“And the Requiem Bell Rang Mournfully and Clear”
Reflecting on the righteous and the wicked in music news
Sinéad O’Connor (1966–2023)
Photo by Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The title of this issue comes from the Irish folk song, The Foggy Dew, which Sinéad O’Connor recorded with The Chieftains. It is one of my favorite tracks ever, in large part because of the way she seemed to capture centuries of extraordinary pain to produce something of such visceral and profound beauty.
Without speculating about or assuming her cause of death, O’Connor’s well-documented mental health struggles and personal losses serve as a reminder to ask for help if you need it. Life can be overwhelming. Sometimes you may look at the worst things happening in the world and think your problems are insignificant but still too much for you. Reach out. Dial 988. Get help where it is available and ask if you need to find resources.
O’Connor was an immense talent and one of the bravest artists active in my lifetime.
Requiescat in pace.
Cos-playing culture warrior: small-town edition
There’s been much ado about the song and music video “Try that in a small town” sung by Jason Aldean. He didn’t write the song, but when someone films a music video with an implicit threat in the title on the site of a lynching, it’s hard to assume the best intentions of anyone involved in the project. I’m not interested in whether the song is or is not “racist.” Someone was well aware of the what filming that song at that site said, and that fact is part of the reason I still own guns. Quietly scrubbing the video isn’t going to erase the message they meant to send.
Many people who live in coastal cities now grew up in the “real America” that Aldean assumes to represent. We remember repeated maltreatment over religion, sexuality, racism, or gender roles and expression, and it often contributed to why we left. There is more to those places than those awful moments, but it’s painful to watch men like Aldean, Tucker Carlson, and Donald Trump reap profits and popularity in those places by stoking the prejudices that broke our hearts.
I’m on Bluesky!
I re-animated this newsletter in response to the early death throes of Twitter. I haven’t had a decent outlet for my thoughts since I weaned myself off of Twitter—from spending a couple hours a day on it down to maybe checking it once or twice a week—but Bluesky seems to be taking off so I will give it a shot. That said, I plan to increase my output here, not replace it with a new social app.
People already on Bluesky can follow me here. I don’t have any invites yet, but will let you all know if and when that changes.
I have a few pieces in the works and even got one piece published in print (!!) this month, I’ll share it when it’s online.
Until next time, wishing you peace, love and soul…
JPB