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Various Artists
Give US Your Poor
(Appleseed)
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2007, Volume 14, #9
Written by John Metzger
Raising the profile of the homeless problem that plagues America is a noble
and necessary cause. Whether the condition is brought about by a lost job, a
physical or mental ailment, or a deadbeat spouse, roughly 3.5 million residents
(including 1.35 million children) — or 1% of the country’s population — are
living as vagrants at any given time. This issue isn’t confined to urban centers
either. Nearly 9% of those without homes populate rural communities. Even worse,
the safety net that was designed to provide a modicum of protection has eroded
significantly in recent years. Nearly 37% of individuals and 52% of families
have been turned away from homeless shelters because there is no room for them.
For a nation that is as wealthy as the United States, such staggering numbers
are utterly disgraceful.
While the rich have gotten richer, the poor have grown poorer, and although
there’s no doubt that a small segment of the population always will try to tweak
the system to their advantage, milking the government for every penny they can
get, many more innocent bystanders are hurt when state and federal programs
meant to help them in their darkest hour are shut down in the name of reducing
the national debt. In the grand scheme of things, the volume of resources that
go to those who never will seek gainful employment is far less than the amount
that currently is frittered away when corporations are rewarded for moving jobs
overseas, when private contractors are hired as mercenaries to fight an unjust
war, or when banks are bailed out in the wake of their own bad management
decisions. Compassionate conservatism is neither compassionate nor conservative.
It’s a gross perversion of the American dream that has been sold to the public
by a pair of snake oil salesmen from Crawford, Texas and Casper, Wyoming.
Homelessness is a problem that politicians long have tried to downplay, and
their method of dealing with it largely has been to treat its symptoms so that
they can sweep the larger needs under the rug where they can be forgotten.
After all, if it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. Considering the fact that
vagrants have a tendency not to vote — in fact, in all 50 states, there are laws
on the books that now make it exceedingly difficult for them to even try —
there’s no incentive to stop congressmen, senators, governors, mayors, city
councilmen, or presidents from looking the other way. Anyone who bothers to
examine the facts that lie at the heart of America’s homelessness issue,
however, is bound to be outraged, especially when one begins to comprehend the
reasons that people find themselves without a place to live. It is the desire,
then, of Give US Your Poor, an initiative by the University of Massachusetts at
Boston, to stir enough interest in the subject that there is
no choice left for the country collectively but to attack vagrancy’s root
causes.
To that end, the socially conscious, roots-music label Appleseed has
collaborated with Give US Your Poor to create a 19-track benefit album that is
designed to spark public debate in the months preceding America’s next
presidential election. Although its makers clearly have their hearts in the
right place, the set unfortunately is a flawed affair. For starters, Appleseed
and Give US Your Poor are so close to the issue at hand that they’ve become
blinded by the urgency of solving the problem. In fact, they are so desperate to
win the populace’s attention that they padded the collection with an audio
documentary as well as a trio of dramatic pieces that feature actors Danny
Glover and Tim Robbins. The results are convincingly delivered, and they
emphatically make their point. Yet, they also are so heavy-handed that it’s hard
to imagine anyone wanting to hear them more than once.
Like most benefit compilations, the music on Give US Your Poor falters
on occasion, mostly because it has a tendency to try to suit all tastes.
Consequently, there’s little more than the topic itself to hold the songs
together as they stylistically shift from Jewel’s breathy folk-pop (1,000
Miles) to the intricate and mesmerizing vocal interplay of Sweet Honey in
the Rock (Stranger Blues) and from the salvation-seeking, gospel-soul
ruminations of Jon Bon Jovi and Mighty Sam McClain (Show Me the Way) to
the earthy, acoustic blues plied by Keb’ Mo’ and Eagle Park Slim (Baby, Don’t
Let Me Go Homeless).
Nevertheless, a few of the album’s cuts do succeed in hitting their mark
squarely: On Becky’s Tune, Michelle Shocked and Michael Sullivan surround
their message with luminescent music; Bonnie Raitt and Weepin’ Willie Robinson
add bite to a cover of Rufus Thompson’s blues classic Walkin’ the Dog;
Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger unite for a sturdy interpretation of Hobo’s
Lullaby, thus providing a fitting coda to We Shall Overcome: The Seeger
Sessions; and on her rendition of Randy Newman’s I Think It’s Going to
Rain Today, Madeleine Peyroux’s expressive vocals sink sadly into the
mood-inducing patter of percussion.
Many of the artists associated with Give US Your Poor have had
first-hand experience with being homeless, which ultimately is what lends the
set its gravity. From the outsourcing of jobs to the lack of care for the
veterans of America’s armed forces, there are a lot of issues that are vying for
attention in the upcoming presidential election. The fact that homelessness is
the most extreme consequence of many of them makes the coming months all the
more crucial for restoring the safety net and finally drafting a plan to banish
poverty from the richest country on Earth. 
Give US Your Poor is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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