Earlier, we saw how Bruce had tapped into political sentiment in Look Out Any Window. Similarly, Defenders of the Flag and Jacob’s Ladder reveal a little more about the political animal inside the Bruce Hornsby of 1988/89.
Defenders of the Flag looks at the theme of personal indiscretion and hypocrisy within public institutions; government, church and judiciary – “sleaze”, as it has become known on this side of the pond.
I heard Defenders on a Hornsby concert, recorded years ago for radio, and I believe he made some reference in the general direction of the disgraced Republican administration, Oliver North, and their murky arms deals. It would be interesting to know whether Bruce, with his clear democrat sympathies, has been willing to play Defenders of the Flag, and made a similar statement of discontent, with regards to the personal life of Bill Clinton?
Musically, the backing is a sort of semi Status-Quo electric guitar accompaniment. However, the main musical feature is the guest appearance of Huey Lewis on “harp”. Being a Welsh harpist, I spent several occasions trying to listen for the sound of “harp” strings, and wondering where, and how, the hell Huey Lewis had managed to learn the “harp”. It took two or three years to realise that “harp” is American for “mouth organ”. D’oh! D’oh! D’oh!
Carwyn Tywyn
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Defenders of the Flag
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Los Angeles, CA
September 10 2011
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqHEICQRHo0