A few days ago, over lunch at our favorite Indian buffet, I mentioned to my friend Pete Larson that we should try to record a jingle for Syed Taj, in hopes of giving him the extra little boost that he needs to defeat Tea Party favorite Kerry Bentivolio in these final days of their neck-and-neck race to represent Michigan’s 11th congressional district in the House of Representatives. Pete was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about the idea and reached out to a guy by the name of Dave Sharp, to see if he’d help us out by playing drums, and, tonight, without any practice, or even a clue as to what we’d be doing, we got together. I thought that we’d play all night, and maybe come up with a few moderately interesting songs to choose from. Instead, we played for about 15 minutes, huddled around an iPhone, making noise. The result, as you’ll soon discover, isn’t an incredibly polished piece of music, but it’s heartfelt… I give you, “A Song for Taj.”
I feel bad. I feel like we should have worked harder, and given more thought to what would actually compel more people in this very conservative district to leave their homes come November 6 and vote for Taj. I’m convinced that, if we’d invested the time, we could have come up with something that would have persuaded even the most diehard Republican to cross party lines and vote for Taj, but, instead, we just yelled and hit our instruments for a few minutes. Linette tells me it’s OK. She says the sincerity comes though. I hope that’s the case, because I really do feel strongly about this race, and I know, without the least bit of doubt, that Dr. Taj would do a better job of looking out for our interests in Washington than his Republican adversary, who, by the way, just recently lost his job as a public school teacher for being overly aggressive with his students. Dr. Taj is both bright and compassionate, but, more importantly, he is sane. We’re lucky to have him in this race, and I hope that comes though in this goofy, little song of ours.
If you live in Michigan’s 11th district, and feel as though you need more information than we convey in this two-minute song, you’ll find my comprehensive interview with Dr. Taj here.
And, more importantly, if you feel inspired to donate time or money to Dr. Taj’s campaign, you can find out how to do so here.
update: I don’t know if all the words made it into this version, as we did two takes, but here are the words, as they were quickly scribbled down in my notebook. As you’ll notice, there are references to both Citizen Kane and Shaft. You can debate our execution, but, I think you’ll agree, the references are inspired.
I want to tell you about a man
A moral man
A father
A community member
A doctor
A healer…’shut your mouth’
I’m just talkin’ ’bout Taj
If they were alive today, the Doobie Brothers would support Taj
FDR, in his secret, wheelchair accessible bunker supports Taj
Every man and woman in the U.S. space program, if they were aware of his existence, would support Taj
…’cause he’s pro-science’He’s that damn good!
Public schools
Preventative health care
Separation of church and state
Holding Wall Street accountableThat’s what he’s about
He’s Dr. Taj
UPDATE: Joe Montgomery took us up on our challenge, and wrote his own song about Taj. As he spent half an hour on it, it’s twice as good as ours… Enjoy!
12 Comments
This is what democracy looks like.
One question, though. Do you say, “the Doibue brothers, if they were alive today, would vote for Taj?” That’s what it sounds like.
Even if it just encourages one more person to get out and vote for Taj, it’s well worth the effort. (Unless, of course, it forces more than one person to vote for Kerry B.)
Linette was being nice – that reallt sucked.
And your ‘hopes of giving him the extra little boost that he needs to defeat Tea Party favorite Kerry Bentivolio in the final days of their neck-and-neck race to represent Michigan’s 11th congressional district in the House of Representatives’?
Don’t think this song will do it, but Taj is the right guy – vote!!!!
Not only will this song get the elderly out to vote for Taj, but it will buoy his spirits, and give him the energy he needs to get though this final week of campaigning. This song will be his Eye of the Tiger.
I have issued an open challenge. EVERYONE should make a song for Taj!!!!
Yes, you. I mean you. Pick up that phone and record your own song for Taj and send it in.
If you think our songs sucks, prove that you can do better. WE NEED TO GET TAJ ELECTED!!!!
http://peterslarson.com/2012/10/29/make-a-song-for-taj-a-challenge/
The thing that I find truly fascinating about this race is that Kerry Bentivolio was fired for being a bad teacher. This runs directly counter to the prevailing Republican narrative that bad teachers, because of the Teachers Union, cannot, under any circumstances, be fired.
Will anyone take up Peter’s challenge?
is there a way to support dr. taj that doesnt involve groveling for attention?
This was so beautiful that the tears will not stop flowing. I’ve had to change my blouse twice.
Best of luck, Dr. Taj. We’re counting on you.
Yes, anonymous, all you have to do is stop thinking of snarky comments for a moment, and actually read the post. When you do that, you’ll discover the following sentence, which includes an embedded link: “If you feel inspired to donate time or money to Dr. Taj’s campaign, you can find out how to do so here.”
You aren’t the first ones to successfully introduce music into local politics.
http://youtu.be/Le54rlvl7xk
See also “Viva Obama”!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlti12dTVQI