We’re taking a day away from our regular schedule to reflect upon the political system in the United States. Considering that our U.S. readers will experience Election Day next Tuesday, it seems like a timely thing to consider. It’s also a great opportunity to see how politics have inspired creative expression in the Latin Jazz world...
As I.ve spent the past months watching the presidential debates and weighing the issues affecting the United States today, one question about the candidates has been consistently bothering me - What exactly are Obama and McCain listening to on their iPods? This seems like a shallow question considering the state of our Nation as we approach November 4th, but I think that the answer would tell us a bit more about the candidates. We see and hear the candidates on television, in magazines, and online, but so much of their rhetoric seems pre-written and carefully constructed. Music is an honest reflection of our identities, and our listening choices reveal a lot about our personalities, backgrounds, and moral fibers. It provides enjoyment, provokes thought and reflection, and inspires creativity. Former president Bill Clinton bonded with the public over music, and we all got to know him well. Sharing musical preferences would probably be a good move for Obama and McCain, but in reality, I don’t think that I’ll ever get the answer to my question. All I can do is hope that there’s one album on constant rotation in their headphones - Land Of Nod by Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS Band.
What Is The Land Of Nod?
Washburne reflects deeply upon the state of our country on Land Of Nod, painting the picture of a political system gone astray. The title references the work of author Jonathan Swift, who in his 1938 collection A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, associated the phrase with being asleep. The idea of sleep serves as a metaphor for being unaware, uninvolved, or uninterested in the world around you. Over the past eight years, our government has acted unaware of the country’s needs and uninterested in those not serving their agenda. Our leadership should be the ones guiding us towards a peaceful future, but they simply haven’t done that; without direction, we’ve drifted. As many people fall under the spell of their televisions, video games, and internet connections, their attention shifts away from the atrocities that are currently befalling our country. The instigators like Washburne and his group stand in the minority; it’s much easier to be silent than to speak. Many pieces of our country have drifted through the past 8 years asleep while other parts struggled; as Washburne implies, we have truly lived in a land of nod.
As I.ve spent the past months watching the presidential debates and weighing the issues affecting the United States today, one question about the candidates has been consistently bothering me - What exactly are Obama and McCain listening to on their iPods? This seems like a shallow question considering the state of our Nation as we approach November 4th, but I think that the answer would tell us a bit more about the candidates. We see and hear the candidates on television, in magazines, and online, but so much of their rhetoric seems pre-written and carefully constructed. Music is an honest reflection of our identities, and our listening choices reveal a lot about our personalities, backgrounds, and moral fibers. It provides enjoyment, provokes thought and reflection, and inspires creativity. Former president Bill Clinton bonded with the public over music, and we all got to know him well. Sharing musical preferences would probably be a good move for Obama and McCain, but in reality, I don’t think that I’ll ever get the answer to my question. All I can do is hope that there’s one album on constant rotation in their headphones - Land Of Nod by Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS Band.
What Is The Land Of Nod?
Washburne reflects deeply upon the state of our country on Land Of Nod, painting the picture of a political system gone astray. The title references the work of author Jonathan Swift, who in his 1938 collection A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, associated the phrase with being asleep. The idea of sleep serves as a metaphor for being unaware, uninvolved, or uninterested in the world around you. Over the past eight years, our government has acted unaware of the country’s needs and uninterested in those not serving their agenda. Our leadership should be the ones guiding us towards a peaceful future, but they simply haven’t done that; without direction, we’ve drifted. As many people fall under the spell of their televisions, video games, and internet connections, their attention shifts away from the atrocities that are currently befalling our country. The instigators like Washburne and his group stand in the minority; it’s much easier to be silent than to speak. Many pieces of our country have drifted through the past 8 years asleep while other parts struggled; as Washburne implies, we have truly lived in a land of nod.
