God’s Song and Other American Prayers: The Story of Randy Newman

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You could think of Randy Newman as a musical Mark Twain. 

His songs draw up from a range of curiously disconnected observations about life in this era’s America in some of the same ways that Twain’s pen spoke of the America he lived in. Twain’s Mississippi paddlewheels churned the dark waters of that rolling river mixing old and new, sacred and profane and In his songs, Newman is doing the same thing. He draws from American roots music, Tin Pan Alley, the blues, and orchestral pop. You’ll instantly recognize a Randy Newman song from his instantly hummable tunes mixed with wry humor, irony, and social commentary.  His songs are full of wry observations about slightly uncomfortable subjects.

Randy Newman knows America in all its contradictions—its kindness and cruelty, its promises and hypocrisies. His songs expose the voices we pretend not to hear, from backroom bigots to lonely losers, from crooked politicians to a God who’s tempted to give up on us. Listening to Randy is like reading between the lines of the American songbook—he doesn’t just entertain, he reveals. And maybe, by sitting with his uncomfortable truths, we can wake from our own fog, and see this country—its history, its people, its future—with clearer eyes. 

If ever there was a time when we needed clearer eyes, this is that time.

In This Episode

• Piano: You've Got a Friend in Me
• Randy Newman - Golden Gridiron Boy
• Soundtrack from The Grapes of Wrath
• Marilyn Monroe - Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend
• Soundtrack from Hello Dolly
• Three Dog Night - Mama Told Me Not to Come
• Randy Newman - Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear
• Randy Newman - I Think It's Going to Rain Today
• Randy Newman - Short People
• Randy Newman - How Great Our Lord
• Randy Newman - Shame
• Randy Newman - You Can Leave Your Hat On
• Joe Cocker - You Can Leave Your Hat On
• Randy Newman - Baltimore
• Randy Newman - God's Song
• Randy Newman - Sail Away
• Randy Newman - Political Science
• Randy Newman - Rednecks
• Randy Newman - The Girls In My Life (Part 1)
• Randy Newman - Old Kentucky Home
• Randy Newman - The Natural
• Randy Newman/ Billy Crystal/ John Goodman - If I Didn't Have You
• Randy Newman/ Sarah McLachlan - When She Loved Me
• Randy Newman -  A Few Words in Defense of Our Country
• Randy Newman - I'm Dreaming
• Randy Newman - I Love L.A.

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