David Cameron's wonderful lack of soul
I am sure David Cameron shone at chamber ensemble while studying at Eton but the Tory leader has betrayed an embarrassing lack of scholarly awareness when it comes to soul music.
Cameron's showpiece address to the party lap-dogs at Birmingham Symphony Hall struck a bum note when he referred to himself as being a "man with a plan."
I know Cameron is dogged with the notion that he is out of touch with the common man, by virtue of his minted background, but I find his lack of awareness about the great Stevie Wonder's lyrical output truly shocking.
The phrase "man with a plan" is, of course, famously invoked by Wonder, repeatedly, on the song He's Misstra Know It All, the closing number on the soul legend's 1973 Innervisions album.
Unfortunately, the song has nothing to do with rebuilding a supposedly broken society but is in fact a stinging attack on then US President Richard Nixon. In the song, Tricky Dicky is the "man with a plan" and it is not a plan any politician would want to shout about.
The refrain is repeated throughout the song's vocal climax and outro, lest there be any confusion.
But seeing as they must be equally ignorant of one of the most powerful protest songs ever written, let me familiarise Cameron's speech-writers with the opening verses of He's Misstra Know It All:
"He's a man with a plan
Got a counterfeit dollar in his hand
He's Misstra Know-It-All
Playin' hard, talkin' fast
Makin' sure that he won't be the last
He's Misstra Know-It-All
Makes a deal with a smile
Knowin' all the time that his lie's a mile
He's Misstra Know-It-All
Must be seen, there's no doubt
He's the coolest one with the biggest mouth
He's Misstra Know-It-All."
See what I mean? It is not really the sort of message one would think the leader of the Opposition would want to be associated with.
And what about this verse?
"If you tell him he's livin' fast
He will say what do you know?
If you had my kind of cash
You'd have more than one place to go ..."
It's a little too close to home, isn't it?
Ironically for Cameron, Stevie Wonder is playing this Saturday night at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena, just a counterfeit dollar's throw from Symphony Hall. Any requests, Dave? "You Are The Misquote Of My Life?"
(Incidentally, I'd like to go on record NOW as saying that if the Labour Party hijack my Cameron-Nixon-Wonder concept and start playing He's Misstra know It All over images of the Tory boss at the next election I will be seeking a jolly decent cut. My lawyers are watching.)
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I thought Cameron's comments about it being a "sober conference" were funny. He obviously didn't attend any of the media events at various hotels and bars during the week.
As I read your article, it seemed that you took substantial editorial license on many fronts. First, the line "the man with the plan" was used very commonly in the inner cities of America prior to 1973. For example, a variation of that phrase was used as the catch phrase for the 1972 movie "SuperFly", boasting that the movie's tragic hero was "The dude with the plan to stick it to the man." It was a stretch to attribute its origin to Mr. Wonder.
It took some time to realize what bothered me most about the referencing of "He's Misstra Know-It-All" as Stevie Wonder's Nixon protest. As I exited the shower this morning, singing a medley of Wonder tunes, it suddenly hit me that Stevie's Nixon protest song was "You haven't done nothing" (which incidentally featured the Jackson Five as doo-woppers). The song was released in 1974 on the Fullingness' First Finale album.
But of course those lyrics didn't fit as nicely into the neat little bundle you were attempting to tie.
Reggie
In fact, both songs, "He's Misstra Know It All" and "You Haven't Done Nothin'" (no final 'g' if you really want to be pedantic) are explicit criticisms of Richard Nixon's presidential regime. A two-for-one from Stevie Wonder, if you like.
Hence the "neat little bundle" ties together rather nicely.
Indeed, the lyrics of "You Haven't Done Nothin'" could, if one wanted to be critical of the Tory leader, equally apply to a politician who has, as yet, achieved precious little. Consider the following: "And we are sick and tired of hearing your song, Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong, 'Cause if you really want to hear our views, You haven't done nothin."
Incidentally, you seem to have bastardised the quote from "Superfly" to fit your own theory. As far as I am aware, Mr Cameron did not tell the party conference he was "The dude with the plan to stick it to The Man."
He did, however, refer to himself as being a "man with a plan." Which is what sparked off my musings re: "He's Misstra Know It All."
But I don't want to fall out with you over this, Reggie. After all, love's in need of love today. I'm chuffed you are a fellow Wonder fan. He wouldn't want us to holler at each other, still less over Richard Milhous Nixon.
Since, as you suggest, Cameron has a 'lack of awareness about the great Stevie Wonder's lyrical output' I cannot see anything 'ironic' in the fact that the singer was playing at the NIA. It's not even a coincidence.
Dear Clifford
The irony wasn't Cameron's, it was mine. (Politicians and irony are not happy bedfellows.) Give it another read.
Thanks for reading, though. Really. (And I say that without irony.)
Yours or Cameron's? Either way it is not 'irony'. Perhaps you should reread my post (and consult a dictionary).