The interest in Will.i.am’s remix of Barack Obama’s speech after the New Hampshire primaries has drifted well into the “Scattered Brilliance” domain. I am currently ranked #4 on google search results for combinations of [Obama yes we can lyrics] pointing to this post from last week.
As you can see in the graph below, traffic to this post has been high and is growing. All of this traffic is coming from organic searches for the text of Obama’s speech that the song was set to.
Outside of knowing that people would be searching for these lyrics, because that’s one of the first things I did, and knowing that wordpress posts rank disproportionately high in Google’s algorithm, primarily due to page title and meta data from the post title itself, I didn’t do much to SEO this post.
It makes you think how blogs have changed the currency of search results.
As an independent with republican leaning economic philosophies I have some policy issues with Barack Obama. But, the smartest people I know all have Obama at the top of their list. I think Lessig’s point on what type of leader Obama represents and his perception in the world are the two most important reasons to consider Obama despite my policy differences with him.
Will-I-Am of the Black Eyed Peas brought together a start studded cast to put Barack Obama’s speech in New Hampshire to music in a powerful show of support for the Obama campaign.
There is no doubt that Obama is the most inspirational and aspirational candidate on either side of the race for office. Not only does his oration stand up to the stars singing behind it, but his message rings clear. Change, Hope, Yes We Can.
The video was uploaded to YouTube on 2/2/08 and in three days has over 1,350,000 views. That’s grass roots inspiration.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can. Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores
and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can. Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized;
women who reached for the ballots;
a President who chose the moon as our new frontier;
and a King who took us to the mountain-top and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
(yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can…)
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can. Si Se Puede
(yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can…)
We know the battle ahead will be long,
but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way,
nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We want change!
(We want change! We want change! We want change…)
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant.
We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check.
We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. We want change!
(We want change! I want change! We want change! I want change…)
The hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA;
we will remember that there is something happening in America;
that we are not as divided as our politics suggests;
that we are one people;
we are one nation;
and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast;
from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.
(yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can…)
Scattered Brilliance 