The Song of the Day is:
Phoenix – “Lisztomania”
From the album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
So go slowly discourage
We’ll burn the pictures instead
When it’s all over we can barely discuss
For one minute only
Not where the fortunate only
But I better be something else
These days it comes
Phoenix
Every once in a while, politics will determine what song I play. Not because some politician has selected a Fleetwood Mac song, thereby redefining the way we hear it forever, but more so because it is entangled in scandal. About four months ago I found myself playing some UB40 when the band found themselves in the news due to a certain concertgoer that attended one of their shows, thirty-plus years prior. Now a different “scandal” has been thrust upon the band Phoenix. We are currently about two months past the midterm elections in America, and there has been a reaction to fiery rhetoric of President Trump. One such situation is that Democrat Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has been elected as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th district. In doing so, she has become the youngest female ever elected to the House, at the age of 29. Two days ago, I had heard that there was a scandalous video the emerged of Ocasio-Cortez dancing while in college. My initial thought was that maybe she would be doing some highly-sexualized grinding or something, which would be possibly in poor taste, but still not really a big deal. This dancing must really be beyond suggestive to be considered scandalous. However, when I reluctantly clicked on this video, what did I see? A loosely choreographed, fun-for-all-ages fan video filmed amongst friends. That was it, the big scandal! Impeach her! (That’s sarcasm, by the way). If what I saw could dance her out of Congress, then I’ve done some dances that could dance me into deportation. Ocasio-Cortez more or less shook off the whole scandal. In solidarity, I am playing that same song featured in her college fan video, Phoenix’s “Lisztomania”. Phoenix is a French rock band led by Thomas Mars. They’ve been together since 1997, but saw their stateside breakthrough in 2010 with their Grammy-winning Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. This was mostly on the on the strength of the catchy “Lisztomania” and “1901”. Shortly after, Mars had entered one of Hollywood’s most prominent families by marrying Sophia Coppola. Their 2013 album Bankrupt! was met with critical praise, as was their 2017 follow-up Ti Amo, though the latter seemed to have trouble connecting with the US audience. This “scandal” did not have the desired effect in damaging Ocasio-Cortez’s career, though it did actually spark a resurgence of sorts for Phoenix.
Hear Today, Grown Tomorrow 