This is a “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” moment for pop music, if that makes sense to anyone. The performances are dignified, reverential, lovely really, but it’s the deftly chosen response shots from celebrities, each of whom lit up their own artistic or cultural supermoment in the years since the songs were released which project the intense, unifying quality of deathless music. Familiar, loved faces glow with shared delight and comprehension of two three minute works which brought the world together, then, now, and all times in between. That the President and Michelle are there too enriches the moment a smidge, but their implied official stamp of approval is not necessary. This incandescent instant shines and gleams on its own. Briefly, the First Couple, like us, are just fans in the crowd, brandishing their lighters against the darkness, begging for an encore, desperate for the feeling to go on…
Thanks to John Markuson for his tip, alerting me to this clip.
