The first night of the Democratic National Convention ended with a performance by Billy Porter and rock star Stephen Stills that received mixed reactions from viewers.
The “Pose” star collaborated with Stills to perform what appeared to be a pre-recorded cover of Buffalo Springfield’s 1966 protest song “For What It’s Worth,” which Stills originally wrote and recorded with Springfield.
The video shows Porter singing and dancing to the song against the backdrop of the American flag, while images of recent protests play in the background.
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According to Rolling Stone, the track was originally inspired by a Sunset Strip protest over a clock association, which resulted in a collision with police. However, the song remains relevant today as people take to the streets to protest and argue about issues of race and equality.
‘When the lyrics came out, I soon realized that my little song was talking about much more than just a confrontation between a gathering of young people who paid a final visit to a favorite music bar that was to be demolished and a quite a large number of LAPD insurgent police intend to disperse the flooding crowd that was scattered in the street, ‘Stills told the outlet. ‘I deliberately resist the urge to rewrite or expand my theme and speak the metaphors for themselves. Fortunately, succeeding generations have found something in it that touches them personally as referring to their own sense of progress in tumultuous times. ”
Responses to the performance were mixed on social media, with many praising Porter’s performance and its relevance to current issues and others who took to social media to try it out.
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‘The power I heard in my youth from this song has been passed on to this day. Many thanks to @theebilly porter and Steven Stills! ” one user wrote.
“Nice version. Love Stills. Great national anthem for our times, ” another positive user wrote.
Billy Porter celebrated the closing song of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
(Rick Rowell via Getty Images)
“Billy Porter is so freakin ‘great that I just can not agree !! This duet with him and Stills hit the ball clearly out of the park. Probably the final act should be on the last night, because I can imagine nothing better than myself! ” wrote a third user.
Meanwhile, a less than enthusiastic user called it “a god terrible achievement.”
“I lost the number of times this year that I saw a tweet that I thought was satire, but was an actual, serious tweet by the Lofts.” someone else wrote.
“I’m sorry – I’m only for Biden / Harris, but this song (version) was really cheesy,” another user wrote.
One person who was pleased with the overall outcome of the cover was Stills, who praised Porter for adapting his song for the present time.
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“For many years no one has tried to ‘make them’, as covers are meant to do,” the artist told Rolling Stone. “That an artist of Billy’s caliber has chosen to add his flourishing to my song from so many years ago is entirely in line with what I meant.”
