The vapid, soulless quality of most music on the radio and the charts is part of the deterioration of the Great American Republic. I asked a while ago where to find musicians who were trying to make sense of this very absurd period of American history.

I don't know if anyone can really do that, but Ray LaMontagne at least raises the question. Ray is a musician I'm really excited about. He writes songs for people with brains, and his song "How Come" off his album Trouble is one of his best (but picking the "best" song on this album like picking your favorite Life Saver flavor -- they're all wonderful in their own way.)

In "How Come" he seems to address the devestating impact recent events have had on us all. Imagine a tempo and sound something like Joe Cocker doing "Feelin' Alright" along with these lyrics:

People on the street now
Faces long and grim
Souls are feeling heavy
And faith is growing thin
Fears are getting stronger
You can Feel them on the rise
Hopelessness got some by the throat you can see it in their eyes
I said how come
How come
Everybody on a shoestring
Everybody in a hole
Everybody crossing their fingers and toes
Government man spin his politics till he got you pinned
Everybody trying to reach out to each other
But they don't know where to begin
I said how come
I can't tell
the free world
from living hell
I said how come
How come
all I see
is a child of god
in misery

Of all the assaults on democracy perpetrated by the Masters of War currently running the show in Washington, one of the greatest is the way they have deflated and undermined the spirit of the American people. Ray's right -- there's a lot of "faces long and grim" in this new world with its national security state and its militaristic view of the world.

There's plenty of sanctimony, but not a lot of room for love and peace, in Bushworld.

I don't think I'm stretching Ray's meaning too far here.

So yeah -- How come? It really is a damned good question.

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9:16:38 AM