The Streisand Effect – or People Who Don’t Need People
by Charles WinecoffI have a confession to make: when I’m alone in my car – or in iPod isolation – I sometimes listen to Barbra Streisand. And I’m neither a big fan of pop music nor of the current state of liberalism – the cushy, comfy, groupthink kind with which Streisand has become closely linked in recent years. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Whenever I’m feeling a little down, Streisand’s rousing, patriotic rendition of “Before the Parade Passes By” (from the Hello, Dolly! soundtrack) is the next best thing to shooting up a Diet Rockstar. The movie may be deadly, but that track is classic Barbra: starts out quiet, plaintive, then slowly builds to an almost militaristic crescendo of chorus, trumpets, beating drums – and Babs, screaming her head off above it all with a heroic, never-ending high note that sounds like a war cry.
I know - that’s so gay. But for me, the song is musical comfort food – and proof of the power of the human spirit: a rusty Main Street USA antique, shined up and brought back to life by a disadvantaged ugly duckling from Brooklyn, with a voice straight from God, who beat the odds. That’s when Streisand was still one of a kind.
But that was 1969. This is now. Today, “Before the Parade Passes By” would probably be called something like “Whenever the Trans-Cultural Community Gathering Happens to Reconvene.” And it would probably be sung by Sheryl Crow. (more…)
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