Music to Our Ears: An Intergenerational Look at Music and Politics at a Bernie Rally

Regardless of the particular circumstances or demographic of the messenger, when the message itself is powerful enough, it manages to transcend our differences and unify us.
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At the first chords of Simon & Garfunkel's "America," I'll admit it. I began to tear up a bit. Lest I be blamed for seeming maudlin in this dewy-eyed response, I was not the only one. I had arrived at a Bernie Sanders rally, and now awaited the star performer. A long line in the cold rain and here I sat in my orchestra seat at the political theater. The 1968 folk classic from the American canon came out before I was born, as a protest song of a different era, yet I was moved to...well, a tear or two. I, of Generation X, was surrounded by Millennial fans of a Silent Generation politician, in a room captivated by a Baby Boomer classic. What was going on?

The award-winning fiction writer Sarah Dessen once said "Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common." At that moment, as "America" jangled through the auditorium speakers, the song crossed divides of age, time and place. It transported us to an achingly lonely hitchhiking trip across a 60's landscape in search of self-revelation and the American dream. "Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike they've all come to look for America." The timelessness of the song tapped into a collective American consciousness that defied traditional barriers of age. Undoubtedly this all sounds overly sentimental at a distance, and in hindsight perhaps it was. In the midst of it? The experience was less insipid love-fest and more full-throated rallying cry.

Much has been made of the intergenerational appeal of the anachronistic senator from Vermont. Pundits endlessly question how it is that a 74-year-old politician can capture the hearts and minds of the young so effectively. Listening to the enduring soundtrack of those who came before me, it strikes me that perhaps one small key to the explanation can be found in the actionable patriotism engendered by an inspired ballad. When it's done right, music has an uncanny capacity to conjure up memories of experiences we have not had. Journeys we never lived become our own. Regardless of the particular circumstances or demographic of the messenger, when the message itself is powerful enough, it manages to transcend our differences and unify us.

During an election cycle that has become so cynical and divisive, and at a time when analysts seek to pigeonhole this country into narrow voting blocks and niches for the latest poll, I was amazed at this fleeting, emotional moment. This is most certainly not about the plausibility of the candidate to capture the base of a party. This will not be recorded in delegate counts, exit-polls, or campaign outcomes. New York, like many states that followed, took a stance that set the trajectory of this election on a different path. Nonetheless, ephemeral as it was, something notable in the political landscape occurred in the intimacy of this gathering. For a rare instant, at least, young and old were curiously, harmoniously intertwined.

Bio: Gabe Fenigsohn (@gfenig) is a New York writer and opiner on media, brand and culture. He is a member of the Brooklyn-based creative team Cardwell Beach and contributes to The Huffington Post.

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