The Oppenheimer Report 7/2/18

A belated Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends, and a pre-emptive Happy Fourth of July to all my friends stateside. Last night on the lake it sounded as if we were being invaded, so loud was the cacophony of fireworks. Apart from that, Shauna and I had a relatively quiet night at home, watching Big Brother. Hey, don’t judge, it’s our guilty pleasure.

It’s strange being a landed immigrant in Canada at a time when my homeland is in such turmoil. I’ve had more than one American friend contact me to say that they are seriously thinking about moving to Canada, and that saddens me. It also discourages me to hear some Canadians lump all of America in with Rump. The Orange Emperor is merely the lightning rod for all the anger and discontent many Americans feel about their dysfunctional government. Canada and Europe are not immune to hatred by the way. I still love my country, and I regret the Pandora’s Box of hatred which has opened for the world to see. I despise all that Rump represents, but I also blame the eroding culture which feeds this beast. As I’ve said, one can’t force people to be kind-hearted, one can only lead by example. An American classmate wrote me the other day complaining about the woeful state of American politics, and my tongue-in-cheek response was that I am fighting the good fight by writing protest songs. I have written a lot of angry songs about America, dating back to the 80s, songs like “Watching The War On T.V” about the Gulf War, and “Book Of Jive” and “Paper Money” about the American Savings and Loans crisis. I don’t expect anyone to hear those songs.    

Over the past six months, I have been making simple cell phone videos of my performances of some of these songs. Facebook and YouTube have made it so easy to post these videos, and I thought I’d put them out there for posterity. The ever-growing narcissist in me realizes that I’m well into the second semester of my life, and I’ve had countless reminders that things can and do change in an instant. While I have not pursued a “career” in songwriting, it is about the only thing I have done consistently for forty plus years now. These songs are my legacy. I do not often perform live, but these videos will be a record of some of the songs I hope will live on long after I’m gone.

One song, which I recorded and posted yesterday on my Facebook page, is a song I wrote well over a decade ago. I wrote it on the day that our friends Bobby and Sherrie Cameron celebrated the birth of their daughter. I haven’t seen Jaiden Cameron since she was a baby, but I’ve watched her grow up in Facebook photos, and she seems to be developing into a very creative, interesting young lady. Entitled “Lullaby From A Newborn” the song is written from the perspective of the newborn. My songs may never find an audience; they certainly aren’t pop tunes. Still, I am happy I wrote them, because they are journal entries. They are collectively a record of my life, and of the lives of the people around me. They are my story, from my imagination; a roadmap to the many stages of my life to date. I think I’ll record “Book Of Jive” or “Watching The War On T.V. on The Fourth of July. I am thankful I still have the freedom to write songs like these.
   

      - Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED