Happy Presidents Day! Music Times is taking it upon ourselves to bring music inspired by the Presidents of the United States to our readers. Namely, our first two Presidents, George Washington and John Adams. Check out the best music done in the name of the second head of the United States below:
1776 by Sherman Edwards
The best part about musicals, and this is admittedly coming from someone who doesn't appreciate musicals all too often, is that they seem to be the only format by which the most underrated members of the Founding Fathers can get any credit (this is a plug for the new Broadway musical Hamilton, based on the founder of the American economic system as we know it). John Adams was the first President to not be reelected for a second term, mainly because he was following in the footsteps of the man-god George Washington and faced the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. And because he was a cantankerous jerk. All that aside, he was perhaps the most influential member of the Continental Congress when it came to getting the Declaration written and signed, essentially the birthplace of America as an independent state. Sherman Edwards' excellent musical 1776 recognizes this and places Adams as the lead, although not ignoring his shortcomings ("John you're a bore, we've heard this before").
"John Adams' Prayer" by Jake Heggie
Conductor Judith Clurman went about collecting famous words from famous individuals in American history and creating original pieces of classical music from them for the Celebrating The American Spirit in 2012. She went to composer Jake Heggie to compose a vocal canon using some of Adams most famous words. During his second night residing in the White House (he was the first President to do so), he wrote a letter to his wife Abigail (just as he did through the course of 1776) and requested that "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but the wise men ever rule under this roof," a quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt would have engraved it in gold to hang over the fireplace in the state dining room.
"Armed With Only Wit and The Vigor of the U.S. Navy"
The Standard Recording Company released an epic three-disc set during 2008 titled Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies. John Adams was of course the second track on the album, and he got a slightly less humorous angle than George Washington did. The songwriting team behind the album, along with rock band These United States composed "Armed With Only Wit and The Vigor of The U.S. Navy," which is a fairly accurate depiction of international relations during the Adams presidency. Although sure, we technically won the Revolutionary War, a lot of that was similar to how we lost in Vietnam: Despite superior firepower, the British government decided the war wasn't ultimately worth the cost. That didn't mean they went away forever however, hassling our trade ships and otherwise making life difficult. Hence the words used by Adams when approaching negotiations with foreign powers, probably over the ongoing French and British War.
"John Adams" by The Electric Needle Room
If you checked out our list of songs in tribute to George Washington, you probably noticed that his make him look liked a Greek god, nought to be screwed with, while Adams' legacy rests more on his reality as a human being. The Electric Needle Room apparently began composing its own collection of songs about every U.S. President, and it gives Adams the hero treatment in its rendition of events. The verses consist of a series of rhetorical questions noting all of the great things Adams had done for the country that may not be on a Gettysburg Address-level of iconic stature, such as his strengthening of the military and keeping the new country out of wars. Although they do point out that the Alien and Sedition Acts were a black-eye for his administration, they counter that by pointing out he got his own HBO program.
John Adams
"Hey!" you allege. "This isn't actually a tribute to President John Adams...this is just pointing out that there is another individual in history named 'John Adams' who just happened to become famous! What's the deal?" We're ones to suggest that there may be something more than just coincidence here. For example: Both the President and the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer hail from Massachusetts. Another thing: John Adams the composer was born in 1947, almost (but not exactly) 150 years after the birth of President John Adams in 1797. We might be stretching things here. But John Adams the composer is definitely a dude worth looking out for, from his noteworthy "Shaker Loops" to his operas Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer. And John Adams the President is definitely worth reading more into as well.
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