Adapted from “The Michael Knowles Show,” January 13, 2024.
Today’s song is by my friend, Tom Macdonald, and features Nova Rockafeller. It has gotten 8.4 million views.
Though the song was released in 2024, its lyrics are certainly timely now. In the second line of the song, he sings, “The streets are full of fire and smoke.” It is as though he is referring to the California wildfires, which just began last week.
Tom engages an older tradition of popular music and poetry. The older tradition to which he harkens back is one of works written by poets and musicians that are going to stand as a testament for all time, eternal musings on profound truths. Much of the history of popular music and certainly of poetry involves punditry. In this tradition, music and poetry responded to particular political affairs of the time….
