When Barack Obama won the Democratic primary in June, it was pretty clear who the next president of the United States was going to be. So Listening Post started early and crafted a soundtrack, and it was good.
Now we find out that Santa Monica-based Hidden Beach Recordings bit our rhyme and made it official with a sanctioned compilation called Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement. It is probably the first ever official soundtrack in the history of American politics.
Who knows? Maybe they thought of it first. Starting in September, the Santa Monica-based label offered Yes We Can for download exclusively from Barack Obama's campaign site, which also received all the proceeds. But after he won the White House outright in November, the label moved the compilation into brick-and-mortars and its own online store. Signed, sealed, delivered.
But whose is better? I'm sticking with ours.
Obama's official compilation is a mixture of old and new tunes, but one of those tunes is a cover: John Legend's version of U2's "Pride, In the Name of Love." The rest are taken from rock, gospel, R&B and pop, as one scan of the cover image above will tell you. But some of those songs are wanting, especially Dave Stewart's "American Prayer" and Sheryl Crow's "Out of Our Heads." And while there are some incredible tunes, like Jill Scott's "One is the Magic" and Ozomatli's "Love and Hope," the disc's vibe is sometimes too contemplative and mellow to fully honor such a galvanizing moment.
this audio or video is no longer availableOurs has issues as well. It's too short, for one, mostly because Imeem limits what we can add into the embed or doesn't host songs we want. Hidden Beach Recordings is probably constrained in what it could include as well, given that it is distributed by Universal Music Group. And it is true that while we both share Stevie Wonder, Yes We Can has chosen the president-elect's official campaign theme "Signed, Sealed and Delivered."
But Listening Post is sticking with "Superstition," which is both a better song and more fitting for the occasion, given the political and social paranoia that surrounded Obama's candidacy. Plus, ours bounces harder: From Earth, Wind and Fire's "Shining Star" and Fishbone's "Party at Ground Zero" to Public Enemy's "Welcome to the Terrordome," it could pack a dance floor as easily as it packs your brain. Better yet, we've got Bob Marley, whose "Revolution" is a self-aware but chilled comedown.
So take that, Hidden Beach Recordings! Sure, you're official, and we respect that. But we must stick with the home team. Can we do that? Yes, we can.
Photo: Hidden Beach Recordings
See also:
- Barack Obama's Victory Soundtrack
- Dave Stewart's 'American Prayer': Worst Obama Song Yet?
- Joe The Plumber Ponders Major Label Deal
- House Republican Resurrects "Joe McCarthy's Ghost"
- Foo Fighters Smack Down McCain's 'Hero' Worship
- McCain Offends Van Halen, Sucks at Music
- Democrats or Republicans: Whose Music Is Better?
- Can Obama Turn D.C. Into Chocolate City? Ask the Other Black Presidents
- WTF? Toby Keith, Democrat, Likes Obama
- Obama Fan Madonna Gets Sticky, Sweet, Political
- East Coast Avengers Call For Bill O'Reilly's Head
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