State Songs #2: Alaska

Our musical tour around the United States takes us to the country's most northern point. Until Sarah Palin made her unwelcome entrance into my consciousness pretty much all of my impressions about Alaska came from Northern Exposure, a whimsical 90s TV show that was actually filmed in Washington state.

This was my favourite programme as a teenager. What was not to love about the eccentric small town of Cicely and its residents that included Martin Scorsese's pen pal, a sexy female pilot and a well-read DJ who still played 78s?

I digress. There are more than 500 miles between Alaska and Seattle and the state averages just one person per square mile. With that in mind it's unsurprising that in most of these tracks Alaska seems to be a metaphor for remoteness. Wrap up warm...

MP3: Port O'Brien - Fisherman's Son

The song that inspired our musical trip across America. If I'd got round to making a list of my favourite albums of 2008 Port O'Brien's All We Could Do Is Sing would have have been on it.
More Port O'Brien: official site | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Michelle Shocked - Anchorage (live)

One of my favourite songs of all time - I'm not quite sure why. This version was recorded for Dutch radio and appears on disc two of the Short Sharp Shocked re-release.
More Michelle Shocked: official site | Amazon

MP3: The Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says

It's debatable whether this song is actually about Alaska but it's a beauty nonetheless and one of only two tracks on VU that feature John Cale. Lou Reed re-wrote it as the much darker Caroline Says II for his Berlin album.
More Velvets: Wikipedia | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Dan Bern - Alaska Highway

Regular visitors through these doors will be familiar with Dan Bern. The Alaska Highway runs 1,522 miles through Canada, connecting Alaska with the rest of the US. The song also mentions Kodiak, home the famous bear.
More Dan Bern: official site | Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Johnny Cash - When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)

At last a song that wallows in Alaskan clichés. Johnny Horton's lyrics mention blizzards, freezing temperatures, grizzly bears and caribou. I have found no evidence to suggest that the "Eskimo Hop" is a genuine dance.
More Johnny Cash: official site | Amazon | 7digital

I hope you've enjoyed our trip up North. Things will be warmer next time as we head southwest to Arizona.

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State Somgs #1: Alabama - Cat Power, Billie Holiday, Jim White, Joan Baez, Shelby Lynne and, of course, Lynryd Skynyrd.

Happy Thanksgiving

Random Thoughts on an American Holiday

Years ago I saw Greg Proops do a routine at the Edinburgh Festival where he suggested that the British should celebrate Thanksgiving as much as his countrymen. Instead of being thankful for breaking bread with the Natives we should be grateful for saying “fuck off” to the Puritans. I don’t know. If Benjamin Franklin’s dad had stayed put in Northamptonshire we could have claimed the lightning rod and the glass armonica as English inventions.

I enjoyed my first Thanksgiving in America in 1995 while working as a volunteer at a children’s home in South Carolina. My lasting memories of that meal are candied yams (disgustingly sweet) and one of our most foul-mouthed charges surprising me with a lovely speech about what he was thankful for. He later told me his seemingly heartfelt words were all “bullshit”.

Two years later during my university exchange to Wisconsin I spent Thanksgiving with my fellow American Studies exiles in a very cold Chicago. Instead of the traditional turkey we found an excellent, empty Indian restaurant and ate curry.

My only other Thanksgiving in the USA was at a friend’s parents’ house in small-town Minnesota. I bought Carter Burwell’s score to Fargo just so we could play it while driving past the Paul Bunyan statue in Brainerd.

If you want a wonderful musical accompaniment to your Thanksgiving today I recommend tuning into my favourite American radio station WNCW. You’ll hear lots of great songs about food and at noon (US Eastern Standard Time, 5pm UK time) they will play the full 18:34 minutes of Arlo Guthrie’s Alice's Restaurant Massacree, just like they do every year.

The only explicitly related Thanksgiving song in my collection is Dan Bern’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A wonderful stream of consciousness that takes in Michelangelo, the Pope and Men at Work. Enjoy!

MP3: Dan Bern - Thanksgiving Day Parade

Thank You George W Bush

What Have The Neo-Cons Ever Done For Us?

While the only tears I'll shed as George W Bush leaves the White House will be ones of joy, I am grateful for Dubya's contribution to my cultural life over the last eight years. These are just five things we wouldn't have had without W.

1. Journeys With George
Although Alexandra Pelosi's fly-on-the-press-corp documentary is as much about the media as it as about Dubya's presidential bid I think it offers as compelling an argument as any as to why Bush 'beat' Gore in 2000. During the 18 months Pelosi (daughter of Speaker of the House Nancy) spends on the campaign trail, the Texas governor comes across as amusing, charming and even, occasionally, quick-witted. Before Iraq, Guantanamo, Enron, Katrina... here was a man you'd want to have a beer with (although he, of course, would order a Diet Coke).
Links
Journeys With George - official site includes clip
Amazon: Journeys With George DVD
Variety: Journeys With George review

2. Dan Bern - Talking Al Kida Blues
A song I doubt has ever been played on the radio. To me it sums up perfectly the Bush regime's response to 9/11 in all its perversity.
MP3: Dan Bern - Al Kida Blues

3. The West Wing
The fantasy White House drama began while Bill Clinton was still in charge; Martin Sheen plays a Democrat president who'd never get caught with his pants down. The series arguably hit its stride though when Bush entered the Oval Office. As well as wish-fulfillment for Democrats, it also offered a critique of the real president, most notably in the guise of Bartlett's first Republican challenger, the less than bright Governor Richie.

4. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Like the West Wing, the Daily Show began life before the Fiasco in Florida but there's no doubt that having Bush in White House has been the making of the programme. Not only has Dubya supplied a rich mine of comedy gold but the Daily Show has also brilliantly skewered the TV coverage by Fox News et al of his presidency.

5. Team America: World Police
Who'd have thought that Hollywood's most entertaining response to the Bush Doctrine and Axis of Evil would involve a bunch of Gerry Anderson cast-off puppets?

Finally, while on the subject of toys, what better way to remember the Bush years than with one of these dolls. He says 17 phrases and batteries are included. Also available are Top Gun Bush and Turkey Dinner Bush. I imagine prices will come down shortly.

As usual, please leave your own additions to the list in the comments below.

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