America- The Beautiful?

...and blunt while musical, to the point. A punch unpulled. A stand taken. Un petit trompe d'oreille in a broadcasting motif. Give a listen.

“If this had been an actual emergency, you would run, duct-tape your rooms up, and hide with your American flag.” This is such a great line, describing how many things now are often a frenzy of patriotism and fear. Ray Charles’s slow, beautiful song comes up and then the alert siren goes off over it several seconds later, followed by bombs. The irony works so well here. It reminds me of what Michael Moore did in Bowling for Columbine, where he combined footage of violent overthrows with languid music. It all starts to feel a bit prolonged and just when you’re wondering if the war will ever end, Ray Charles abruptly gets cut off by the nuclear blast. It’s powerful and intense and definitely disturbing. So click and listen.