Friday, November 14, 2008

Flashback Friday – Seal - "Prayer For The Dying"

Post election, I’ve thinking a lot about the late Ann Richards. I spent a year in Texas working on her re-election campaign. We lost to George Bush. 1994 was the first time I heard the name Karl Rove.

Most of the people working on the campaign were from Texas and worked on her first campaign for Governor. I was one of the regional finance directors and responsible for raising a lot of money from the Houston area. Prior to moving to Texas most of my campaign work was in GOTV (get out the vote) and press.

I loved being in Austin (until the bitter end when everything fell apart). Two of the three other fundraisers also worked in DC and had moved for the campaign. We had a blast. There were many fun evenings spent at Chuys and the Cedar Door.

One of the best birthdays ever was when my co-workers surprised me with a party at the restaurant Shady Grove. We were sitting outside chilling when all of a sudden I heard children screaming. One of my colleagues walked in a Barney costume. WTF? She was almost knocked over by all the screaming kids. Needless to say we couldn’t stop laughing.

We used to go to this bar on Lake Austin. I think it was call Ski Shores. The bar had a great jukebox and good food. It was hard to get to, lots of windy roads and I refused to drive. One of my friends on the campaign, a New Yorker named Peter, who reminded everyone of Dr. Joel Fleischman from Northern Exposure, bought this CD and we used to blast it. When I hear this song or “Bring it On” I think of zooming around Austin's Hill Country

I love this song. Have a great weekend.

13 comments:

'A Tuscan view.....from Umbria' said...

I love this song too, for different reasons obviously. I also think he's super sexy, so there!

Have a great weekend, we have some sunshine through the clouds I hope you do too. amanda

Anonymous said...

Had no idea you had the politics background! How cool to have worked for Ann Richards.

In the 1994 election, I was volunteering for a Democratic congressman running for an open Senate seat. This, in Oklahoma. That was the ugly year of the Clinton backlach, Gingrich's Contract with America, and the GOP's "God, gays, and guns" campaign -- where they painted anyone who wasn't Republican as a degenerate heathen.

Needless to say, our guy (a good, decent, smart and talented fellow -- cute too!) lost, and to this day, the nasty Jim Inhofe sits in the Senate (yes, he who blocks gay ambassadorial appointments, denies global warming, etc etc.) Ugh.

Another reason this election has mattered so much! My anger and frustration dates back from those 14 long years . . ..

Hooray for the new civility and intelligence!!!! (even if Oklahoma did vote McCain 65%, some things sadly never change.)

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

amanda - he is sexy. Ms. Klum is a lucky woman. Hope you have a great weekend too. The sun came out for a few hours today but it's supposed to rain all weekend.

kimb - I got out of politics (for a living) after the 94 election. Wasn't it brutal? I hope Obama learns from Clinton's mistakes. I wonder if Gingrich will run in 2012? What is up with all these self-righteous family values candidates with jacked up family values?

Lenoxave said...

I love Seal's voice. He has a real gift for sincerity that not many people possess in music.

gibber said...

JUST LOVE THIS SONG

Jessica said...

I had this CD back in the US and used to blast it in my room all the time. Thanks for reminding me of how great it was...now I have to go download it.

BigCNYC said...

I just got Seal's new CD, Soul. His take on A Change is Gonna Come will melt your heart.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

sdg1844 - poor guy had a pretty painful childhood. I agree with you about his voice.

gibber - the lyrics are deep too.

jessica - you're welcome

bigcnyc - I haven't heard any tracks of the new album. I must check iTunes pronto. Thanks for the tip. Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" is one of my fav. songs of all times.

Liane Spicer said...

That's an amazing CD. Love most of the songs, esp this one and Dreaming in Metaphors. Fast Changes. Ooh, all of them. Superlative voice and lyrics.

Odessa said...

oh, seal. love, love, love him! "kiss from a rose" was THE song of my high school ife - unrequited love and all. those were the days. thanks for bringing back the memories! :)

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

wordtryst - "Dreaming in Metaphors" is one of my favs. too.

odessa - you're welcome!

Jen said...

It sounds like a special time. I love this song.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

jen - even though we lost, it was a great experience.