This week is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of the movie Stand By Me. Like me, you should plan to watch it again. It is a movie that many of us connect to over and over again. For example, about a year ago, I discovered that a childhood friend had passed away. I had lost touch with the friend when we were both kids and he moved away, but I still felt close to him. The best explanation I could give to anyone at the time was a line from Stand By Me, where the writer character played by Richard Dreyfus looks back and writes, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
Below is a clip from the film, but you should check out Will Wheaton’s new blog entry, “I was twelve going on thirteen when I made the movie that changed my life.” Wheaton, who played Gordie in the movie, discusses reuniting with the surviving cast members Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell. And he talks about coming to terms with the death of River Phoenix. It is a moving must-read for any fan of the movie.
There are some other good articles about the anniversary around the web. Popdose has a thoughtful piece about the movie’s anniversary, including some discussion of the Stephen King book that was the source for the film. SlashFilm lists twenty-five lessons from the film. And NPR has an audio story that includes an interview with Wheaton that he discussed in his blog post. Few movies hold up as well as Stand By Me, which is a genuine classic about being young and growing up. As Wheaton notes in his blog post, “[M]ovies like Stand By Me come along once in a generation.” That is true, if we are lucky.
On August 8 at 9:01 p.m. in 1974, Pres. Richard M. Nixon went on television to announce he was resigning. Although many had seen it coming, it was still a shocking moment in American history.
As impeachment proceedings were beginning from the Watergate investigation and Nixon’s involvement in the cover-up, Nixon realized that the end was near. He stated that a long drawn-out fight would harm the country, so, “Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.”
Another Historic Offer of Resignation
More than a century earlier in 1863 also on August 8, Gen. Robert E. Lee offered his resignation as Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Although he ultimately did not resign, his offer signaled Southern concerns about the state of the war.
More than a month before Lee’s offer, Lee’s army had suffered 23,000 casualties at Gettysburg. And the Union Army was once again in Virginia. Lee was physically exhausted and questioned his ability to lead the army to victory.
But Jefferson Davis refused Lee’s resignation offer. He realized that it was impossible to find someone more fit than Lee to lead the army.
Susanne Sundfør’s Song “I Resign”
Lee and Nixon both made big mistakes, but in the song “I Resign” from the album Take One (2008), Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør reminds us that sometimes there is relief in resignation. In the song, she sings: “I have found peace / Where it’s impossible to rest.”
Nixon was embarrassed and hated to give up the power of the presidency. But he also must have felt a little relief to have that responsibility removed from his shoulders.
By contrast, Lee must have taken Davis’s refusal as validating his worth to continue the fighting. Yet, he also he may have felt some disappointment that the burden of men’s lives and the the war’s outcome remained on his shoulders.
Although Sundfør is not a household name in the U.S., she has won awards in Norway and won a talent grant for aspiring musicians from the Norwegian music icons a-ha. The reviews on her website are in Norwegian, so I do not really know what other people are saying about her music. But from the music, I think we may be hearing more from Susanne Sundfør. Here is her song, “I Resign.”
Eric Church’s song “Lightning” captures a lot about the death penalty but his video gets one big thing wrong, missing the odds against Texas executing a white man for killing a black man.
George Westinghouse, who was working to make alternating current the U.S. standard for distributing electricity into homes, supported Kemmler in his appeals. Meanwhile, Thomas Edison, who was working to make direct current the standard, was an advocate for the electric chair.
Edison hoped that once people saw the use of the electric chair, they would realize that Westinghouse’s AC current was dangerous and adopt his DC current. As part of his campaign, Edison even showed how electricity could kill an elephant. Edison’s promotion helped lead to the state using AC current for the execution.
But in the long term, Edison did not win the DC-AC debate. Today we use AC current in our homes.
Kemmler’s Execution
Kemmler had been sentenced to death for killing his common law wife with a hatchet. After officials strapped him into the chair, the electricity was applied for several seconds. During that time, Kemmler strained against the leather straps.
When attending doctors thought Kemmler was dead, the warden had the electricity turned off. But Kemmler’s body continued to twitch, causing observers to faint.
After doctors confirmed Kemmler was still breathing, the executioner sent 2,000 volts through Kemmler’s body. Kemmler’s mouth foamed and blood vessels ruptured. Witnesses smelled burning flesh as Kemmler’s body caught fire.
After the electricity ceased, Kemmler’s body went limp. Doctors confirmed that this time Kemmler was dead. Following the execution, about twenty newspapers in New York called for a repeal of the law that allowed execution by electrocution.
Debates about the method of execution will continue as long as the U.S. is in the minority of countries in the world that maintain the death penalty. Recently, news stories have focused on problems with the chemicals used in lethal injection.
Eric Church’s “Lightening”
A slang term for being killed in the electric chair is “riding the lightning.” Country singer Eric Church incorporated the reference in his song, “Lightning,” about a death row inmate.
There is something about the imminence of death that makes a death row inmate’s perspective compelling for a country song. Reportedly, this death penalty song earned Church his recording contract.
Church’s song does not take a position for or against the death penalty. But it focuses on the often overlooked families of both the condemned and the victim.
