I was able to catch up on the Rock and Roll HoF nominees while at the airport yesterday. Janet Jackson’s plea last year to increase diversity seems to have been heard, a little. While working through a podcast covering the nominees and projections for who’s in, who’s in first ballot (Biggie), I found few surprises. But I was surprised when the conversation turned to Dave Matthews Band.
How could their be any doubt?
You may not like them. But that’s music. This is the Hall of Fame and they are one of the oat consistently successful and famous bands of my lifetime. Sales. Tours. Memorable songs.
And then they played this. And I haven’t stopped singing it for what’s now 27 hours. #iamgrateful and #iamthankful for the list below. But tonight, I’m singing American Baby until my eyelids droop to close.
Why?
Do you remember when this song was written? Why it was written?
Feels kinda relevant today in the US to me.
“Matthews wrote this song the day after George W. Bush won re-election for US president in 2004. Matthews did not support Bush, and was encouraging others with his views not to give up hope. He told Rolling Stone: “The inspiration to that song, in part, is that we shouldn’t lose sight of ourselves or of what makes this country great while we’re fighting over how to defend it.”
“I’m very much in love with this country,” Matthews, who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, added. “I certainly consider myself liberal, which to me just means that I want to embrace the differences between people, as well as the similarities, because I think that’s what makes us spectacular. America has a lot of bitter past and a lot of suffering in a short period of time. It’s got a lot of young ghosts and still-open wounds, but there’s a magic in America that I love, and that’s one of the reasons I feel so strongly about speaking my mind. I’ll fight in my way for America.”
The video is gold.
Suneet Bhatt 