Friday, January 05, 2007

Fanfare: Yes, Common Man: No


I just watched Arnold Schwarzenegger walk out on stage as part of his swearing in ceremony. He hobbled out on crutches to the tune of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man". I've heard Fanfare many times but never in place of a US state's equivelant of "Hail to the Chief". It was very strange. When I hear "Fanfare for the Common Man" I think of the dawn of human civilization, grass roots organizations and stories of average men and women accomplishing something amazing. I don't think of a highly staged event where some larger than life Hollywood celebrity walks out to the applause of thousands of his party supporters with news cameras flashing. As beautiful as the song is, the combination with "Arnold" makes it seem out of tune.