Randy Newman - Rednecks

I'm a big fan of mixing it up, so today I'm going to start off with a fucking showtune.



That's "Molasses to Rum" from 1776, a song about the Triangle Trade. It's pretty over-the-top (it's even crazier on stage/in the film, where the guy playing Rutledge really milks the whole auctioneer thing for all it's worth) but it's the really the beating heart of the show's conflict, the removal of Jefferson's anti-slavery language from the Declaration of Independence in order to secure the vote of the Southern states.

The theme is the same as this one (my actual song), which is that Northerners act high-and-mighty, but they have been complicit actors in the disenfranchisement of blacks in America. But I confess that the reason I picked this song is because of the whole Palin/Letterman kerfuffle, because any time I see or hear about the Palins I sing the chorus of the song to myself. I claim artistic license for treating a subversive song as if it was completely on the level.