Goldwater

This is the fourth of a series of 14 short posts which illustrate the tracks from the forthcoming album The Mint Hotel. The songs on the album are inspired by the 'Beat' generation of writers, artists and revolutionaries working from the 1950s to the early 1970s, providing an alternative view of the 'wholesome' American society advertisers and politicians wanted you to see. Each post features a piece of artwork related to the song, created using Artificial Intelligence software; and also an explanation of the inspiration for that song.

When Senator Barry Goldwater ran for president in 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. said that electing him would plunge the country into a “dark night of social disruption.”

Goldwater, a handsome ex-pilot, had a charismatic if strange personality. His celebrity grew with his notoriety and he appeared on various TV shows talking about among other things the existence of UFOs.

In this song, a breathless groupie can’t hide her love for him. After some journalists garnered a quote from a psychiatrist saying he might be insane, he sued for libel, creating the "Goldwater Principle", that you should not speculate about someone's mental health from a distance.

Vocals by Natalie Major.