Here is Elvis’ goosebump-inducing and totally sincere version of “America the Beautiful.” Bring us there, Elvis. Walk us through it. He sounds like an old-timey preacher in a tent in a field.
Gonna take a run and go visit my dead boyfriend. Pay tribute. Say thanks.
Happy 4th of July.
Happy Independence Day to you and your dead boyfriend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXlXJa1dQPw
“He’s obnoxious and disliked; did you know that?” “I hadn’t heard.” :-)
“we’re the cool cool considerate men … “
Yegads Sheila, I DID got goosebumps. Also, his recitation is so amazingly sincere, instead of being phony or artsy as so many are.
Can you recommend an even-handed, readable book about Hamilton? I have an open mind. I’ve read about Jefferson, and while he did a number of admirable things, he also was inconsistent on important things, too. Someone on the Internet recently noted that most of these guys at the time were only in their 20s, and should not be regarded as infallible, all-knowing saints.
Sorry, I meant I DID get goosebumps.
Milt – Yes, the recitation part is amazing. It’s his Pentecostal background – deep as the ocean for him. He’s a preacher, he’s unafraid of emotion. It’s just an amazing performance!!
And in re: Hamilton. Ron Chernow’s biography is really the one to read. There are others. But Hamilton’s reputation was so destroyed for about 150 years (his reputation in the hands of his enemies) – that a lot of that “stink” still stuck around until Chernow.
Chernow is an incredible writer – and he also has focused on financial whiz-kids before – that’s one of his main interests – and Hamilton was definitely that. Chernow makes us understand how Hamilton’s thoughts on debt, for example, were far-thinking and revolutionary in their own way. All of the other guys – well, the Virginians, anyway – Washington, Jefferson, Madison – all of them saw Land as the primary signifier of wealth. It was their background, their heritage. Hamilton was a homeless immigrant, an illegitimate nobody – who didn’t give a crap about Land – and saw the Industrial Revolution coming and knew that the financial structure needed to change and get ready for THAT. People thought he was INSANE. Many people thought he was dangerous. Abigail Adams worried he would be another Napoleon. He definitely had some quirks, shall we say – as they all did. But I’ve said before that he, of all of them, saw to our world today. We’re living in his world, more than anyone else’s. He also was an abolitionist. An extraordinary man.
The reason why our revolution worked when one like the French Revolution went off the rails was that we had such a good GROUP – who counteracted each other, checked/balanced … If it had JUST been Thomas Jefferson in charge, we would have been in big trouble. Or John Adams. Or Hamilton. It was all of them TOGETHER that made it work.
Ron Chernow’s biography is the way to go. It’s one of the best biographies I’ve ever read.
Thanks for the recommendation. I plan to get the book out of the library.
No problem, Milt! Let me know what you think!