I was certain that the mean-spirited, anti-everything that's decent and fair Proposition 8 would be overturned by the California Supreme Court. It seems pretty open and shut to me. Here's a revision of the California constitution, passed by a (slim) majority of Californians, that limits the rights of what the CA Supreme court has already declared a "protected class" of citizens. Which is unquestionably wrong. If the majority had been able to vote on the rights of African Americans in the '60s the Civil Rights Movement would have come to a much different conclusion.
But, judging from the reporting from the proceedings of the hearing, it sounds as if the CA justices are afraid of "overturning the will of the people." Well, that sounds cowardly to me. And I hope they surprise everyone and overturn this hateful amendment.
When I wrote California Blues, a few weeks before the hearing, I was feeling confident, as you'll hear in the mp3 I'm posting at the end of this missive, that Prop 8 was going down. It just seemed so obvious that it was blatant discrimination, and there seemed no other logical conclusion. The passage of Prop 8 was a mistake, voters were fooled into voting for it by a campaign of misinformation and malicious propaganda, and the right thing to do was (and is) overturn it at the Judicial level.
The song was so new at the point of this recording (at the March NY Outmusic Open Mic event) that I wasn't even solid on the lyrics yet, and in fact the lyrics are still being tweaked. But I wanted to perform it at least once before it was overturned. I had believed that this song would have a very short "shelf life." Now I'm not so sure.
This is a very rough recording, captured by my little Zoom recorder on Monday, March 2. I wasn't sure if I should even post it, as it's very raw, the song is under-rehearsed, and the sound isn't very good. But I solicited the opinion of the inestimable Len Rogers of OutVoice.net, and he thought that, in spite of the roughness of the recording, I should post it. This recording also marks the first time I've ever accompanied myself on an electric guitar in public (!). And of course, it doesn't hurt that Mr. Magic Fingers, Dan Manjovi, is along for the ride on the piano. I hope you enjoy it.
Comments