I’m fortunate to live in Nashville, Tennessee, so I frequently go to great concerts at the incomparable Ryman Auditrium. Last night I was fortunate to hear Josh Ritter play there. It was the seventh time I have heard him play live at various venues. There is a song on his latest album (Fever Breaks) that requires our meditation at this moment, a moment when the State Department is retroactively classifying documents and “investigating” former current and employees, and when Chris Christie is urging the White House to investigate the whistleblower and the whistleblower’s sources. “The Torch Committee” captures this moment in haunting fashion. It is Orwell set to music. This is how it works. This is how seemingly good people fail to do the right thing.
“We wish there was a softer way”
“You see our hands are also tied”
“Appendix 3 a list of names”
“The only cure for fear is blame”
“It’s them or us, it’s them or you”
“Take a torch before you go”