A certain TV commercial currently has my attention. It's an ad for General Motors and features two guys out in nature, either camping or fishing, or both. But the rugged scenery accompanied by a rugged truck is not the story here. What is particularly fascinating is the background music. A catchy little ditty that most viewers will not recognize but is utterly mystifying is not lost on me.
The background song is none other than "Haywire" Mack McClintock singing his renowned hobo song "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Of course, the lyrics are heavily edited with only the simpler, more acceptable non-political verses are heard...briefly.
So what's the big deal? Well, friends that song, like its author, is heavily associated with the Industrial Workers of the World, the radical left labor union of historical fame. The IWW, better known as the Wobblies, were advocates of one big union, and their efforts at organizing played a major role in the labor history of this country. Because many of its members rode the rails as itinerant laborers, the Wobblies are heavily associated with hoboes and rail-riders. In fact, the image of the big rock candy mountain is itself a vision of heaven or paradise for the lowly hobo or tramp who was continuously hassled by the railroad bulls,(police) and often arrested for vagrancy. Thus the enormous irony. The fact that General Motors would use this song is an affront to those pioneers who gave their lives for so many of the things working people take for granted, like the 8 hour day, paid vacations, and the whole concept of weekends!
Nobody will raise a fuss about this commercial because most who take the time to listen to the song will find its imagery cute or harmless. The lemonade springs, a mountain made of candy, and a place where you don't have to change your socks.
This appropriation of folk culture by advertising agencies is hardly new. I remember when I saw the Pillsbury doughboy playing some mean blues on a harmonica. A clear attempt to reach my generation who in the late 1960s embraced the blues genre heavily. I know I did. So just when we are the right age, with homes and families of our own we might purchase a product that is suddenly associated with something we love. Smart move, definitely, but still something is not quite right here.
Perhaps the Berkeley Barb, one of the original underground papers said it best. One Friday back in the early 1970s I picked up a copy and saw on the front page a photograph of a mannequin in the local J.C. Penny. The imitation fashion model was wearing a very nice wool v-neck sweater. Around her neck hung a shimmering peace symbol on a chain. The headline read, "THEY'VE ABSORBED US!'
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