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A New Republican Maioriiy?

by Jim Alt

One of the fashionable political
games this year is called “New
Republican Majority". Although it
is now played mainly by Repubr
lican sympathizers, its outcome
could affect us all.

The idea of the game is simple
The FDR—New Deal coalition, which
has provided a basic Democratic
majority since the 1930's, is sup-
posed to be ialling apart. Wage earne
ers andSouthernconservatives,for-
merly staunch Democratsarelooke
ing for somewhere else to go.

The new majoritytheory states that
they want to leave because, begins
ning in 1968 and culminating in Mcr
Govern’s nomination, an unrer
presentative minority oi liberal ace
tivists has raided and captured the
Democratic party.

’l‘hus Richard Nixon’s plan is not
only to win this election by ap-
pealing to disaiiected Democrats,
but also to turn Such voters into
permanent Republicans. Where na—
tional party identiiication now runs
about 25% Republican, 45% Demo~
crat. and 30% Independent, the bale
ance is to shift drastically toward
the Republican side. The shift is
to re-elect Nixon and also to win
a Republican majority in the Senate
and significant gains in the House
this year.

The Republicans‘ hope is that the
shift would be largeenoughandlast-
ing enough to give them control oi
both houses of Congress in the 1974
elections, Then, rather than con-
stantly lighting a Democratic Con-
gress, Nixoncould Successfully con-
vert his foreign and domestic policy
proposals into law. Without the con-
straint of an opposition Congress,
his executive powerwould reachnew
heights and the Republicans would
truly become a "governing party”.
Hence the interest inthe new major,
ity theory.

This is the hope and the theory
under which the Republicans are
presently campaigning. Their co-
optation of nominal Democrat John
Connally represents a drive ior the
conservative Southern Democrat
vote. The new image of Spiro (now
”Ted”) Agnew is designed to avoid
offending marginal Democratic
voters. And, of course, the tarring
of McGovern with the “radical”
brush is supposed to frighten old—
line Democrats and Independents
into waiting Republican arms,

Two questions about the theory
must be considered. First, is Nixon
going to win? His lead in the last
Gallop poll was 34 percentage

points, and the McGovern camp has

been split and disorganized ever»

since the convention, LarryO’Brlen,
McGovern’s iigurehead campaign
manager, almost quit in an organic
zzttional fight, and FrankThbmpson,
head oi McGovern's voter registrar
tion drive, did. McGovern money is
tight, and the luster has been off
the campaign since the Eagleton ate
fair. Where the press once painted
McGovern as the quixotic prairie
populist, it now shows him as a
rather inept underdog politician--
with the emphasis on “politician”.

The conventional answer to the first
question, then, must be yesesnixon
will win rerelection byalnrge mar-
gin, By conventional wisdam, how-
ever, he should be running against
Ed Muskie. American politics have
the overriding and hope-inducing
characteristic of being highly vola»
tile. and I therefore Will not ace
tually predict this election’s out-
come. But for the sake of the ar»
gument, 1 will conditionally accept
the first answer and ask the second
question:

will the new Republican majority
be permanent? There is not even
any conventional wisdom on this one;
it is usually answered in the air
firmative by those who Want to think
so and not at all by those who do
not, The new majority theory is
plausible enough to merit serious
consideration and to gain wide cir-
culation, especially among Republi»
cans and worried Democrats who
sense but cannot define the conteme
porary currents of political change
in this country. But there are some
forces gravitating against the theory
which are not generally spelled out.

