Kansas City Playlist: Mexican Death Culture

Caveat . . . There might not be a single Mexican song on this list. 

However . . . 

Tonight we take a moment to note Dia De Los Muertos which has basically supplanted All Saints & All Souls Catholic celebrations. In fairness, Disney and their garbage movie CoCo has dutifully turned the low-key traditions of the occasion into a clown show profit center . . . Which is the American way.  

About the holiday just for the sake of documentation . . .  

"Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a multi-day holiday where families and friends honor and remember deceased loved ones. Celebrated on November 1 and 2, the holiday is a joyful time for remembering the dead, believing that their spirits return to visit the living. People celebrate by creating altars (ofrendas) with offerings, visiting and decorating gravesites, and sharing memories and stories."

Of marginal interest . . . 

Some TKC trolls express fear that Día de los Muertos might be a gateway to worship of the frightful, monstrous and probably demonic Santa Muerte. 

Woefully misinformed and pseudo-scientific ethnography claims that Santa Muerte might be venerated by up to 12 million people throughout Latin America and in the U.S. — Most of whom also identify as Catholic. While that's mostly stereotypical garbage, if we account for 300 million Americans "worshiping" Santa Klaus . . . It could be true . . . Or at least that's a joke we share with a TKC contributor who we might or might not open up a Filipino/Latino restaurant with one of these days. 

But I digress . . .

In Kansas City, the biggest Día de los Muertos celebration is actually presented for the viewing pleasure of middle-class white progressives . . . The culture vultures at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art have co-opted the party and provide a surprisingly soulless fiesta wherein all of our barrio friends have to be on their best behavior given the fancy surroundings. 

And so . . .  

The point here might be that "spooky season" has been extended by a few days for millions of Americans. Blame mass migration (illegal and otherwise),  corporate agendas, incompetent politicos or technology continuing to shrink Planet Earth . . . As always, our political bent leans toward skepticism . . . Especially, in this instance, when the consequences of Latino influence mostly involve yet another opportunity to consume tamales and assorted junk food whilst pretending to enjoy multiculturalism. 

And all this inspires our www.TonysKansasCity.com playlist tonight . . .

To start, Shakira performs Hips Don't Lie with Ed Sheeran and Beéle in a 20th anniversary tribute to the original track. What we like about this song: Wycliff Jean sampled Jerry Rivera's "Amores Como el Nuestro" which might actually be a salsa tribute to Prelude in G Minor by Rachmaninov . . . OR, it also kinda sounds like a more soulful spin on Jean-Joseph Mouret's Fanfare-Rondeau that served as the intro to Masterpiece Theater on PBS back in the day . .  . And all of that should remind us that world is round whether we like it or not. Included in this list mostly because we've had the updated version on loop all day in wonderment that the Colombian songstress seems to be aging in reverse.

Yes, every October we HAVE to reference Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party if only because it was the best song in our 2nd favorite Rodney Dangerfield movie.

Another globally top ranking death reference on a cinematic score . . .

Deep nostalgia . . . This track was WAY BEFORE TKC's time but before the Internets the life of pop music lasted a bit longer and well into the late 70s we remember hearing the 1974 Blood, Sweat & Tears track "When I Die" in a great many cowtown haunts as a youngster.

The finale . . . A few VERY LOYAL TKC READERS really liked a Johnny Cash track from last week's playlist . . . And so we'll share a reprise bloggy reference with his performance of an American Standard "I'll Fly Away" which brings back a few memories because my Mexican grandparents ABSOLUTELY LOVED "The Man In Black" and took a very young TKC to watch both of his concerts at Worlds Of Fun on June 5th & 6th in 1982.

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.