On campaign theme songs ...

If one more person sends me the link to the Will.I.Am "Yes We Can" song, I am going to go to amazon.com and buy this! The first (and only time) I listened to the song, I felt the idea to set Obama's New Hampshire(?) speech to music was a nice one. Although I found the 'We are the World' thing a bit chaotic, I felt the effort deserved an 'A' for achieving its (perceived) goal; tug at your heart strings ,(for those people equipped with working ones) make you get out and vote for Obama. I wondered if this song would be played at Obama events going forward. I am thinking so, judging from this picture ...

I have never been to an Obama event so I don't know what type of music is played. I do recall reading somewhere that he said he liked rap music. I guess this explains why he walked out to Jay-Z's "99 Problems" after winning the Iowa caucuses. I would like to suggest another song (in case anyone is reading this) That one time I saw/listened to the Will.i.am song, the "Yes We Can" punctuation used by Obama seemed so familiar, where have I heard this phrase before o ... Aha! The Pointer Sisters had a hit with "Yes We Can" on the their self titled debut album in 1973 and the lyrics are much better than those of "99 Problems" ...

Now's the time for all good men
to get together with one another.
We got to iron out our problems
and iron out our quarrels
and try to live as brothers.
And try to find a piece of land
without stepping on one another.
And do respect the women of the world.
Remember you all have mothers.
We got to make this land a better land
than the world in which we live.
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give.
I know we can make it.
I know darn well we can work it out.
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we?
If we wanna get together we can work it out.

And we gotta take care of all the children,
the little children of the world.
'cause they're our strongest hope for the future,
the little bitty boys and girls.

We got to make this land a better land
than the world in which we live.
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give.
I know we can make it.
I know darn well we can work it out.
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
yes we can can, why can't we?
If we wanna, yes we can can.

P.S. Harry Connick Jr also covered this song on his 2007 album 'Oh , My Nola' his tribute to New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. I wondered why the song was on the album, after all The Pointer Sisters were not from New Orleans (Oakland California is where they hail from). I assumed it was because of the lyrics, then while researching the post (yes, yes) I found out the song was written by Allen Toussaint. A very influential figure in the New Orleans R&B scene. There you go!