That “and” is worth a great deal of attention. I would write “Summertime when” but that “and” sets up a tone, a whole poetic tone, not to mention a whole kind of diction that is going to be used in the play; an informal, uneducated diction and a stream of consciousness, as in many of the songs like “My Man’s Gone Now.” It’s the exact right word, and that word is worth its weight in gold. “Summertime when the livin’ is easy” is a boring line compared to “Summertime and.” The choices of “ands” [and] “buts” become almost traumatic as you are writing a lyric–or should, anyway– because each one weighs so much. [Joanne Lesley Gordon, Art Isn’t Easy: The Achievement of Stephen Sondheim, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL., 1990, p.13]
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]In my opinion, the two great American composers of the twentieth century were Aaron Copeland and George Gershwin. Without casting any aspersions on any of the other wonderful composers of that era, those two managed to find unique ways to take the American experience, both good and bad, and translate it to a tonality that is rich, vibrant, unique, and immediately identifiable. Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue may be two of the most distinguishably American compositions of that century. I grew up listening to a heavy mix of both composers, but it was Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess that captured my attention most strongly, particularly the aria Summertime. Of all the songs from this first truly American opera, Summertime captures our deepest longings not only for ourselves, but for our children.
As a child, it was Leontyne Price’s incredible voice I first heard sliding through the lazy melody of the song, the vocal line at times reminiscent of the opening clarinet slide from Rhapsody in Blue. This is a song one doesn’t rush through, its phrasing and emphasis requiring a deceptively difficult level of vocal control and discipline. Do it right, and one can feel the heat of the sun beating down, smell the cotton and the dirt, hear the water gurgling over the rocks. Summertime is a song that catches us not at the beginning of the summer when we are happy to finally be warm, but at its apex, late July or August, when we’ve grown tired of working, when the sweat doesn’t require any effort before soaking our clothes, and grabbing a pole and going fishing may be the most sensical thing a person can do.
I didn’t hear Janis Joplin’s cover of the song in 1968 when it was initially released, or if I did, it didn’t stick. Price’s version was so strong, so dominating, that my classically-sensitized ear was certain no one else could do the song justice. After the Houston Opera’s revival of Porgy and Bess in 1976 restored the full opera as initially written, though, there were a number of comparisons, at least on an intellectual level, between what Gershwin wrote and the incredible emotion Joplin gives the song. It might have taken me to the second verse before falling completely in love with Joplin’s cover that not only modernizes the song with Peter Albin’s mesmerizing guitar but embeds the emotion all the way down to one’s soul.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Based on DuBose Heyward’s novel Porgy, the song’s lyrics are based on the spirituals of the 19th century South, and while the first verse sets the stage for how things are, it is the future-leaning words of the second verse that Joplin pushes, giving strength to the phrase “rise up singin'” in a way that even Ms. Price never quite managed to accomplish.
One of these mornings, you’re goin’ to rise up singin’
Then you spread your wings and you’ll take the sky
But ’til that mornin’, there’s nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin’ by
Today’s image, in my mind, perfectly captures the end result of Joplin’s version of the song. I could feel the song in my ears even while we were shooting this set (in a public park). Where Gershwin’s original leaves one in the cotton field, Joplin leaves one in the tall grass, lying on your back, looking up at a terminally blue sky, not a care in the world, and confident that whatever comes next is going to be wonderful. One of these days we’re goin’ to rise up singin’, but for now, it’s summertime and living couldn’t be any more easy.
[/one_half_last]
Free Information
Freedom of Information (Composite, 2015)
James Madison, the fourth President of the United States and a principal author of the United States Constitution, was born on March 16, 1751 and it is because of his commitment to a balanced government and informed electorate that we celebrate Freedom of Information Day on his birthday. But wait, with such freedom comes responsibility. Are we up to the challenge?
[one_half padding=”2px 6px 0 2px”]Anyone my age or younger has grown up with a concept that government has an obligation to be open and honest with its citizens. President Johnson signed the first Freedom of Information act on July 4, 1966 with some hesitation, but it set forth a standard for the federal government we pretty much take for granted today. We fully expect that our federal government has to tell us, within reason, what it’s doing.
At least, that’s what the history books will tell you. That law was actually repealed by the 89th Congress and replaced with Title 5 of the United States Code, which contains language substantively identical to the Freedom of Information Act, but also contains a great deal of additional regulation over civil service functions and responsibilities.
