Okay -- it's much harder for a movie to be "perfect" than a song. There is so much more material to deal with and it's easy to have a moment or two go out of balance.
2011-03-08
Noted: in 1974 a regional manager at MacDonald's agreed to donate a portion of the proceeds from the "Shamrock Shake" to a charity raising money to buy a house for families of out-of-town cancer patients to stay in during the treatments. The regional manager offered to donate all of the proceeds if the Philadelphia Eagles Football Team, which had initiated the project, would name the house after the MacDonald's mascot, Ronald MacDonald.
In case you missed it, "charity" is disinterested giving, not branding. It is a gift that does not benefit oneself.
The initial and only truly charitable act was this: several players on the Eagles decided to participate in a fund-raiser for the daughter of former tight-end Fred Hill, who had leukemia. That's it. That was "charitable". Then the Eagles proposed to endorse the Shamrock Shakes if a portion of the proceeds went to the charity instead of to them. Again, that was a charitable act: the Eagles players gave up something for a greater good. They sacrificed, expecting no benefit in return.
At this point, MacDonald's saw an opportunity for self-promotion. There was no moment in all of this when MacDonald's said, let's do something good for someone for the sake of doing something good. If there was, they would never have asked for the house to be named after an ugly, deceitful (Ronald MacDonald is always skinny) corporate mascot.
It was always and forever with the expectation of a benefit: advertising and self-promotion. At no point, did MacDonald's propose to do anything that was actually charitable. What they did is called advertising.
What's wrong with that? There is nothing wrong with advertising. Let's just cut out the bullshit about "charity", especially when they invite you to donate... to their own advertising costs!
There are alternative worlds out there where it is considered sinful to claim to be virtuous when acting in self-interest. But this is a society that honestly believes that "greed is good". I know families that have benefited from Ronald MacDonald House, but nobody should fool themselves: they don't owe their gratitude to a corporation that sees fit to exploit personal misfortune.
Harsh? Ask MacDonald's if they would be willing to take their name and corporate branding off the home. Will they answer: "we don't care about the corporate branding-- we just want to help people"? That's your answer.
I'll bet some MacDonald's employees and some franchisee's perform genuine acts of charity on a regular basis. I don't know that they don't. I just know that the one that gets all the attention is not actually a charity.
Sam Stone (John Prine)
All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan)
Anchorage (Michelle Shocked)
I Fought the Law (Bobby Fuller Four)
You Don't Own Me (Leslie Gore)
That's it.
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the GI bill
For a flag-draped casket on a local heroe's hill
"Suspicion" (Elvis Presley) comes close, but no cigar.
Other Honorable Mentions:
"Reelin' in the Years" (Steely Dan) A truly awesome recording but I can't overlook the pettiness of "the things that pass for knowledge I can't understand..."
"Homeward Bound" (Simon and Garfunkel) a fine, fine song, but "all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity" is a little precious.
"Four Strong Winds" (Ian & Sylvia) is a bit slight, so you have to repeat the chorus and that gives it a bit of a sense of aimlessness and repetition and violates the rule of economy.
The Beatles' best song is "Girl":
Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to
pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said,
That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure
Will she still believe it when he's dead?
But "Eleanor Rigby" is also very nearly perfect.
"Go Your Own Way" (Fleetwood Mac) is too slight.
"Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits is very, very good.
"Echo Beach" (Martha & the Muffins) Actually, this song is darn near perfect as well. Darn near.
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (The Band) Great, great song, but a bit murky, and the Band's own recording of it is not as perfect as the song. As is "This Wheel's on Fire" and "Tears of Rage". I do actually like the cover version of "Dixie" by Joan Baez, featuring crack Nashville session musicians. It's from an album that appeared to be an effort by Baez to reach out to the alienated silent majority of Americans who seemed to despise her.
"Satisfaction" (Rolling Stones) Okay. So this one is perfect too. Six perfect songs. But it has to share with "Light My Fire" (Doors).
"Like a Rolling Stone" (Bob Dylan) Violates rule of economy, but also a great, great song. "Tangled up in Blue" might actually be a better song.
"Thunder Road" (Bruce Springsteen) Can't sustain that great take-off, "you can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain" though he tries, brilliantly. In the end, it's just a trifle indulgent, a trifle too self-consciously monumental. A trifle. On some days I prefer "Jungleland".
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" (Bob Dylan) is as good or better than any other song on the list. All right, seven.
"One of These Days" (Emmy Lou Harris) Lovely, enchanting piece, reminds me of "As I Went Out One Morning" (Bob Dylan): both are elegantly economical, tight, balanced.
"Someday Soon" (Judy Collins) Okay-- another one. Eight.
All right: 9-- "The Hammond Song", by the Roches. Actually, this song is obviously flawed, but there are moments when it does sound just perfect to me. So 8. Wait -- 9. I forgot about one of the most perfect, crystalline, renditions ever: "Wayfarin' Stranger" by Emmy-Lou Harris with that absolutely wonderful lead by Tony Rice and mandolin by Albert Lee.