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Thursday, January 20, 2011
White House Music! Any Song With "Huzzah" in the Title Should Be Okay with Me
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 4:14 PM
(This is part of an ongoing series rating presidential campaign songs, in rough chronological order. You can find all the previous entries here.)
"Huzzah for Madison," also known as "Huzzah for Madison, Huzzah!," has all the elements of a good campaign song. It has God defeating Satan (Satan, in case you didn't know, sides with the British), and it contextualizes Madison: "While Jefferson to shade retires/and Madison like morn appears/fresh confidence and hope inspires/and light again the nation cheers." But I have a hard time with any song that suggests this guy is like the morning sun...
...because really, his head is big and round (and probably really warm, too) but nobody would want to wake up to it. And the lyrics seem to work extra hard to diminish Jefferson, who was Madison's boss, which seems kind of weaselly. But listen to Oscar Brand's version of the song and you'll see the big problem with "Huzzah for Madison." It drags like a motherfucker. Any song with Huzzah in the title should be a balls-to-the-walls party through and through. "Huzzah for Madison" fails at that. It feels perfunctory. It's the first presidential campaign song that's a total disappointment.
Lyrics:4
Enthusiasm: 3
Infectiousness: 2.5
Total Score: 3.17
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