I like the version of the song used in the video more than the version from his debut album, Sinners Like Me (2006). The video version changes the sound of the inmate’s voice at the end in a way that the album version does not, using an old microphone sound to convey a timeless voice from beyond the grave. It’s a good and haunting song and video. Yeah, tonight I ride the lightning To my final restin’ place.
One aspect of the video, however, is somewhat inaccurate. The condemned in the video is a white man executed in Texas where the victim appears to be African-American. Although Texas leads the country in executions, that racial combination is exceedingly rare.
In 2011, Texas executed Lee Taylor for murdering an African-American inmate while serving a life sentence. That was only the second time out of almost 500 executions during the modern death penalty era (since 1976) that Texas executed a white person for killing a black person. The rarity is not limited to Texas, as a number of studies from various states show that one is more likely to get the death penalty for killing a white person than for killing a person of any other race.
On August 4, 1901, the world was graced with the birth of one of the great musical geniuses, Louis Daniel Armstrong. Armstrong, who was born in New Orleans, often said he was born on the Fourth of July, although his actual birth date was August 4. Either way, we should still have fireworks on his birthday. Just as July 4 is seen as the birth date of our country, one might easily say that August 4 is the birth date of American music.
Below is one of my favorite Louis Armstrong recordings, “West End Blues.” This perfect song was recorded in 1928 by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five when Armstrong was in his late 20s.
The “West End” in the title refers to an area with night life on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. The jazz classic appears on various CDs, including Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings. The following video provides some interesting information about what you are hearing as you listen to the song. Enjoy. Happy birthday Pops.
What is your favorite Louis Armstrong recording? Leave a comment.
On November 24, 1971, a man using the alias “Dan Cooper” boarded an airplane in Portland, later claiming he had a bomb and demanding money before he disappeared forever after parachuting out of the airplane.
In 2011, Newspapers reported that the F.B.I. had a “credible” lead in the mysterious case of D.B. Cooper. Once again, though, authorities remained baffled about the identity and fate of the famous hijacker.
Although I was around when Cooper disappeared, my interest in him peaked with a great song about the hijacker by Todd Snider.
The Hijacking
FBI Composite Sketch of “Cooper”
On November 24, 1971 — the afternoon before Thanksgiving — a man boarded a flight in Portland, Oregon under the alias “Dan Cooper.” The name was later misreported into legend as “D.B. Cooper.”
On the flight, Cooper handed a note to a flight attendant. In the note, he claimed he had a bomb and asked for parachutes and $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills.
At a stop at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, officials met the demands, and Cooper released the passengers. After refueling, the plane once again took off with Cooper and the crew on board. At some point during the flight, Cooper apparently opened a door. Then, he parachuted out of the plane with the cash into the night and a raging storm.
Cooper was never found, and in later years various discoveries contributed to the puzzle. For example, in 1980, a boy found some packets of the ransom money on the banks of the Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington. Through the years, other findings have often raised speculations. But usually it would turn out the evidence was not connected to the hijacking.
In 2011, reports indicate that the F.B.I. identified a suspect in the case, although he is now dead. They are doing further investigation, so we will have to wait and see whether there is a real breakthrough or just another false lead like all the others.
June 2016 Update: In June 2016, the FBI closed the case on the hijacking, leaving the mystery of D.B. Cooper unsolved.
Todd Snider’s Song
The best thing about the Cooper news is that it gives me a chance to post one of my favorite Todd Snider songs, aptly named “D.B. Cooper.” Todd Snider is a singer-songwriter who tells great stories with his songs. Snider has noted that one of his greatest influences is Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and it shows in his music and presentation.
A Washington Post recent review of Snider’s latest live CD, Todd Snider Live: The Storyteller, explains that Snider may be “the most likable man in music.” The article reports that Snider is “one hell of a performer, having built up a cult following thanks to nearly 20 years of concerts that double as side-splitting storytelling sessions.”
Snider’s song “D.B. Cooper” from the CD Happy to Be Here (2000) recounts the story of D.B. Cooper fairly accurately. He does combine a bit of poetic license and childhood memory to make the tale an excellent song.
In writing the song, Snider perhaps found a small connection to D.B. Cooper, who began his strange journey at an airport in Portland, Oregon. On October 11, 1966, Snider was born in Portland.
And perhaps because the hijacking occurred in the 1970s and the song was released prior to the events of 9/11, one accepts the tradition of making the outlaw a hero a little bit more than we might have at another time. “Not far away from the City of Roses / A light shined from a house out in the rain / It was D.B. Cooper / Drinking champagne.”
You may hear the original full-band version from the album at this link.
What do you think happened to the real D.B. Cooper? What is your favorite Todd Snider song? Leave a comment.
This week is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of the movie Stand By Me. Like me, you should plan to watch it again. It is a movie that many of us connect to over and over again. For example, about a year ago, I discovered that a childhood friend had passed away. I had lost touch with the friend when we were both kids and he moved away, but I still felt close to him. The best explanation I could give to anyone at the time was a line from Stand By Me, where the writer character played by Richard Dreyfus looks back and writes, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
, as New York prepared to execute William Kemmler, corporate interests and profit motives affected the debate about the execution method.
. The following video provides some interesting information about what you are hearing as you listen to the song. Enjoy. Happy birthday Pops.
