Willie Nile: Hard Times in America

Buffalo native Willie Nile is a hard to classify, but I'm going to give it a try--throw Graham Parker, Bruce Springsteen, and Steve Earle into a blender--and it might come out sounding like Nile.

He comes from a musical family, Niles' grandfather was a vaudeville pianist who performed with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Eddie Cantor.

Nile came to Chicago last fall and played "Hard Times in America"
with the Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra.

Note NSFW warning: Nile says "balls of steel" during the introduction.



It's nine minutes long--but worth every second.

As you can tell by the title, the song is about tough economic times. It could be the anthem for our era, but a couple of facts get in the way. Nile released it in 1992, when the country was in a mild recession--George H.W. Bush was president. And I'm pretty sure Nile is not a fan of his son, a shorter YouTube concert performance includes video clips of soldiers fighting in Iraq and an image of our 43rd president.

Still, I would't be surprised if a conservative talk radio host picked up "Hard Times in America" in the manner Rush Limbaugh utilizes the Pretenders' "My City Was Gone." The writer of that song, Chrissie Hynde, donates the Rush royalties to charity. She's not a dittohead.

Anyway, enjoy the tune. And see you next week for another Saturday musical selection.

Related post:

Buffalo to Obama: "I need a freakin' job!"

Technorati tags: politics buffalo economy pretenders willie nile rush limbaugh bush