My piece on the homepage today, “A Nasty Little Storm,” is about defamation and some related matters. Toward the end, I mention an old spiritual, “Scandalize My Name.” (I don’t know why I say “old spiritual”: They all are.) Here on the Corner, I wanted to direct you to Marian Anderson’s recording of it. But I can’t find it. We’ll have to settle for Paul Robeson. In my opinion, he sings the spiritual far too stiffly, as he sang most things. But it’ll do — and it’s such a wonderful song.
By the way, though I may have my criticisms of Robeson’s singing, I of course wholeheartedly endorse his politics. (Do I need to say that was a joke?) (Robeson was an absolutely true-believing Stalinist, who acted on his beliefs, too — but that’s another story.) (If we don’t separate art and politics, most of the time, we are screwedola, I find.)