Folk Music: Taking the National as Personal

On March 30th, 1981, John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assasinate Ronald Reagan in public, outside of the Hilton Hotel in DC. Hinckley committed this act in order to win the love of Jodie Foster, who he had developed an obsession with after experiencing the film Taxi Driver, which was actually shown in full during the Hinckley's trial.

There has been a lot written about Hinckley, mostly bad, accusing him of being a psychotic who had a repeated history of stalking and possible conspiracy to murder. This is not far off the truth, in the real world. However, taken into the world of folk tales, Hinckley becomes something more: a hero in love, willing to kill to earn his dream girl. Pretty screwed up, right?

Chris Clavin wrote a whole song thinking otherwise. Within is a bevy of folk tall tale and romantic love, combined with economic dreams of status through possession and action. So let's look at Chris Clavin's "John and Jody." If you have a heart, consider buying the album. It's only $5 and helps an artist get out of debt. But examination begin!


Here are the lyrics; I transcribed them so if there are any errors I apologize. I would suggest listening to the song first to understand the basic patterns and repetition at work musically before simply touching the lyrics. As a simple folk song, it follows a generic three or four chord pattern (I don't have the best ears) with a series of verses varying the main line of intent.

In terms of history, I cannot say exactly when this was recorded. The album was put together on January 5th, 2011, nearly 30 years after Hinckley's attempt on Reagan's life. There is no direct time connection then; this is not a reactionary single released two days after the attempt or a cash in on media controversy, but rather an earnest song released long after the fact. In fact, to quote Chris' recording philosophy:

My Idea for recording is to record quickly and keep the 1st or 2nd take. My songs are simple and sometimes sloppy. But, I think they are pretty to the point and true. I record them all myself with a microphone plugged into my computer. (http://www.plan-it-x.org/artist/chris-clavin/)

The immediacy of the writing and recording of these songs attests to natural feelings: if Clavin writes a song for his solo career, he is probably thinking only of expressing himself as an individual and not as an anarchist. However, where should the separation be noted? As owner of an anarchist label, shouldn't all songs require precision to political ideal?

This seems to be the case with the core of the song, John Hinckley taking aim at Ronald Reagan followed by actively accusing Reagan of possibly killing everyone. Hinckley reaches a folk hero status, a man slaying a monster to win the girl. Except, in Taxi Driver, Jodie Foster played an underage prostitute. Hinckley was also mentally ill, as attested to by multiple professionals. Reagan was Reagan, regardless of your feelings here. He is mythical. In the context of the song, he is able to kill everyone instantly should he want to. He is an all powerful, demonized voice. For most hard-leftists, this isn't so far off from general consensus.

The mythical Reagan, with ever expanding power and influence, is important here for his effecting of the American economic system. The sublimation of the ideals of capitalism as patriotism "trickles down" more effectively than his policies ever did. Here Clavin, sworn anarchist, idolizes a mentally ill man who wishes to not simply fall in love with a woman, but to to stalk, harass, and own her in real life. Quoting from that link:

At Yale, he attempted to establish contact with Jodie, and left letters and poems in her mailbox. He managed to have two telephone conversations with her, during which he assured her that he was not a "dangerous person." His deep obsession with Foster, however, coincided with his obsession with assassination. Hinckley believed that achieving notoriety by assassinating the President of the United States would help him gain what he termed her "respect and love."

Respect and love is ownership here; Hinckley wishes to gain, not earn or find, respect and love. Hinckley pays the traditional cost of business: Assasinating Reagan is payment for Foster. John loves Jodie, but Jodie doesn't love John.

The fairytale Clavin speaks of seems akin to the mid-English heroic tales, in particular stories of bride snatching and wedding by sword. At best, this is feudalism, and at worst, autocracy. The very idea of love in the song is corrupted by capitalist intention, where there must be a gain for one and not the other. John and Jodie never asks Jodie's feelings on the matter, in real life or in some fairy tale.

For a man I respect beyond belief, and a song I find endearing, this is the worst possible outcome of the capitalist ideals of Reagan. Thirty years after an assassination attempt occurred, a rebirth is occurring in the hearts of even anarchists. Chris' recent debt issues I wrote about before allude to this further.

Whatever your feelings on Reagan, please understand this absorption. For some this may be a beautiful thing, society accepting capitalism on the fringes. For others, it's a disturbing discovery of how even the radicals are being infected.