Of all the ridiculous overblown nonsensical non-issues being pushed by right-wingers, there can be none of less consequence than Hillary Clinton's choice of campaign song.
The Clinton campaign announced their selection of Celine Dion's You and I after using an internet ad that spoofed the series ending of the Soprano's. "She's even outsourcing her campaign song," critics began complaining.
You and I has an unusual pedigree. It began life as a jingle for Air Canada. Dion later expanded upon the vaguely inspirational lyrics for a hit in her native Canada.
But songs derived from jingles aren't necessarily the most odious music to hit the airwaves. The Carpenters famously transformed a jingle written for a bank into We've only just begun.
Now, I'm not a big fan of You and I. I think the Clinton campaign could have done better with a song that has a simpler melody and can be sung by people who do not share Dion's musical abilities. A few of my own favorites would include Let it be Me by the Indigo Girls, The Sun is Gonna Shine Again by Graham Parker or Steve Miller's Fly Like an Eagle.
But musicality aside, the complaint about her music being outsourced is a little ridiculous. Fellow Democrat Barack Obama has been using U2's City of Blinding Lights. Imagine Obama's using a song by an Irish band without critics expressing their disapproval.
And maybe that's how it ought to be. We are, after all, a nation of immigrants. That means that our country has taken the best from a multitude of different cultures.
Take our national anthem for example. The words to that vocally challenging song came from Francis Scott Key as he watched a battle during the war of 1812. But Key borrowed the tune for his song from an English drinking song. In other words, not only did Key outsource the tune for his patriotic musical statement, he outsourced it from the very nation we were fighting.
What if God Bless America had been recorded to the tune of Nazi Germany's anthem? I suspect that its status as a classic bit of Americana would be questionable.
And consider this; many of the hymns sung in churches across our great nation flowed from the pen of one Isaac Watts, a British clergyman of the 17th century. And don't think that those of you who sing praise and worship music are immune. One of the most prolific writers of this style of music is Englishmen Graham Kendrick. Nor are liturgical churches exempt. Some of their music was written in Latin – never a tongue that saw everyday usage on these shores.
There are valid reasons not to care for You and I as a campaign song. Outsourcing isn't one of them.