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!