and Leandra to remind us what living in an attitude of plenty is all about!
Love your show, Dale! We're now in California and have missed the Morning Show, but we listen to you now online - Hooray!
I think that in this era of downsizing, a playing of Bobby McFerrin's rendition of the Wizard of Oz in which he plays all the characters and does all the background music in a condensed version that only takes about 7 and 1/2 minutes. It is truley symbolic of the jobs market by cutting out all the unnessesary extras like a film crew, actors, editors, etc....
Speaking of Greg Brown, how about Canned Goods, to remind us to put away for the proverbial rainy day, and contribute to the locavore movement... Just returned from Winona's Frozen River Film Festival -- did anyone else go?? -- and it was one focus of the weekend.
How about Simon and Garfunkel "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" (this covers infrastructure spending in the stimulus package as well as Cong. Beechly's district)
Jan- I agree "Rich" by Neal and Leandra stopped me in my tracks- it really reminds us of what is truly valuable and I would love to hear it again in early AM ( hint, hint).
Another little political ditty tho is the Fiorello song "the Little Tin Box" tho in this case I think someone has been sneaking the petty cash out of it.
Eartha Pitt: "just an old fashioned girl ..."
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