Wednesday, July 12, 2006

This Should Brighten Your Day - Sing Along With Senator Nelson

by Kyle Michaelis
Wow. If this doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will. Somehow a recording of Sen. Ben Nelson singing a ridiculous little song about his love for Western Nebraska found its way from radio station KFAB's archives to CNN's website this morning.

Listen to or even download the song here.

CNN "reports":
Nelson sings the song in the yet-to-be-released movie "Out of Omaha" that stars Dave Foley, Lea Thompson, Patricia Richards and Ethan Phillips.

"I'm hoping this will really ignite my career," Nelson said yesterday. "I'm hoping I can get a Metamucil commercial or something."

Nelson said that he is "following in the footsteps" of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) "who sang in the movie Ocean's 12." Hatch is well known throughout the nation's capital for his "second career" of songwriting and singing.

"Neither one of us is an American Idol, quality, but we do enjoy singing," Nelson said. But Nelson did note that this is not his first brush with Hollywood fame. As governor, Nelson appeared in an episode of "Candid Camera."

Nice to see Nelson's sense of humor is still intact. Maybe he won't mind the Nebraska Democratic Party making a music video for the song and using that for their next Nebraska First campaign commercial.

Sadly and sweetly enough, I think a lot of Nebraskans might really like that - it would certainly be quite the tonic for Pete Ricketts' negative attack ads. And, even if done tongue-in-cheek, it would be just as substantive on the issues.

Of course, some of the lyrics are downright cringe-worthy (basically, everything about feeling "momma's lovin' arms" and this Western town in Nebraska "living in my heart and my soul"), but that's probably a lot of the song's charm. And, hearing Nelson sing that he's going to see his next of kin "and maybe have a gin" is sure to make even the most jaded listener crack a smile.

You know, ever since "The Good Life" Nebraska's been in desperate need of a good catch-phrase. This whole "Nebraska...possibilities...endless"-thing just isn't up to par and has failed to click on any level. With this song, Nelson has offered a much superior alternative - Nebraska: The place where the love never ends!

Cheesy as hell. Cute and meaningless. Won't cost tens of thousands of dollars to some advertising agency, and - here - we already have a chorus to back it up. Personally, I think it's perfect.

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