DePAULimento Presidencial

Este é um capítulo da coletânea 'Obama é o Cara'

Os demais capítulos podem ser acessados neste LINK

(este texto agora faz parte da Paul Week, 
comemoração de  aniversário de Paul McCartney - 80 anos) 

Neste LINK.

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Casa Branca, Julho de 2010: Paul McCartney e banda compartilham um palco dentro da Casa Branca, com renomados artistas americanos tocando suas músicas.

O motivo: Barack Obama oferece a Paul o Gershwin Award, concedido pelo conjunto da obra a grandes nomes da música americana (!). Era a 3ª vez que esse prêmio era concedido, pelo Congresso Americano. Os primeiros agraciados foram Paul Simon e Stevie Wonder. O 3º nem americano era, mas a importância que ele teve para os americanos foi levada em conta.

O show: ótimos desempenhos de Stevie Wonder (We Can Wotk It Out, que ele já havia gravado 30 anos antes),  Elvis Costello (Penny Lane, emocional, com um trompete piccolo maravilhosamente executado por um mariner a caráter) e Dave Grohl (Band On The Run, vigoroso!). Jonas Brothers (Drive My Car) até que não fizeram feio, mas lá estavam somente por causa do pedido das filhas de Obama. Jack White (Mother Nature's Son) intimista, diferente, mas não arrebatador. E uma certa Corinne Bailey Rae (Blackbird), competente, mas, sem o mágico arranjo do violão, ficou estranho. E outros menos cotados... Mas então veio Paul! Na verdade ele abrira a noite com 'Got To Get You Into My Life', e quando voltou, convidou Stevie Wonder pra cantar, adivinha o quê: Ebony and Ivory. Claro, quer canção mais indicada pra tocar naquela noite? Uma letra que incentiva a harmonia entre negros e brancos, assim como o ébano e o marfim das teclas do piano, why don't we?. Teve a inevitável 'Let It Be', e a mais-que-apropriada 'Michelle', que Paul pediu permissão a Obama pra cantar ... a música, não a Primeira-Dama. Logo depois, declarou: "I will be the first Rock Star to be punched by an America President!".

O Prêmio: Obama subiu ao palco para entregar o prêmio, e fez um magnífico discurso

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Please, everybody have a seat. The show is not over. (Laughter.) To all the tremendous artists from all the genres and backgrounds who’ve joined us tonight to pay tribute to the one and only Sir Paul McCartney, thank you so much. (Applause.)
…….
Even as we gather here tonight to present this annual award for extraordinary contributions to American music and culture -- that's right, we stole you, Paul -- (laughter) -- it goes without saying that this has been a very difficult time. We've gone through a difficult year and a half, and right now our thoughts and our prayers are with friends in another part of the country that is so rich in musical heritage -- the people of the Gulf Coast who are dealing with something that we simply had not seen before. And it’s heartbreaking. And we reaffirm, I think together, our commitment to see to it that their lives and their communities are made whole again. (Applause.)  

But part of what gets us through tough times is music, the arts, the ability to capture that essential kernel of ourselves, that part of us that sings even when times are hard. And it’s fitting that the Library has chosen to present this year’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to a man whose father played Gershwin compositions for him on the piano; a man who grew up to become the most successful songwriter in history -– Sir Paul McCartney. (Applause.)

By its very definition, popular music is fleeting. Rarely is it composed with an eye towards standing the test of time. Rarer still does it actually achieve that distinction. And that’s what makes Paul’s career so legendary.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly half a century since four lads from Liverpool first landed on our shores -– and changed everything overnight. And I have to share this story. While we were sitting here I learned that the bass that Paul was playing on stage is the same bass that he played at The Ed Sullivan Show, which he told me it cost him 30 pounds. He says he suspects it’s worth a little more now. (Laughter.)

But the Beatles, they weren’t the first rock stars. They’d be the first to say that others had opened that door for them. But they blew the walls down for everybody else. In a few short years, they had changed the way that we listened to music, thought about music and performed music forever. They helped to lay the soundtrack for an entire generation -- an era of endless possibility and of great change.

And over the four decades since, Paul McCartney has not let up -- touring the world with the band Wings or on his own; rocking everything from small halls to Super Bowls. He’s composed hundreds of songs over the years -– with John Lennon, with others, or on his own. Nearly 200 of those songs made the charts -- think about that -- and stayed on the charts for a cumulative total of 32 years. (Laughter and applause.) And his gifts have touched billions of lives.

As he later confessed of the Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show -– where he carried that bass out -- that one evening that changed everything –- Paul said, “Luckily, we didn’t know what America was. We just knew our dream of it, or we probably would have been too intimidated.”

Tonight, it is my distinct pleasure to present America’s highest award for popular music on behalf of a grateful nation -- grateful that a young Englishman shared his dreams with us – Sir Paul McCartney. (Applause.)

E depois, subiu ao palco de novo, ao final, mas desta vez para cantar, sim, o Na Na Na de Hey Jude!

O cara é uma simpatia!

Felizmente, eu tenho o show, em DVD gravado!


Abraço


Homero Encantado Com Obama Ventura

Mais textos da Paul McCartney Week no link abaixo:
 Blog do Homerix: Paul McCartney Week - 80 Anos

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