What to make of Ed Miliband’s disclosure yesterday that Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ is his favourite song? Ben Brogan smells a rat: “If he’s a Journey fan, then I’m a football expert”. But here’s the thing: you don’t have to be a Journey fan to like Don’t Stop Believin’. You just need to be a fan of Glee.
For the uninitiated, Glee is an American musical TV series about (impossibly glamorous) nerds in an Ohio high school, who join an after-school music club and are intensely bullied by the cool, sporty kids in the school. But they stick to what they believe in, overcoming the bullies. Don’t Stop Believin’ (here) is the anthem of the series: the first and arguably best Glee cover song.
You can see why this might appeal to Ed Miliband. Glee describes itself as ‘a biting comedy for the underdog in all of us’ – and you can imagine Ed Miliband, the self-styled “outsider”, seeing a little bit of himself here. And he might also see something a bit Tory-ish in the rivals to the geek choir: the Dalton Warblers. They are posh, but undeniably good. Their lead singer has talent, charisma, slickness: how is a choir of underfunded state school nerds supposed to compete with that? Red Ed must feel the same in the Commons, when gazing at the Eton Warblers crooning across the despatch box.
The point of Glee – aside from the ingenious arrangements of songs you thought you knew backwards – is that it’s okay to be weird. The message of Glee is one which is essential to politicians: it conveys the sense that vindication lies just around the corner. So be weird and proud, even if that means that cool kids will call you names, like “Odd Ed”. On Wednesday, Miliband was asked on Radio Four how he feels that focus groups describe him as ‘weird’. “I don’t give a damn about that,” he shot back – with obvious passion. Or, in the words of my second-favourite Glee song Loser Like Me: “You may say that I’m a freakshow (I don’t care). But, hey, give me just a little time. I bet you’re gonna change your mind.”
Whether Ed Miliband is leading Labour to triumph or disaster, we’ve seen this week that he certainly has the steel to defy fashion, and stick to his principles – even if he has to take the odd slushee in the face. I have no idea about his television habits. But in political terms, Ed Miliband should certainly be regarded as an honorary Gleek.
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