A phrase has crept into our politics: “to know what time it is.” This is a phrase of the “New Right,” or the Buchanan Right — the Trump or Orbán Right. They “know what time it is,” you see. And if you have different views — you don’t know what time it is.
Last year, Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, spoke at a “national conservatism” conference. He talked of having volunteered on Buchanan’s 1992 presidential campaign. “You might say that my people knew what time it was in America before most even knew the clock was ticking.”
Well, there is a lot to say about this politically. But the phrase reminds me of a song — and it is a song that leads my latest Music for a While: here.
In 1939, Rodgers & Hart wrote a musical called “Too Many Girls” (an impossibility, it would seem). It had a song that took on a life of its own: “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was.” It begins,
I didn’t know what time it was.
Then I met you.
Oh, what a lovely time it was,
And sublime it was too.
It ends,
I’m wise,
And I know what time it is now.
Wonderful song. And I have put together an eclectic Music for a While. From Rodgers & Hart, it goes on to Mozart, Boccherini, Rachmaninoff, and worthy others. Give it a whirl — again, here.
One more thing: You remember the tradition of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Before a game, the team would huddle, and someone would call out, “What time is it?” The answer: “Game time!” (See it here.)