Music Matters

Why politicians stink at choosing songs: Romney & Obama know this is the rarebipartisan issue

In a heated political campaign, words matter. The right word can sway someone who is sitting on the proverbial fence to pick a side.

The wrong word can take a candidate's message off target (Google “Joe Biden” and “Chains”) and be left explaining exactly how their foot ended up in their mouth.

That’s why it so surprising no one seems to be listening to the words of songs being played at political rallies. As careful as the campaigns are to protect the candidate's image, you would think someone would bother to listen to the lyrics of the songs they use.

No one seems to be listening to the words of songs being played at political rallies.

Take the use of “Panic Switch” by the band the Silversun Pickups during a recent Mitt Romney campaign stop. The Silversun Pickups heard about it and sent the candidate a cease and desist letter, but why use a song whose chorus goes . . .

When you see yourself in a crowded room, do your fingers itch, are you pistol-whipped?
Will you step in line or release the glitch? Can you fall asleep with a panic switch?

Now to be fair, Romney is not only candidate to not pay attention to the lyrics. We can only assume every politician who has used Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” has never bothered listening to anything other than the chorus.

If they had, they would have discovered the song is about a disgruntled Vietnam Veteran who can’t find a job or get help from the VA when he returns. Not exactly flag waving stuff.

Political campaigns like to play songs such as the Lee Greenwood anthem “Proud to be an American” (where at least I know I can drive drunk naked!) to excite the crowd and make them look hip and relevant.

Here’s a suggestion — maybe both parties should start playing “Words” by Missing Persons. If you ask me, that song, more than any other, captures the true spirit of politics today.

Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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