Five songs for the Clinton Concession

Photo by Barbara Kinney, courtesy of HillaryClinton.com

It's over. Hillary Clinton is out. And this historical moment is in need of a soundtrack. Here goes...

1. Don't Give Up, Willie Nelson

It was a tough fight. Bitter too. I've got a vivid image in my mind: A table full of Clinton campaign staff are sitting around a bar-room table, slumped and staring at their hands--beers hardly touched. One of them stands up and shuffles over to the jukebox. There's the hum of the dollar being sucked into the machine. The sullen staffer presses B14 four times and just stands there, speaking the words as Willie sings them: "I was taught to fight taught to win I never thought I could fail..."

2. Second Fiddle to an Old Guitar, Jean Shepard

There were more than a few moments during the primary battle when you had to feel for Hillary Clinton--shackled as she was to the whims and fits of her husband. Jean Shepard knows a thing or two about constriction in a world of men, and here's what she sings:

You gaze at that guitar on your knee in a way that you never look at me.
This love affair of yours has gone too far.
I'm tired of playin' second fiddle to an old guitar .
I walked and preached and fought with you and tried most everything.
All you've done is pick and grin and sing off key so far.
I'm tired of playin' second fiddle to an old guitar.

3. I'm Moving Along, Patsy Cline

But moving where? Back to the U.S. Senate? To the Vice President's office. I don’t want to get off track here, but when I moved into my office (former occupant, you know who you are) I found a sample pack of sex lube and a Hellboy poster. Can you imagine what Cheney will leave behind?

4. It's expected I'm Gone, Tortoise with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

I know, I know, it's a Minutemen song. But this is a more fitting interpretation. If you're familiar with the swift kick that is the original version of this song, the remake seems to take forever--you think it's over more than once and it just isn't. You get what I'm tickling at here, no? Plus there's that one line: "No hope? See, that's what gives me guts!"

5. Knife Fight, Astor Piazzolla

I've got this one playing over the end credits as they roll. There aren't any words to this one, just that signature Piazzolla brand of tango. Still, it captures a certain spirit not alien to the long night of the 2008 democratic primary contest.

And what the hell, let's throw one out to the Democratic Party and its nominee for President of these United States...

Bring it, Reverend: