Ooh ... shiny.

I’ve been reorganizing my music collection all summer. It shouldn’t have taken this long, but once I got the CDs in alphabetical stacks, I realized the next step would be putting those CDs in giant cases and disposing of the jewel cases—some of which I’ve had since I was 10. I know this is ridiculous, but some of those went to the Netherlands with me in 1993. They’re just plastic, but those scratches—some of those probably came from when I droped my CDs down a stairwell in Amsterdam. That’s history, folks.

Anyway, I just came across the 10,000 Maniacs single for “Few & Far Between.” In addition to the album version of that song, it also has a live version of “Candy Everybody Wants” with guest vocals from Michael Stipe, a live covers of “To Sir with Love” and “Let the Mystery Be” (by Iris DeMent, who also wrote “Our Town,” which was the last song played on Northern Exposure and of which Kate Rusby does a moving cover), the latter of which is a duet with David Byrne from MTV Unplugged.

The single came out in 1993. Inside the “Printed on recycled paper” packaging is the following message:

Dear friend,

in 1992, young people turned the tide of political apathy—11 million of us went to the polls on November 3, a record breaking turn-out.

By voting in large numbers we seized the nation’s attention. Now we have a chance to make an impact on those issues that effect young Americans everyday, like tolerance, censorship, health care, the economy, and educational funding.

Rock The Vote gives you a way to get involved in politics and make your voice heard—as part of a huge movement of young Americans fighting together for the youth agenda in our schools, our communities, our workplaces and our culture.

Last year we won political power. ROCK THE VOTE is the way to use it.

Natalie Merchant

I tried to copy this accurately, including “issues that effect young Americans.” I won’t hold that against Natalie or Elektra’s copyeditor. Effect/affect aside, the message is a very interesting read, all these years later.

On one hand, if Merchant and MTV’s Rock the Vote people could have seen the 2008 election in the future, they would’ve been that much more driven. On the other hand, if they could have seen the intervening years—or, for that matter, much of 2009 so far—they probably would’ve shut the whole thing down.

In 15 years or so, someone’s going to look back at the Will.i.am video and wonder the same thing. Hell, half the country’s probably thinking it now about … I don’t know, did any musicians do songs about John McCain and the hope he brought to the nation?

Election season (however long or short) is a time for action. You can be hopeful and exuberant or angry and soapboxing, but it’s easy to be active—to feel like things might go your way if a percent of the population swings one way or the other.

And then, a few weeks later, when half the voters come down from nirvana, and the other half climb up out of their doldrums, we all meet in the middle and sit around and wonder what why we feel pretty much the same as we did a year ago.

Maybe it’s a problem with the two-party system. Maybe it’s just a problem with systems in general. Maybe it’s a problem with us.

Everybody’s wondering what and where they all came from.
Everybody’s worried ‘bout where we’re gonna go when the whole thing’s done.
Nobody knows for certain, and so it’s all the same to me.
I think I’ll just let the mystery be.