Randy Newman has been away for awhile, and right when the country needed him most.
His last album of original songs, Bad Love, was released in 1999. And so the first decade of the 21st century had thus far gone unchronicled by America’s finest musical satirist. That is truly a shame, because George Bush has certainly deserved an earful.
He finally gets it in the centerpiece song of Newman’s excellent new album Harps and Angels. That song is ‘A Few Words in Defense of Our Country’ and anyone who knows Randy Newman knows defense isn’t what’s really on his mind.
Whose people aren’t bad nor are they mean
Now the leaders we have
While they’re the worst that we’ve had
Are hardly the worst the poor world has seen
The lyrics (so good they were printed as an op ed piece in The New York Times) go on to detail other atrocities in world history to which the Bush administration can be favorably compared. Newman name-drops Hitler and Stalin (“men who need no introduction” – ha!) and the Caesars. He gets in a good dig at Dick Cheney and reserves a whole wonderful verse for the Supreme Court:
That this Supreme Court is going to outlive me
A couple of young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now, too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world,
To find me two Italians as tight-assed as the two Italians we got
And as for the brother, well
Pluto’s not a planet anymore, either
And so on. It’s a brilliant piece of work, up there with some of his great 70s material.
The rest of the album is very solid as well. Other highlights are two more mini-epics performed in the same smart-ass talking blues style as that one (‘Harps and Angels’ and ‘Potholes’) plus a couple of straight-forward love songs (‘Losing You’ and ‘Feels Like Home’). It’s impressive that Newman can deliver the earnest stuff with as much conviction as the satire.
The album coasts a bit in its middle third, featuring a couple of New Orleans jazz ditties and a funny freak-out that takes light-hearted shots at Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp and Bono. The one weak song is ‘Korean Parents’ which makes some smart points about the American public school system but feels a bit too jokey.
But make no mistake, this is another essential recording from a man who far too seldom asks for our ear. This blog has seen some discussion lately about “original voices” — it’s great to once again hear from an artist who is truly one of a kind.
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’m enjoying the hell out of this new album as well, and pretty much agree with your assessment. For some reason, Newman always has one musically assautling dissonent song on his records and Korean Parent is it on this one, although the lyrics are still pretty great.
Newman is still on top of his game!
Although I was born and raised in a country of the other side across the Pacific Ocean, I have also been looking for a good excuse to defend our leaders for many years. This might be “a wild goose chase” because I haven’t found a single good one so far, unfortunately. However, this is it!
“A Few Words in Defense of Our Country” is an absolute gem.
This might be a wrong idea but “Laugh and Be Happy” sounds like a prelude somehow while “A Piece of the Pie” and “Easy Street” sounds like the postlude to “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country.”
“Harps and Angels” is a great album.
I do not have any doubts about it, but I have many problems with the lyrics by Randy Newman, lexically, culturally, and politically.
In terms of vocabulary, I’m just wondering what the “business” in the phrase “Better keep your business clean” means. (Is it body waste or something? It’s not a big deal but I’m just curious.)
Culturally, why Jackson Browne? (An image of a square singer-songwriter?) Also I have a problem with “Fido” in “Korean Parents.” I have no idea what it is!
Luckily I came across the names such as Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas mentioned in an NPR’s interview. Thanks millions for the Internet!
To me the lyrics Randy Newman writes are always challenging. That’s why I have never ever lost interest in his works.