"If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better"

"Mosh"
Originally uploaded by vegacura.

Finally watched Eminem's new video, "Mosh." It is every bit as powerful -- and addictive -- as we've been reading throughout the lefty blogosphere.

At 5:20, it may be the most effective polemic against the administration of George W. Bush, his co-opting of the flag, his crushing of dissent, and his disastrous war, that I've seen and heard this election season.

The video's director, Ian Inaba, writes:

So on the eve of one of the most spirited elections in recent times, itâ??s time to try and turn out the vote. As a music video director, ideas for videos usually come independent of the song and are then adapted to fit the timing and lyrics of the featured track. I initially developed a concept for this video in June 2004 and contacted Interscope shortly after to find out what artists in their roster would be releasing albums near the election. The goal was to make a video that inspired young people to vote because they too often disregard it as a powerless exercise. To show them that political decisions do impact their daily lives and that voting is the most powerful act we all have to voice our opinion and effect change. And to educate and reiterate the point that whether or not people want to accept it, there are forces in play that attempt to suppress the youth and minority vote.

When I got the callback that our favorite conspirator of controversy, Eminem would be releasing an album in November, I knew we had the potential to say something that would be heard by the masses. And after hearing the song later that month it seemed Mr. Mathers had also been in the lab concocting his own plans for the election and it was precisely the anthem I had been looking for. So with less than six weeks to deliver we put together a team and forgot about what it meant to sleep. In order to produce animation for a song that runs 5:20 in just over 5 weeks we were going to need a lot of green tea and mate and a little help from Marshall himself. This video was made possible by a team of artists who came together inspired by a song and video that might be able to effect the next four years of all of our lives.

Two years ago, this video would not have been approved by a single record label. A year ago it would never had the possibility of being played on television. But with the changing tide of public sentiment marked by the success of our last video for Chronic Future, an anti-war message that made it into rotation on TRL we think it might just have a chance.

Now, itâ??s up to the broadcasters. Will they ban the top selling musical artist for being anti-establishment while they allow other propaganda to air? Or will they finally allow an artist who has the courage to speak out to take center stage and utilize the airwaves for something other than typical celebrity fodder?

MTV (owned by Viacom, I believe) is showing it. And it's #1.

Daily Kos's Kid Oakland deconstructs the lyrics and the video.

I'm not sure what effect this will have, or even how large the youth vote will be. We were, after all, seriously deluded in '72 in thinking college kids would turn the tide. We know how that one turned out. I fear that we Kerry supporters are starting to believe our own PR, that minorities and the youth are going to turn this election, giving Kerry a landslide, despite the polls.

But Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers, has a powerful voice and a powerful hold on the imagination of young men in this country. And it is a damn fine piece of music, and, what's more, seems to come from the mind and heart of someone who has given this a lot of thought. With what sounds like a D-chord (I know nothing about music) drone that drives the music along, Mathers looks with sensitivity at a soldier forced to return to Iraq after his tour has ended, blacks being harrassed by the police, a woman being evicted as her children watch video of Bush signing his tax cut. That sensitivity makes his rage at Bush all the more palpable.

As Kid Oakland writes,

And, finally, these two quotes which are destined to reverberate this election season and forward:

And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present

and this:

If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better
They ain't gonna stop us, they can't, we're stronger now more then ever,
They tell us no we say yea, they tell us stop we say go,
Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell we gonna let em know
Stomp, push up, mush, fuck Bush, until they bring our troops home

Who knows. Maybe this is our October surprise. I can tell you one thing. I'll be wearing a black hooded sweatshirt when I go to the polls on Tuesday.