Monday, October 6, 2008

Bill Clinton! KD Lang!!

Call me Cinderella.

My sister rang me up on the phone this morn, and said she had a couple of tickets to an Obama benefit at the gorgeous loft home of Steven and Judy Gluckstern 'way downtown in NYC .  Joe Biden was supposed to speak but he couldn't 'cause his wife's mom had just died.

...but rumor had it Bill Clinton was going to fill in.  

Wow, said I.  And that's when my sis gave me the tickets 'cause she couldn't get to the party herself.

Have I mentioned KD Lang yet?  Guess so.  She was scheduled to sing, and sing she did.  And Alice Waters of Chez Panisse did the cocktail snacks.  How about a giant silver tureen of mac and cheese, topped with about a half a foot of lobster meat?  People walked about smiling and eating it out of outsized martini glasses.  Talk about a swanky neighborhood near you!  Never ever could I match the company, the food, or the lovely, just-oaky-enough chardonnay.  

So Ken and I went to the party, as I think you've gathered by now.  And so did Bill Clinton.

I hardly know where to start.  

Maybe I should tell you first about KD Lang.  She sang only three songs, but HOLY COW.  I was just bedazzled.  Her keyboard player sat at the gorgous Victorian grand piano in the loft and she wandered barefoot through the delighted crowd.  As she launched into a stellar cover of  "Hallelujah", she was just a few feet from me.  I was melted into a little square of blonde hair on the floor, but my husband snapped a couple of cell phone shots.  

And BILL!!

OK, they say that it's like being in the room with Elvis, and that's basically right.  And yeah, I'm still pissed at him for not putting the full force of his talent behind Obama sooner, but as I stood listening to him clarify the economic crisis in terms that my cat could understand but that were at the same time well-chosen and really profound, suddenly, I didn't feel like the world was out of control anymore.  I felt like I could have a role in getting things back on track--and that we'd all survive, and that I live in a great country.  I haven't felt like that in a long time...

...as KD sang just a few minutes later, "Hallelujah".

Speaking of cats, as Clinton stood at the base of a very modern and imposing staircase, the lovely Himalayan kitty who was lucky enough to live in that loft came downstairs and sat a few stairs above him, checking out his speech.  Clinton proceeded to make the best case for Obama I have ever heard: that we hire presidents to LEAD and that Obama's got the stuff 'cause of his smarts and judgement.  Sounds basic, but there you have it. And he's right.  The kitty listened as carefully as the assembled crowd.  But when KD Lang took over the mike, Kitty joined her in song.  It was a moment.

I guess there are folks to whom this wouldn't be a big deal.  But we'll be making some phone calls to battleground states from high atop the Potter building...

...and we'll celebrate having convinced some more folks to vote the right way this coming Friday at 4 Eastern.  I promise to play some KD Lang.  

Yes we CAN! 

4 comments:

janina said...

i'm a huge fan of k.d.'s that manages a few forums and was wondering what she sang and if you took photos by chance. i love biden and will vote for him but couldn't make the party unfortunately. thanks for sharing that.

chrispy said...

Hi, Janina--

I manage a forum, too--a poetry workshop called The Alsop Review's Gazebo (www.alsopreview.com).

KD sang Cohen's "Hallelujah", one song I did not recognize, and another she introduced as having originally been written about an interracial affair that contained the lyric "we've got a right to our love". I am sorry I am not a big enough fan to recognize the songs. I DO love KD Lang; I've never heard her sing anything that didn't blow me right away.

I can tell you that KD walked barefoot through the party, wearing a black suit, singing her heart out. And that it was wonderful. I'll see if I can get those cell phone shots my husband took up on the blog soon.

And I'll play some KD Lang on my RandoRadio.com show, Cocktails with Chris, this Friday--Eastern time 4-6 PM.

Chris

kennedyflair said...

Hi Chris, thanks for your thoughts on the evening, and of k.d. The song you mention is called The Right to Love btw. Looking forward to the photos. I too run a k.d. lang forum and titbits like this are really appreciated by the members, cheers, Shelley (keep playing the k.d. tracks!)

janina said...

hi chris ~ thanks so much for your reply and glad you got to go. i adore poetry and writing btw and will definately check it out. thanks again and have a fun weekend. x, janina