A few words in defense of Randy Newman

October 16, 1:18 PMSF Music ExaminerDerk Richardson

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Randy Newman: He gives us all his love.

Which Randy Newman are you hoping shows up for his rare San Francisco solo concert at Davies Symphony Hall Friday night (Oct. 17) as part of the 26th annual San Francisco Jazz Festival—the edgy caricaturist of "Short People," the rhapsodic film music composer of The Natural, or perhaps the suave melodist and Cole Porter–like lyrics craftsman of "Lonely at the Top"?

Me, I'm revving myself up—or maybe the presidential campaign is fueling me for—the biting political satirist of "Political Science" ("let's drop the big one"), "Big Hat, No Cattle" ("When it came down to the wire / I called my little family to my side / Stood up straight, threw my head back, and I lied, lied, lied") and the brilliant 2007 single "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," the lyrics of which were published as an op-ed piece in the New York Times.

One stanza goes:

A President once said,
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself""
Now it seems like we're supposed to be afraid
It's patriotic in fact and color coded
And what are we supposed to be afraid of?
Why, of being afraid
That's what terror means, doesn't it?
That's what it used to mean

From an admittedly privileged position in the artistic/intellectual/economic elite of American society—in the hilarious "A Piece of the Pie," on his new album, Harps & Angels, Newman sings, "Jesus Christ it stinks here high and low / The rich are getting richer / I should know / While we're going up / You're going down / And no one gives a sh-- but Jackson Browne"—Newman casts a stunningly sharp eye on the foibles and fundamental inequities of American capitalism and society.

So here are the song cycles I'd like to hear from the 64-year-old Southern California bard as he sets up his cultural butcher shop in the highfalutin setting of Davies Symphony Hall and explores "The New American Songbook" of Randy Newman:

The "political" set:

"Sail Away"
"Political Science"
"Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)"
"Burn On"
"Louisiana 1927"
"My Country"
"Rednecks"
"My Life Is Good"
"It's Money That Matters"
"The World Isn't Fair"
"The Great Nations of Europe"
"Big Hat, No Cattle"
"A Piece of the Pie"
"Easy Street"
"A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"

The "cities" set:

"Birmingham"
"Baltimore"
"Burn On"
"I Love L.A."
"Miami"
"Gainesville"

The "spiritual" set:

"He Gives Us All His Love"
"God's Song ("That's Why I Love Mankind")
"Harps and Angels"

The "romantic" set:

"I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
"Lucinda"
"Lover's Prayer"
"Lonely at the Top"
"Guilty"
"Marie"
"Feels Like Home"
"Living Without You"
"Losing You"