Political album damns the state of the nation ahead of US elections

The race to elect the next president of the United States is on. As the November 6 polling day approaches, the country remains split about the personalities and ideologies of the two men vying for the post. Election Special is an album devoted entirely to singer-songwriter Ry Cooder’s contempt for the state of his country in 2012. Review: Ry Cooder; Election Special. 2012. Nonesuch Records Inc.

 By TOM PEARCE

Election Special is a musical narrative concerned almost exclusively with Ry Cooder’s roiling contempt for the state of America in 2012.

In the weeks before polling day in the presidential elections, the singer-songwriter has declared that it is time for his voice to be heard.

“Right now is the time of decision in this country,” he told UK newspaper The Guardian.

“There’s no other way to look at it. This is it. This is the most critical time in the history of our country for chrissakes.”

In his nine-track album Cooder spares no subject matter from exploration, including Guantanamo Bay, Occupy Wall Street, President Barack Obama and, in particular, the Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney. And at no point does it feel as if Cooder is holding back, or censoring his thoughts.

An obvious standout track is ‘Guantanamo’. The tense subject matter is juxtaposed against an otherwise upbeat medley of guitar and drums that echoes Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’. Cooder’s lyrics “can’t come home from Guantanamo” come across as a statement of fact, and are particularly pertinent in the wake of the death of Yemeni prisoner Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif on September 9 2012, when he became the ninth inmate to die behind Guantanamo’s walls.

But a personal favourite was the opening track, ‘Mutt Romney Blues’. The swampy, rather than bluesy, sound of Cooder’s guitar works in perfect harmony with the drawl of his earthy voice. The song tells the story of a fearful car journey from the perspective of Mitt Romney’s terrified dog, and is a scathing critique of Romney’s character.

Cooder explains on the website of Nonesuch Records Inc that Romney “sure scares me, I don’t mind telling you”, and his contempt is undeniably clear in this track.

Music has always had the potential to express political sentiments and, according to Monash University academic Dr Elizabeth Edmondson, has a role in “galvanising political action”.

“Music can be powerfully effective in galvanising political action. Anti-Vietnam war sentiments were popularised and legitimised by expressions in music, as one example, by a range of musicians,” she says.

This album conjures imagery synonymous with notable American films such a The Grapes of Wrath, and track eight on the album ‘The 90 and the 9’ compares easily to a contemporary version of Tom Joad’s journey from Oklahoma to California. Here, thoughk, the destination is not California but the Occupy encampments on Wall Street.

Election Special is easily on a par with much of Cooder’s highly-acclaimed earlier work, and is not too far a departure from albums such as Paradise and Lunch (1974) or Chicken Skin Music (1976).

His style can be compared to the likes of JJ Cale and Keb Mo, blended with that of the masters of blues such as Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf. Election Special embraces the legacy of these maters exceptionally well, and anyone even fleetingly interested in blues will quickly become engrossed by the album.

Cooder has achieved an incredibly versatile album will will likely be remembered as his valuable, albeit grim, reflection on America as he sees it in 2012.