|
(Jan 27, 2005)
Marcus Singletary: Capitol Hill
(Unsigned)
The Marcus Singletary page
|
This 7-song CD is an interesting listen, but difficult to classify into
any one genre. The music consists of hard-driving blues, with harmonica
and guitar riffs galore, but the lyrics consist primarily of tapes of
political events and speeches mixed in with the music. The music is fine,
and the harmonica, a bit of a rarity these days, gives it a nice flavor. But
it's hard to tell what political message Mr. Singletary is trying to convey.
|
|
For example, "Last Words", the final track on the CD, consists of a lengthy
speech by Richard M. Nixon announcing the pullout of U.S. troops from South
Vietnam. Now, whether you're a Nixon fan or a Nixon hater, you would have
to say that it's a fairly decent speech. Ostensibly straightforward and upbeat,
he explains why the U.S. is deciding Vietnam was a mistake and his hopes for
the future of that country. Now, how deep does the irony run here? Is the
presence of this speech meant to convey that:
(1) Nixon couldn't be trusted and here's more proof of it;
(2) If we learned our lesson in Vietnam, why are we in Iraq?;
(3) Nixon wasn't such a bad old coot after all, even if he was a bit jowly;
(4) Singletary had already exhausted his entire library and this was all he had left?;
(5) Fill in your own silly reason here.
Bottom line is, how can one enjoy music when one has to be resolving knotty
questions such as this one? And it would be easy enough to go online and find
tapes of Nixon's speeches and crack open some beer and chips and make an
afternoon of it, if you're that way. This is just one example; another is
a news commentator doing an analysis of the Rodney King riots. Let's see, just
between those two tapes alone we're reaching back a combined total of about
45 years into the past? Why stop there? How about adding an eighth song with
the tape of Winston Churchill announcing that we must sink the Bismarck, and
make it an even 108 years?
Marcus Singletary's harmonica and guitar are excellent, and he should
drop all the political caca that people really don't care about and stick
with the talent that brought him to the dance.
|
