Kudos to Rob Maiale for stepping up and doing what needed to be done when a homophobic street preacher started ranting against a family on a New York subway train. Maiale burst into song, drowning out the man’s hate with an enthusiastic rendition of “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” from Willy Wonka.
More of this, please.
Maiale’s song choice was kind of charming — a song that, he said, was “a snapshot from my childhood that embodied joy, overcoming adversity … and candy.” But it’s also kind of a tricky one to sing and most people (including Maiale himself) don’t know all the words. Preferably, you want to jump in with a song you can belt, and something that others will join in singing.
The song doesn’t have to be on-point — “We Shall Overcome” is always good, but you don’t need to stick with the Pete Seeger songbook. “We Are One in the Spirit” is a fine counterpoint, but this doesn’t need to be a religious debate.
It’s the act of singing itself, the sheer incongruous joy of it, that matters and that shows a different, better way forward. It doesn’t have to be a song that everybody loves, just one that everybody knows. “Sweet Caroline” can work just as well as “Amazing Grace.” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” can work just as much as “The Star Spangled Banner.” Show tunes, pop anthems, drinking songs, jingles, TV themes and Christmas carols are all crowd pleasers when the alternative is a preacher spewing hate.
And you don’t even have to be able to carry a tune, just step up, free your inner Biz Markie, and get things started: “Here’s the story, of a man named Brady …” or “Tommy used to work on the docks …” or “One a warm summer’s evening, on a train bound for nowhere …” The crowd’ll take it from there.
The moment doesn’t have to be beautiful in a technical, artistic sense. It just has to be fun. That’s all the “message” that this needs to convey. It reminds us that fun is an option. Fun is possible. And it’s stronger than hate because it’s truer than hate.
So sing, sing a song.
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