Music has always had power over me – and it seems that rather than growing out of it, as I age, it just keeps getting more intense. Oh – and somehow in the second half of my life, Patti Smith keeps showing up. Last night I plugged my iPod into my car radio for a drive home from an evening meeting. I opened the sunroof and the windows to the summer night, set the player to "shuffle" and just let it choose. What emerged? THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER – the Patti Smith anthem that closed the final night of the 2004 VOTE FOR CHANGE tour – one of the greatest musical experiences of my life.
So there I was – singing along – beating rhythm through the roof window and just so happy. Of course the concert tour was unable to produce the change it sought – so maybe the people don’t always have the power – but even after all the disappointments of my political life – and what for me has been the heartbreak of the past 6 years –the idealism of this song and all that it says: "the people have the power to redeem to work of fools" … and "I believe everything we dream|can come to pass through our union| we can turn the world around| we can turn the earth’s revolution | we have the power — People have the power … " still lifts my heart.
I couldn’t find video of everyone in the tour singing PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER but I did find this and it was so great that even though it’s not what I was writing about, it’s from the same night and you’ll love it. Now I have to go do some work. Enjoy yourselves.
Vote for Change ~ Cleveland ~ Oct 2, 2004
L