tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post4340360389559680014..comments2024-03-01T10:16:11.283-08:00Comments on AmericanStudies: June 18, 2014: AmericanStudying Summer Jams: Summer in the CityAmericanStudierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06483077716534996778noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post-67873051765798445472014-06-18T13:13:00.854-07:002014-06-18T13:13:00.854-07:00My colleague Joe Moser writes:
Speaking of periph...My colleague Joe Moser writes:<br /><br />Speaking of peripheral politics in seasonal music, I'm a big fan of singer/songwriter/pianist Regina Spektor's 2006 song "Summer in the City" (not to be confused with the The Lovin' Spoonful tune). Her "Summer" is primarily about romantic estrangement and longing, but she also nicely captures the feeling of youthful political alienation in the line "So I went to a protest just to rub up against strangers." For me, like many others, recalling the summers of 2006 and 2007 dredges up mixed feelings about the still-active-but-waning movement against the Iraq War, which was very possibly the kind of protest that Ms. Spektor had in mind. Here is a lovely performance of the song from 2007; she introduces it by making a generous comparison between summer in NYC (her home) and Austin, Texas (the site of the performance and my former home):<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIs6qv4mU1Q<br />AmericanStudierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06483077716534996778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3939909775405220345.post-46310963372866168372014-06-18T09:09:25.583-07:002014-06-18T09:09:25.583-07:00This song always evoked a very specifically Lindsa...This song always evoked a very specifically Lindsay-era New York for me, the rhythms, the optimism, the slight melancholy all evoke both the tumult and promise of the Lindsay years. Nicholas Birnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18352955651694124463noreply@blogger.com