Response: In Oklahoma, Not Arizona, What Does It Matter?
When I read a few months ago that the Oklahoma Centennial Commission had, well, commissioned a new song for our year-long birthday party, I was really excited. As a history guy, I was already aware that in 1957 our forefathers sanctioned a symphony called "Oklahoma" for our Semi-Centennial. This was a symphony in four movements complete with a poetic narrative read by Will Rogers, Jr. and accompanied by interpretive dancers. Admittedly this was a high-brow era, and personally, I hate stuff like that, but you have to admit that's pretty classy.
So when I heard that Jimmy Webb was in on it I thought, well a symphony wouldn't go over too well these days, but he'll get it pretty close. I love Webb's particular knack for writing songs that leave an emotional imprint, like an impressionist painting. They get you to a certain point and then leave you to define what the hell they mean. Like in "Galveston":
Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannons flashing
I clean my gun and dream of Galveston
I still see her standing by the water
Standing there lookin' out to sea
I always thought the narrator killed his girlfriend, but he misses her. A few years ago, I was talking to my dad about that song and he said, no, it's about Vietnam. I don't know if it is or it isn't. The important thing is that if it is, Webb wrote a song about Vietnam without talking about Vietnam. It could be any soldier in any war in history (or at least one after the advent of firearms).
He also writes songs that traverse time and help us connect our contemporary feelings and emotions with people of the past and future (as in "The Highwayman"). In "Wichita Lineman" you get just enough information to empathize with the alienation of the singer, but you're not exactly sure if he deals with barbed wire fences, telephone lines, or fiber-optic cables and yet it doesn't matter.
So I thought, wow, great, a Jimmy Webb song is exactly the kind of song you want for a historical event like a Centennial. You want something that's going to give you the emotional feel of the place without getting bogged down in the details and giving the dimwit majority something specific to complain about. There's only one problem - I only like Jimmy Webb's songs on paper. I can't stand to listen to his arrangements. I'd rather hear Richard Harris reading a tone poem. I'd rather hear Franco Harris reading a tone poem. I didn't panic, though, because even though I know less about Vince Gill's music than Ted Stevens does about the internet, I figured he could right Webb's ship.
Sadly, I was shocked and dismayed (as opposed to shocked and awed or Shock'n Y'alled or Chaka Khaned) last month when our new Centennial Song, "Oklahoma Rising" was unveiled. My first reaction to the title was that it was some bakery's ad jingle, or a new zombie flick with a Sooner State set. And then, with chagrin, I realized this is going to be some recycled Webb material. Haven't we already heard "Up, Up, and Away", and in "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" isn't the next line "she'll be risin'?"
And then, oh mah gawd, I actually heard it. It has to be the absolute worst song I have ever heard. You know what really irks me most about it? It's so bad I can't even formulate the words to begin criticizing it -- defeated me right out of the gate. The lyrics are just strung together anecdotes that are so literal, they require you to accept them (or not) at face value. It's sadly reminiscent of our current political climate where you're either for something or against it. So far both blue- and red-staters have lambasted the song and you get people like Kurt Hochenauer in the Oklahoma Gazette going over the lyrics with a fine-tooth comb. I refuse to nitpick it.
"Oklahoma Rising" does elicit strong emotions in me, though. Every time I hear it it takes me back to 1977 and I remember how I felt when I would watch Three's Company. Jack always had two dates in the same restaurant and then Mr. Roper would show up and he would have to act gay and still string along the two women and I would feel so anxious and embarrassed I could barely stand it. That's how I feel when I hear our Centennial Song.
But if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, right? Here's what we should do. Instead of reusing a Woody Guthrie song like Hochenauer and Bunkshooter suggest (and I don't necessarily disagree with their rationales) , we should do what Oklahoma has always annoyingly done and copy other people's ideas (this is along the lines of our having the Seattle space needle, the St. Louis arch and Boston's minutemen statue recreated at our fairgrounds; painting large animal statues and leaving them around town; the riverwalk). Wouldn't it be rad to, like, go totally 80s and gather up about twenty disparate Okie music people and have them sing "Oklahoma Rising" together just like Band Aid or We Are the World? Just think of Wayne Coyne and Reba McEntire yucking it up. Reba could be wearing a Yoshimi t-shirt and Toby Keith could roll over everyone in a big ball. The lyrics wouldn't be so horribly hokie then, they'd be fun.
Or how about this one? The one redeeming thing about "Oklahoma Rising" is that the song appears on a compilation albumof Oklahoma music stars living and dead. That is a great idea and one long overdue. I've been wanting to do that for years. But how about scrapping "Oklahoma Rising" and have living stars sing duets of dead Okie's songs. So have the middle Hanson kid sing "Oklahoma Hills" with Kristin Chenoweth - wouldn't they be cute together? How about Brian Whitten from the Rounders with Megan Mullaly on "Never Been to Spain"? No, wait! How about doing that morphing thing like they did with Natalie Cole and her dead father Nat King Cole? Hinder and Roger Miller doing "King of the Road".
I could do this for days. And wouldn't that be fun to listen to? Isn't that what all this should be about? It's a birthday party for Pete's sake! Let's have some fun and celebrate what kickass creative people we are and always have been.
posted by St. Fiacre @ 1:15 AM,
1 Comments:
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At Tuesday, October 31, 2006 2:33:00 PM,
A Contemporary Bunkshooter said...
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Alright, so I've heard the song now and I think you and I were way off-base in our criticism. "Oklahoma Rising" is really quite brilliant. It's soooooo bad it's good, and not just good, but great. It somehow manages to retain its' hilarity throughout, all the while trying to be remain straight-faced and self-important, which it makes even more hilarious. I coudn't have asked for a better state centennial anthem. Bravo Mr. Webb and Mr. Gill. You've made this Okie laugh in a world that's hard to laugh at.
