As you remember, we've been mentioning this list of the so-called "50 greatest conservative songs ever" on NRO during the past few days. Well, some of us decided that the author of this article, John J. Miller (not to be confused with Jm. J. Bullock), is quite off-base in his interpretation of many of these songs. So over the next few days, we're going to systematically pick apart his entire list one by one.
Some of our writing will prove that the songs are actually liberal in nature. Some will prove that the meaning he ascribes to the song is just plain incorrect. And some...well we'll just let him have those if he wants, because we don't want any part of them.
On that note, here's the first installment of our debunking. These two songs deal with the topic of divorce. Obviously this is a big deal for the republicans, mostly because they do it so well (isn't that right Mr.'s Allen, McConnell, McCain, Giuliani, Gingrich, Dole, and Mrs. Hutchinson). So let's just jump right in with:
17. “Stay Together for the Kids,” by Blink 182.
NRO's take: A eulogy for family values by an alt-rock band whose members were raised in a generation without enough of them: “So here’s your holiday / Hope you enjoy it this time / You gave it all away. . . . It’s not right.”
DL take: I think he's pretty off-base on this one. The song alludes to years of fights between the parents ("The anger hurts my ears, been running strong for seven years. Rather than fix the problem, they never solve them, it makes no sense at all."), and the misery those fights have put their kid through. Granted, yes, it'd be great if all families just got along, but it doesn't work out that way. And a lot of the pain and suffering was caused by parents that probably stayed together too long just for the kids, and it eventually exploded. Sorry, I'm not buying the "family values" line.
On a side note, this song was off of Blink's album "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket". I wonder how exactly that fits into the whole "family values" motif. But seriously, get the album, it's rockin' like Dokken.
43. “Wonderful,” by Everclear.
NRO take: A child’s take on divorce: “I don’t wanna hear you say / That I will understand someday / No, no, no, no / I don’t wanna hear you say / You both have grown in a different way / No, no, no, no / I don’t wanna meet your friends / And I don’t wanna start over again / I just want my life to be the same / Just like it used to be.”
DL take: I guess I'm just not understanding how this is a conservative song because it shows how divorce sucks for a kid. I don't know where it said that liberals just want to get divorces left and right. It's a rough song no doubt, but again, there's references to fighting and pain in the marriage, and it takes its toll on the child. Sometimes 'staying together for the kids' just isn't the best answer. And as I stated above, how the conservatives can take the moral ground on divorce given their track records is beyond me.
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