Hold on, we’re not done yet, though. There have been amendments over the years and they’ve come with some political turmoil. Consider the Privacy Act of 1974, which most importantly gives an individual the right to see what information the government has about them, correct that information if it’s wrong, and sue the government if it is being misused. Opposing the Privacy Act was then federal attorney Antonin Scalia (prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court), President Ford’s Chief of Staff, Donald Rumsfeld, and a deputy named Dick Cheney. They convinced President Ford to veto the bill, but could not stop Congress from overriding the veto.
They weren’t done. In 1976 (same President, slightly different Congress) what was laughably referred to as the Government in the Sunshine Act (it was the 70s, forgive them), added some restrictions to the act. Most notably among them, information regarding matters of national defense and preventing federal agencies from speaking regarding active court cases. Suddenly, that picture of the federal government started having huge holes cut from it.
President Reagan limited the act even further, using Executive Order to allow government to hide pretty much anything it wanted under that “national defense” clause. President Clinton vacated that order in 1995, and went on to issue Executive Orders of his own to allow for the release of documents older than 25 years old that were of “historical interest.” President Clinton also oversaw the Electronic Freedom of Information Act in 1996, requiring federal agencies to make documents available electronically (which is why federal websites are so important).
There were some smaller Executive Orders here and there, but the next major change came as part of the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007. Among other things, the act redefines what qualifies as a member of the news media (includes bloggers not directly associated with a traditional news outlet), and establishes the Office of Government Information Services to mediate claims against federal agencies.
Whew. Being an “open” government isn’t quite so easy, is it?
And therein is the challenge. Not only does government have a responsibility to be open about what it’s doing, what information is being collected and for what purposes (we’ve been arguing about the whole cell phone thing for how long now?), we have a responsibility with regard to what we do with that information.
Specifically this: we have to ask for the information.
Freedom of Information merely means that government agencies have to provide certain information when it is requested. They don’t have to mail it to your door. No one is going to sit down and make you read it. You have to ask.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”2px 2px 0 6px”]In my aged (in an oak barrel) opinion, the need to figure things out for ourselves has never been stronger. Since 2007, there have been a number of politically-motivated websites who have gained some level of prominence by making Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and manipulating that information to serve particular political purposes. There’s no sense blaming one party or another because it happens in abundance on both sides.
And both sides get it wrong more than 60% of the time, according to studies released last year regarding information integrity.
The unintended result of so many people having what is essentially quick and easy access to so much information is that our news and information sources are now flooded with misinformation more than anything that is actually factual and helpful. Even our most trusted news sources have been caught in outright lies, and more frequently are guilty of taking raw information gleaned from federal sources and twisting that in ways never intended.
When we allow others to interpret information for us, it becomes very much like the composite image we choose for today’s PotD: challenging to know exactly what we’re seeing. Was this a single picture from one event? How many people are actually in the picture? Is anything important being omitted in the “redacted” portions of the image? How does one tell what is real and what is reflection? What is that child eating?
Think of information as though it were a basket of fruit. On one side, the government has its basket with a small, carefully lettered sign that says, “Free for the taking.” No one takes the fruit, though, because it hasn’t been peeled or washed and would just be too much trouble to prepare. People on that side of the street complain about being hungry but ignore the basket of fruit completely because it’s just too much trouble.
On the other side of the street are fruit vendors. They take the free fruit from the government basket, wash it, peel it, slice it, and make it look attractive on a plate. As a result, people flock to that side of the street to consume their fruit. There’s just one problem: some of it is poison. [Remember, Maleficent dealt in fruit, also, much to Snow White’s demise.] But even knowing that some of the fruit is poison, people still consume as much of it as possible and consider themselves well fed.
We do exactly the same with information. We consider the raw sources too difficult, so we let someone else do the parsing for us, knowing that a great deal of what we read is “poisoned” with editorial bias, but we consume as much as we can and consider ourselves informed.
I’m fairly certain that if James Madison were alive today, in addition to being totally freaked out by technology and vehicles that move without visible means of propulsion, he would encourage, if not demand, us to take a more active and deliberate role in how we receive critical information from and about our government. We don’t have to take someone else’s word. Proposed legislation is typically available online within hours of it being presented and given a bill number. Verbatim transcripts, and in some cases video, of committee hearings are available online as well.
The information is there, and it’s free. Now, what are you going to do with it?[/one_half_last]
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