For instance. the Republican mem-
ory is amazingly short, dropping off
somewhere after 1964. The Gold
water candidacy, in which one wing
oi the party drove off the moderates
and gave Johnson a landslide, was
supposed to have permanently cripr
pled the Republican party. The party
split was truly and incredibly bitter,
yet iour years later the reunited
party elected a president. Those
moderates who bolted the party in
1964 dutifully returned in 1968, and if
large numbers oi Democrats defect
from McGovern this year, it does
not preclude their returning by 1975.
Party identification, once estab»
lished, is stronger and more durable
than distaste for an individual cane
didate. It took the Depression to
forge the New Deal coalition, and it
might take a similar event to bring
about another such drastic political

Drug Lyrics

by John Potts

 

This is a column for people who

like to iigure out what rock lyrics
really mean. Each column will diSr
cuss the lyric content, or recurring
theme, in a particular song, album
or group, and will be a wonderiul
source of trivial information of ab-
solutely no redeeming social value
except to those special few who lie
awake all night cogitating over the
signiiicance oi recurring refer
rences to Sweet Jane in songs by
the Grateful Dead, Velvet Underr
ground, et a1.

I’ll also compile discographr
ies, talk about the relationship of
music to words, and, when appro-
priate, digress into a discussion oi
the history of a particular band or
its instrumentation. And, when I
can get my hands on them, I’ll re-
view unreleased European imported
albums and rare singles.

Ever since Spiro Agnew found out
what “A Little Help From My Fr-
lends“ was really about, the FCC
has been deeply distressed over the
ellectoi drugvoriented rocklyrics
on the innocent youth of America.
Yet many of our rock poets have
produced a prolific amount ofmater
rial dealing with drugs. It all start
ed in 1985 when Lou Reed wrote
“Heroin", a song containing a note
so-Subtle drug reference, (TheVeL
vet Underground and Nico, Verve/

Forecast) And, of course, we all
know about the drug references lll
all those Beatles’ songs. But, late—
1y, people have become somewhat
more slick in subtlizing their
themes.
Paul Simon, partrtlme Smack Fr~
eak, penned "Bridge Over Troubled
Water" about his favorite pastime
and it does seem ironic that a song
about heroin is now used asachurch
hymn. Listening carefully to the
lyrics, you can detect the hollow
depressing Selfrdoubt and loss of
hope that one associates with heroin
addiction (”when you’re weary, feels
ing small . . . when you’re down and
out, when you’re on the street, when
darkness falls so hard . . "), Be-
ing “down and out on the street”
is (in obvious reference to looking
ior a fix. And the song constantly
alludes to the availability and res
liance on the heroin crutch to fulr
fill what were once human needs,
and to put meaning into lifeantl aller
viate the depression oi the soul any
addict must feel (“when tears are in
your heart, 1'11 dry them all, I’m
on your side . when darkness
falls so hard, I’ll comfort you
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down . . . sail on,
silver girl, sail on by, and should
you need me, 1’11 be right behind
. "). Also, “silver" is a widely

realignment

The new majority theory counts
heaVily on the permanent defection
oi wage earners and union members
«the so-called blue collarworkers.
There are problems with the theory
here, too. Although George Meany
is sitting out the election and has
ordered the AFL-CIO’S memberna-
tional unions to do the same, Mcr
Govern is gaining substantially from
local and statewide union endorse-
ments as well as from dissident
national union organizations. (The
Teamsters, not members of the
AFLVCIO, are a notable exception.)

Republican economic policies, past
and present, give primary consid
eration to management, not to labor.
Thus Nixon’s blue collar support is
probably despite, not because oi,
his economic policies. Whatever
support he gains from labor on his
law»and-order, busing, or Vietnam
stands is suspect, because a union
is by definition primarily interested
in economic questions. If governs
ment’s approach to the economy be-
comes the leading issue, either in
this year’s or in iuture campaigns,
the unions will be much more com-
fortable with the traditional Demo-
crntic party stands,

There is also the problem or the
Wallace vote. Although it is assumed
to be firmly in the Republican col-
umn this time, it is not fully unr
derstood; there are indications that
part of it could go to McGovern on
the tax reform issue, especially in
the North where it overlaps the blue
collar vote. If Wallace ran in I975,
the Republicans would be forced
away irom Nixon’s new centrist po-
sition to protect their right, and this
would jeopardize any newly formed
coalition. And if Wallace does not
run again, his supporters from the
Democratic party could conceivably
return to the Democratic fold. In
any case, the nature of Wallace sup—
port is not clear and certainly not
to be counted on by 'either major
party.

