The Beginning of Act 2

Scenes from the Inauguration

Posted by David Remnick, The New Yorker

A few thoughts from the Amtrak Quiet Car after six hours of inauguration-watching.

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For a “modest event,” that was still pretty huge. It’s true that Obama’s first inaugural attracted around 1.8 million people to the Mall, and his second was smaller by about a million. And yet a crowd that is twice the size of Woodstock is not to be dismissed. Like last time, the crowd was incredibly diverse. The African-American contingent was especially impressive, in size and emotional force. The airport on Sunday was filled with black women, men, and kids—arriving from all over the country—reminding everyone of the historical dimensions of the 2008 election. It’s too soon to forget it. The presence of Myrlie Evers-Williams on the platform this year made it certain that no one did.

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The Obamas are so preposterously good-looking, so put together, that you watch them come out of a morning church service and you notice the President of the United States fourth. Whoever thought to give Michelle Obama purple gloves so that they echoed her daughters’ outfits—well, are there prizes for that?

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The inaugural ceremony this time could not hope to match January, 2009, for history, but the music was, surprisingly, a great deal better. Last time, we got a quartet featuring Yo-Yo Ma, but he and his mates played “Air and Simple Gifts,” a weak piece of work by John Williams; also, the cold made it impossible to play and they had to Milli Vanilli their way behind a pre-recorded version of the piece. And then there was Aretha Franklin, the greatest singer of her era, whose hat was unforgettable but whose version of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” was less so.

This time, James Taylor, Kelly Clarkson, and Beyoncé were at their best. Taylor’s arrangement of “America the Beautiful” was exquisite—he’s always been an underrated guitarist—and Clarkson, although she seemed, at first, as nervous as a cat walking on a glass floor, nailed a magically peculiar version of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee.” And what to say about Beyoncé? One nation under Beyoncé? [Update: If the rumors that she lip-synched the National Anthem are true…I don’t care. Or only a little.]

(More here.)