I think you need to watch this.
My daughter loved the original version of this song. The lyrics always felt hollow to me. You’re losing friends–why? You’re in too deep–in what way, exactly?
But now here’s an a cappella version of the song, recorded in service to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. And suddenly the song gains meaning and gravity. And now, in this context, it makes me cry.
I hate a cappella, by the way.
This version makes me cry because our culture is not post-gender, and women still have to fight twice as hard to get half the respect and dignity that men are granted by lot, and it is a big deal, it matters in ways that are both superficial and profound, that Hillary Clinton will accept the Democratic nomination tonight. And regardless of how you feel about her past or her positions, she has done work that few men have done, she has fought battles that few men would have the stomach to fight, she has made choices that most men have never been asked to make, and here she is. Here she is.
And so she deserves at least–at least–respect, and dignity, and a song that now takes on world-historical significance because it can be sung about her.