Randy Newman Has No Reason To Live

I see where Randy Newman has compared John McCain to Hitler. (http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/08/13/singer-randy-newman-mccains-music-list-then-again-hitler-liked-s)

Newman, who has just released his first new studio album in nearly a decade, was asked by Blender Magazine to evaluate Barack Obama and John McCain's Top 10 songs.

In evaluating McCain's list which included the Beach Boys, Merle Haggard, Frank Sinatra and two songs by ABBA, Newman quipped, "McCain has a really likeable list. Then again, Hitler liked some good music, you know?"

It's an obviously stupid comparison.

Which is why I wonder if Newman really meant it.

You must remember Newman is most famous for singing about "short people who have no reason to live". I've listened to enough of Newman's other material (most notably the late Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Sings Newman) to conjecture that he doesn't really think McCain is Hitler.

However, I still think what he said is daft. Given Newman's enormous writing talent and biting humor I would have thought him capable of coming up with something a little more interesting and a little less predictable and frankly boring.