National Public Radio's evening news show All Things Considered eased into Christmas on December 23 by promoting a new Christmas song by soul singer Macy Gray asking for "free health care," gun control, legalized pot, and amnesty for illegal aliens. The headline on NPR.org was "Macy Gray's Christmas Wish List Has A Few Surprises." Add "To Delight Liberals."
MICHEL MARTIN: Christmas is coming. And by now you've probably heard all the standards, whether you want to or not - the chestnuts, the jingle bells, the usual deal. But if you are looking for something different and your politics lean left, then Grammy-winning soul singer Macy Gray has something for you. She's just released a new single that's getting buzz. It's called "All I Want For Christmas." And on her wish list for Santa are things like free health care, legalized marijuana, and more forgiving immigration policies. Let's take a listen.
MACY GRAY: (Singing) All I want for Christmas is a whole bunch of stuff. But anything that you can buy me won't be enough 'cause everything I'm hoping for is intangible, like free health care and gun control. If you want to make the world a better place, say all right, all right. If you want a peaceful world for Christmas Day, say all right, all right. Christmas is here.
The political lyrics included:
– “Bring the day the government will realize / we’ll be happier when it’s legalized”
– “So immigrate, stop the hate, let’s educate/ The more we do, the less we will incarcerate”
– “All I want for Christmas is to have a chance / so please take care of the environment”
– “Take Mr. Gore more seriously/ And do what you can to stop global warming”
– “No matter what they say, Brack you did real good / I hope your successor does the things he or she should”
– “That Mr. Trump is an entertaining guy. But let's face it, really, is he qualified?”
Martin asked how this song came about. Gray said "I was wanting to write a new Christmas song, and, you know, there's plenty of Christmas songs about love and Santa Claus and - and stuff like that. So my main thing was to just to come up with something different and fresh." Martin asked Gray who she likes for president:
GRAY: OK, so I love Bernie Sanders, but I'm a Hillary Clinton fan. I think she'd be awesome. And then if I had to pick a Republican, I would actually pick Jeb Bush (laughter). But I said that the very first debate because he's the only one that sounds like he knows what's going on. Like, if you really listen to him, he's the only one that, like, makes a little bit of sense up there, I swear.
MARTIN: Sometimes, you know, when artists want to express themselves politically, people don't appreciate that. Have your fans had anything to say to you about it? Or even fellow artists, what about them?
GRAY: Yeah, everybody's had kind of a comment. I got a lot of, like, you know, like, really right-wing crazy people on my Facebook. You know, but it was, like, stuff that wasn't nice, which I wasn't expecting because the song is really - it just opens up a conversation. It's just - if the world were perfect in my eyes, this is some of the stuff we would have -- free health care, there'd be no guns and blah, blah, blah.
To add further spice to the proceedings, Martin closed the interview by asking about Gray's summer song "BOB," described as an "epic love song to her vibrator." But Martin stayed very coy about what this "female empowerment" device was:
MARTIN: Well, before we let you go, I do want to ask about - you're on tour for your most recent album, "The Way." One of the songs is about your fondness for an item that brings you joy. It's battery-operated, if that's a clue.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "B.O.B.")
GRAY: (Singing) He fits like a glove, always up for love, steady like a caterpillar, rabbit from a hat. He knows just where it's at. Give me what I want, and I want that.
MARTIN: What made you want to write a song about this intimate item?
GRAY: Actually, in the weirdest way, in the wildest way, that song is about female empowerment.
MARTIN: Okay (laughter).
GRAY: It is. It's about women being able to express their sexuality. Like, if you're sitting with a man and he's talking about all the women he's been with - but if a woman says something like that, then she's - you know, she's not ladylike, oh, my God, you know what I'm saying? So it's just kind of this song that invites us all to be on equal ground, at least while you're listening to the song.
It sounds equally dismissive of needing another human being for sex -- "let's be just as dismissive as the men who buy inflatable love partners." Why is NPR bringing this up at Christmas time?