Then there are the 1974 elections.
In midterm elections, the winning
presidential party usually loses cone
gressional seats as the defeated
party regroups and goes on the at
tack. If 1972 Republican gains were
eroded in 1974, the 1976 election
could be up ior grabs. The Repub-
licans, especially without the advan»
stage of an incumbent in the White
House, would lind the new majority
theory put to a severe test.

Indeed, if the Republicans plan to
become a governing party and to

used drug metaphor.

Traffic is another group whose
material is very, very drug-
oriented, and a future colum will be
entirely devoted to Traffic in its
various permutations. The first
American Traffic album (Mr. Fall-
tasy, United Artists) is perhaps the
most drug-influenced album this
side oi White Light/White Heat. The
first side opens with “Papel‘Sun,”
a song about a girl having gone
through a disappointing acid trip.
The song is loaded with references
to “sun" and ”sunshine,” Which
are acid terms, and the setting is
a beach, which is strongly remini~
scent oi Dylan‘s classic acid song,
"Mr Tambourine Man,” in which he
longs to “dance beneath the diamond
sky (a Beatles' allusion) with one
hand waving iree, silhouetted by
the sea, circled by the circus sands
, . driven deep beneath the waves,”
indeed, in rock lyrics the beach has
become a standard symbol for the
psychedelic experience. Anyway,
“Paper Sun" is iollowed by "Deals
er,” a song (obviously) about dope
deallng, The next song is “Color
red Rain” (“Yesterdaylwasayoung
boy, searching tor my way, not
knowing what I wanted, living liie
from day to day . . Bring on
colored raid") Most drug songs
make direct statements about se-
arching for direction rind emphasize
the present. Still, the lyrics puz—
zled nic ior a long time, until 1
found out that “colored rain“ is
street slang ior methadrine(speed).

The really significant song on the
album, though, is ”No raceNo Name
and No Number” because it begins
what i reier to as Traffic’s Free»

control both Congress and the White
House, 1974 and 1976 could be their
golden chances. If McGovern is
beaten badly this year, those will
also be decisive years for the iu-
ture of a defeated anddivided Demo»

September 15, 1972 5

cratic party.

And if George McGovern wins this
year, we can all sit back, read the
polls and articles like this one, and
once again laugh at the conventional
wisdom and conventional analysis.

photo by Joliil Beneckl

Quartet Has Gestalt

by Jay Southard

This article is a mistake. Your
editor has made a mistake byasking
me to cover the Manhattan Quar-
tet’s first concert as the resident
chamber group at Gl‘lnnell. First of
all, lam a well-known worshippers
atrtherfeet of the Francesco Trio.
Secondly, I know very little about
music as a whole. Third and last,
I am a violinist, or at any rate
a violin player, so naturally my ear
tends to listen too much to the violin,

The Quartet’s program was a nicely
balanced "crowd pleaser,” for
which 1 iervently give thanks, both
as a reviewer and as part oi the
crowd. The program started with
Hadyn's Quartet Opus 76, No. 2,
and, in my opinion, started shakily.
The Allegro first movement seemed
nervously executed, the Andante was
worse, and when the Menuetto be-
gan sounding like a herd of ele»
phants trying to dance, 1 was ready
to give up. But then dens ex machine
or, more precisely, diabolus ex
machine: “I swear,” said an ob-
Server of Paganinni, “I sawthe devil
appear and guide his fingers.” Well,
the witches were certainly summon—
ed by the Menuetto's second theme,
and if there is someone who would
swear that they didn't dance to the
quartet's Menuetto, he is insensi—
tive indeed. When the herd of eler
phants returned in the recapitular
tion of the first theme of the Menr
uetto, even it was mysterious. By
the end of the Finale, I was cone

dom Trilogy. The song is arranged
similarly to Lou Reed's ”Heroin”
(especially the opening) and even
shares a line: “I don’t know where
I’m bound,” But the chorus is:
“I’m searching ior a girl, who has
no face, no name and no number,"
implying a search for liie direction
(like "Heroin" and other drug
songs). Furthermore, in street
slang "girl” also means cocaine.
Steve Winwood sings in a pained
voice: “I feel no sound, don't know
where I’m bound, the scenery looks
all the same to me , . , I’m part
of it’ it’s part oi me . .so trying
to lind mysell must be the only way
to feel free” Obviously, this is
meant to imply the loss oi space/
time orientation and an imagined
merging with inanimate objects, on
experience sometimes felt by habi-
tual users of heavy drugs, The
ireedom line is very signiiicant,
for it leads us to a consideration
of Trafflc’s “Freedoleder”(Jnhn
Barleycorn Must Die, United Art-
ists), n song about the use oi acid,
In this song, the line “with a silver
star between his eyes“ refers to
the mythical mesmerizing all-
seeing eye oi the LSD user, which
is often symbolized by a dot on the

forehead: Now, iiwcunderstandth;

a Joy Rider is now who drugs him-
sell occasionally, ior fun, we con-
clude that the Freedom Rider must
dose himself to feel tree, and since
We've been told that “trying to lind
myselr is the only way to iecl free,”
we can assume that acid must bethe
means of self-exnmlnldtion. This
would explain the pained cry of
“it is you! It is you!” at tlte close
oi the song

vinced that the Quartet was a good
bargain.

The Quartet has a gestalt, a total-
ity greater than the sum of the
parts, which should be taken as a
righthanded insult ratherthanaleft-
handed compliment. I suppose that
any chamber group must have a
sense of ensemble, but the Man»
hattan has it to a greater degree
than 1 (in my many years cl ex-
perience, of course) have ever seen
before. My feeling about this was
borne out by the periormance of
the Bartok Quartet No. a. Thegroup
threaded its way safely past num»
erous rhythmical pitfalls that should
oi cardinality greater than one. The
experimental sound of the Prima
parte quickly gave way to experi-
mental harmonies and rhythms—-
all quite well done.

The last work waS the Quartet in
G minor, Opus 10, by Debussy. And
as the Bible Says, ”The last shall
be first.” The whole second move
ment was beautiiul, beginning with
a pizzacotto passage for the entire
quartet. in the third movement, the
Andantino, we had a chance to hear
a 5010 passage for the viola, whee
ther it was Andrew Eerdahl’s play-
ing or his somewhat unusual viola,
l was impressed by the soit, yet
deep tone which be exhibited. The
Debussy came to a fitting end, bring»
ing some of the audience to its
feet. Put your fears away, Grins
nell classical music lovers, your
prayers have been answered, there
is a new king in the land.

of special interest on theMr. Fan-
tasy album are the faded seguesbe-
tween the tracks and the repetition
of a verse of the oneniniz some at
the close of the last song, suggest-
ing that the songs have a relation»
ship, and indeed they do. But let it
suffice to say that the English ver-
sion was first released under the
title Heaven is in Your Mind.

Dylan is a book in himself (ask
A. J. Weberman), soI’ll only men-
tion that a “Rainy Day Woman" is
a joint and that “M11 Tambourine—
man" is the classic acid song (but
who didn’t know that7). However, it
is worth noting that LouReed,’l‘rafA
iic, the Beatles and Dylan have mu-
tually influenced each othertremen-
dously.

As for top 40 songs, to “Bang a
Gong” (T, Rex Electric Warrior,
Warner Bros.) does not mean to
copulate with an Oriental, but rather
to smoke opium, Likewise, you
might not know that Hendrix’s
“Purple Haze” is an English term
for a type of LSD And it you've
been wondering what that Cream
song is called “Badge,” badge
means to get burned in n drug deal.
However, in that song, the conno-
tation is purely metaphorical, as
the song has nothing to do with
drugs

I'm sure that anyGrateful Deadafi-
cionodo or Airplane ian can give
you an hour lecture on drug and 317
cohol rcierences in their songs and
the Rolling Stones have also been
known to produce drug lyrics
from time to time. Keep your
ears open, and you’ll be Surpri—
sed what these degenerates are
really singing about.

 

