A catchy new tune has reached our fair city. Not only is it composed and performed by local artists and recorded at the Jacobs School of Music, but the song “Ride” was commissioned by our City Council to be our community song. A $5000 grant was given to Jeff Cannon, a local musician, to represent Bloomington’s position as a small Midwestern college town to its community.
Despite the support it has received from the Jacobs School of Music and our local government, some have taken to the internet to share their criticism of the song. Throughout the music video for “Ride,” there is no footage of classic Bloomington sites such as the Sample Gates or Assembly Hall. The song doesn’t even mention any Bloomington-specific events or places.
The lack of imagery or lyrical reference to Bloomington has been met with objection from several Bloomington residents. The song has been called “condescending as well as trite” by Julie Gray on The Herald-Times Facebook page. Bloomingtonians are displeased by the new community song because it is described as having “nothing to do with Bloomington” Gray wrote.
Sounds of South choir member and junior Noah Jager reacted to the song with hesitation, “I like that it is meant to represent the essence of our town, but I wish that it showed a little bit of the IU campus or something,” Jager said.
No matter how you feel about it, this is our new community song. It just may be what you hear at a high school reunion or community event in the future.
