Hmmm...
Dave Matthews Band? Cheryl Crow? Yeah, well, that’s ok. Not bad (especially DMB). But couldn’t we do a little better? This being the year for "change"; the year that we progressives are gonna start moving this country in the right direction, don’t you think we could come up with something a little more relevant... a little more POINTED?
(UPDATE re. Rage... below...)
It’s probably too late to add anyone to the Convention lineup, but let’s try anyway. So Barack, listen up! How ‘bout you get on the horn and call up these guys. I’m sure each and every one of them would be more than happy to drop what they’re doing and come to Denver for a few hours.
We wanna tell the world things are about to CHANGE? That we’re gonna finally be a nation that’ll stand up for what’s right? Here ya go:
Dixie Chicks -- First off, I am NOT a fan of Country music. But this is different. When they first got in trouble overseas by saying they were "ashamed" of being from the same state as Bush, I was impressed. But I fully expected them to back down, and beg for forgiveness. But they did just the opposite, releasing the single "Not Ready to Play Nice" which slammed not only Bush, but also their fair-weather fans and the radio stations that banned them. I'm really proud of them. Let 'em come and sing their song (or another one if they want to write one especially for the occasion).
Willie Nelson -- I have trouble even thinking of Willie as a "country" singer, but since most people think of him that way, it’d be very cool to have him. After all, far more Republicans than Democrats are fans of country music. So this (along with Dixie Chicks) could cause a bit of confusion among the conservatives in this country. Anyway, Willie can play some songs, or just talk... whatever he has a mind to. The guy's amazing, and I'm certain he'd have some interesting things to say about George and his slimy buddies.
Pink -- Ok, I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression here. This is NOT ordinarilly my kind of music. "Get the Party Started"... please god, NO! When it comes to Pink, I much prefer Floyd. But thanks to one song, I think this girl deserves a few minutes of our time at the convention. It's called "Dear Mr. President", and if you haven't heard it, you're in for a treat.
James Blunt -- An amazing singer/songwriter that I've just become aware of the past few years. He served in the British army during peace-keeping efforts in Kosovo. He wrote the song "No Bravery" in response to that, but it's obviously just as, if not more, relevant to Iraq and Bush. A few other things about the guy...
Blunt has raised funds for Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, through benefit concerts and by auctioning meet and greet opportunities at his own shows. ... He also supports environmental causes, screening the trailer for An Inconvenient Truth at his concerts, and planting a tree for each advance sales concert ticket purchased through his designated website. On July 7, 2007, Blunt performed at the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium, London, and is the owner of one of two prototype electric cars made by Hybrid Technologies under a Space Act partnership with NASA. Blunt is also a patron of Help for Heroes, a charity aiming to raise money to provide better facilities to wounded British servicemen, and has also held benefit concerts for this charity.
I say he needs to sing "No Bravery" while Iraq videos are shown on a screen behind him. Of course I realize the "leaders" of our party are VERY unlikely to be courageous enough to allow this to happen. Watch this... and be prepared to hate George W. Bush more than you already do.
Rage Against the Machine -- I know, I know. No WAY would they be allowed, even if Barack is a pretty cool guy. But I had to list them. (Now you know where 'ratmach' comes from.) The four guys in this band (together and split-up, off-and-on again) not only write and perform the most powerful music you're likely to ever hear, but they're also fearless. They've stood on the front lines with Mexican indians and others against police and the military. Again, I realize the chances of someone like this being allowed to perform at the convention are virtually zero, but there's one song that would go over really well, and couldn't be seen as "controversial" by any self-respecting Democrat (or independant, for that matter). Of course rightwingers will hate the song, as it should be! Here... "The Ghost of Tom Joad":
UPDATE: A few people have pointed out that Rage would never play at the convetion. And I tend to agree with that. But then someone else said that they actually WERE playing at some kind of off-site event. I'm gonna have to check it out and see what's up with that.
Peter Gabriel -- You may ask why, specifically, him. Well, in general, it’s because he’s just one of the coolest people ever, musically or otherwise. But since I guess I need a better reason than that, here ya go. It’s all about one song: Biko. There were dozens of popular songs written about South Africa and apartheid. But in my opinion, none came close to the power of this one.
And if we wanna make this even more special, what about this. Maybe use this song as an intro to who comes next. Just imagine Gabriel performing this live, and as soon as he finishes he introduces...
... Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Let’s see the Repugs try to badmouth our convention after we do THAT.
La Pequena Hillary -- Ok, one final thing, and this is obviously meant for laughs. Some of you may not know who this is. For you, you'll see in a moment. But for those of you who already know, give me a second to explain. The people who came up with this idea claim they actually like Hillary. I say we find out if Hillary herself has seen this, and find out if she likes it or not. If she's got a sense of humor, and thinks it's as funny as many of us do, we'll go for it. Otherwise, we won't. Personally, I think this one video can help us set aside any hard feelings that might still remain between the Hillary and Barack camps (assuming most people have decent senses of humor, that is). Oh, and I'm not saying have the guy/girl (I'm still not sure which) in the video make a live appearance; I'm just saying show the video. Now, to those of you wondering what I'm going on about, here ya go.
I know... I’m a little insane. But tell me all this wouldn’t liven up our convention!