Kathleen Cei Photo
A local musician’s latest recording warns against “some rich man’s son who thinks he’s already won … lives in a bubble of privileged greed / has no clue of life in the weeds.”
Sound familiar?
Steve Mednick, a local attorney-turned prolific songwriter and recording artist, counts on you to connect some of the dots. Still, you can’t miss his message — or his outrage.
It’s election time. Which means it’s time for Mednick to come out with his latest batch of original, politically-tinged music.
It’s also time for Bill Collins to pick up his acoustic guitar, collect some local political activists as backup singers, and crank up the video recorder. Click on the play arrow to watch “Pushing Back Against Linda’s Lies.” As in Linda McMahon, Republican candidate for Connecticut’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Click here to read about Collins’ song from the 2010 campaign.
Meanwhile, supporters of Barack Obama in the East Rock neighborhood emphasized the positive. Tessa Kelly and Chris Parkinson wrote a song called “Hope 2012,” enlisted neighbors in a video, then sent it to swing states.
Click on the play arrow to watch it. And read on for Kelly’s emailed description of how the video came about:
“We wrote it on Sunday, the day before the hurricane, and recorded it ourselves, and then sent it down to our good friend Ben Jaffe, who is half of the band HoneyHoney. He lives in Nashville. He then, in a turnaround of 24 hours,made a better recording (the one featured in the song), and got it back to us.
“We immediately started trying to figure out what we could do for visuals to the song so that we could turn it into a video. We started by reaching out to our Ethiopian neighbors in East Rock who were DELIGHTED to be a part of it. That was Tuesday night.
“The next day when I came home for lunch, I asked a construction worker in our building if he supported Obama, and if he wanted to be part of the video. Not only did he reply with a resounding YES, but he took me to the basement where we rounded up all his friends. They were the next four to be videoed.
“Wednesday night, our friend Michelle Komie gathered her amazing community on Bishop Street on Halloween night. Chris and I arrived to video,
expecting five or six people, and the house was jammed! With adults, kids in costume, hot cider. We had the song playing nice and loud and everyone was very excited.
“Finally, around 10 p.m. on Wednesday we went to the architecture school, where Chris is a third-year student, to start editing the video. There we got about 20 of his classmates to take part.
“We finished editing at 3 a.m. on Wednesday night and put it on YouTube. So everyone seen in the video is a resident of New Haven. Chris is the one holding the ‘Hurricane’s a comin’’ sign, and I’m the first ‘So I reach out to Ohio.’”
About That “Rich Guy”
Click here and here to read previous articles about the musical career path Mednick, a former New Haven alderman, has taken; and here for information on his new album, Where Are The Bodies Buried? (where you can sample the music).
Meanwhile, here are the lyrics to “They Don’t Get Who We Are,” the album track that references that certain rich guy running for president:
THEY DON’T GET WHO WE ARE
I
I HEARD FROM MY OLD FRIEND JOE,
HE CALLED ME FROM OHIO
TALKING ABOUT SOME RICH MAN’S SON
WHO THINKS HE’S ALREADY WON
YOU SEE WILLY HIDES BEHIND HIS WALL
WHICH WAS BUILT SECURE AND TALL
LIVES IN A BUBBLE OF PRIVILEGED GREED
HAS NO CLUE OF LIFE IN THE WEEDS
II
HE SAYS ALL GOOD THINGS FLOW FROM THE TOP,
YOU CAN ALWAYS KEEP WHAT WE DROP
YOU’RE JUST JEALOUS OF MY LOT IN LIFE
I EVEN HAVE A COMELY WIFE
WELL WILLY HE DON’T KNOW ME
HE’S SO BLIND HE CAN BARELY SEE
WALKS ON A CLOUD UP IN THE SKY
HAS NO SCRUPLES SELLS A PACK OF LIES
III — INSTRUMENTAL
THEY DON’T GET WHO WE ARE, DON’T KNOW WHERE WE COME FROM
NEVER REALIZE THAT WE HAVE DREAMS, WHICH THEY JUST TRAMPLE ON
IV
YOU KNOW WE’VE BEEN THROUGH HELL AND BACK.
OUTSOURCING AND PADLOCKED PLANTS.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS
ABOUT THE VULTURE WHO LIED AND USED
YOU KNEW SOMEONE WHO WORKED THERE TOO.
OR MAYBE IT WAS YOU.
WHEN YOU’RE TOWN’S FACED THE RICH MAN’S CLOUT
LEAVES A BITTER TASTE IN YOUR MOUTH.
V — INSTRUMENTAL
THEY DON’T GET WHO WE ARE, DON’T KNOW WHERE WE COME FROM
NEVER REALIZE THAT WE HAVE DREAMS, WHICH THEY JUST TRAMPLE ON
CODA
WELL, WE’RE NOT PERFECT BUT THEY’RE NUTS
THEY SPOUT RELIGION AND PRAY TO THEIR GUNS
May 2012
Song by Steven G. Mednick © 2012 Steven G. Mednick/Prospect Hill Words
and Music. ASCAP.