The one piece of music I can't stop playing in the car, right now, is God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind).
It's strange - I assume Randy Newman is an out-and-out atheist, yet the most devout believer (I'm a wishy-washy one) could play this song and still find much to think about:
Cain slew Abel, Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:Man means nothing, he means less to me
Than the lowliest cactus flower
Or the humblest Yucca tree
He chases round this desert
'Cause he thinks that's where I'll be
That's why I love mankind...
The version I've been listening to is on the recent Randy Newman Songbook, Vol 1, the singer performing on his own, with just gnarled blues piano chords for company. It's easily one of the best albums to come my way in the last couple of years. Newman is so witty, so sardonic, that I can even smile at Political Science, the funniest anti-Bush song ever written. (He actually penned it three decades or more ago, which is a sign of just how clever he is.)
No one likes us - I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens...Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us...
Don't worry, smug continentals get bashed on Great Nations of Europe. In Newman's world, you see, there's more than enough bile for everyone.
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