Quite a few people emailed me yesterday morning to let me know about a new video put together by popular entertainers on behalf of Barack Obama. Initially, I just shrugged my shoulders. I’m not especially interested in celebrity culture, and there’s already been a few too many viral campaign videos — “Obama girl” comes to mind — that didn’t amount to much.
But then, after some cajoling, I took a look. And I have to say, it’s quite good.
It was originally posted here, and this version looks and sounds a bit better.
Mark Kleiman, an Obama supporter, called the video “pretty damned overwhelming,” and compared it to “Lillibullero.” Ezra Klein, who isn’t an Obama supporter, said, “Without positing any electoral impact or too closely analyzing its politics, this music video, transforming Obama’s already lyrical speeches into actual music, sung and played by actual musicians, is beautiful and affecting.”
Agreed. Obama’s best speeches have been compared to poetry, but it never occurred to me they might literally be considered lyrical.
CNN had an item about the song.
With just a few days to go before the critical Super Tuesday primaries, Black Eyed Peas’ frontman will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan, son of legendary musician Bob Dylan, have released a new song featuring a host of celebrities and one very unlikely music video star: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
“Yes We Can,” released Friday, is centered around footage of the speech the Illinois senator gave after the New Hampshire primary last month.
The music video includes excerpts from that Obama speech and appearances from celebrities including jazz artist Herbie Hancock, former LA Lakers captain Kareem Abdul Jabbar, singer John Legend, model Amber Valletta, actresses Kate Walsh and Scarlett Johansson, and others.
(In an interview with the Associated Press last month, Johansson had joked that she was engaged to the White House hopeful, telling a reporter: “My heart belongs to Barack.”)
Dylan and will.i.am told ABC News they did not coordinate the creation or release of the video with the Obama campaign, and are unsure Obama knows about the production.
Not to be left out, of course, the Clinton campaign has entertainers of her own.
Hillary Clinton had been campaigning Hollywood style. The candidate has appeared at several events in California flanked by a host of her closest celebrity friends.
On Friday, Ms. Clinton spoke at a fund-raiser at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco alongside actor Ted Danson and his wife and longtime friend, actress Mary Steenburgen. Today Ms. Clinton spoke at a rally at California State University in Los Angeles with “Gidget” star Sally Field and basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
And in still more entertainment/political news, the Grateful Dead is doing a reunion show on Obama’s behalf.
The battle to capture California’s gray-haired ponytail vote may be over: The Grateful Dead — Jerry, RIP — is endorsing Barack Obama.
Not only that, the boys are reuniting for a one-off show Monday at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco for a GOTV rally…. And the political spin on this, not that the Obama campaign has thought of it yet, is that Obama The Uniter is the only candidate who can reunite members of the Dead for their first show together since 2004. Yes, that’s a stretch, but it’s three days before Super Tuesday and everybody has long run out of decent spin material.
Tickets were sold out instantly, of course.
Good to know.