Jewel - 0304

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Summary: Jewel: A Simple Girl in a Digital World
Review: "A Simple Girl in a Digital World: Herbert Hoover, Jewel and the Economics of Romantic Individualism"

During his October 1928 "Rugged Individualism" speech to members of the New York Republican Party, presidential candidate Herbert Hoover outlined a tri-part political philosophy of self-government in which he stressed the importance of local agencies, individual freedom to encourage initiative, and equality of opportunity as guarantors of the free market system and economic self-sustainability. Locating the spirit of what he considers to be a uniquely American form of democracy in the risks and rewards of individual enterprise, Hoover's philosophy served an exemplar of the attitudes of 20th century Republic politics and proved to be a cause for which he would continue to fight throughout the remainder of his political life.

The spirit of this 1928 speech finds voice nearly 80 years later in the work of recording artist Jewel, an key figure in the field of late-20th century popular music and a poet of international acclaim. Building on a canon of simple-yet-earnest confessional songwriting, on her 2002 album "0304" Jewel draws upon tenets of the Hooverian philosophy of individualism as a means to navigate a world beleaguered by postmodern loneliness and heartbreak. In this essay I will show how, in distinct cultural environments, both Hoover and Jewel attempt to locate the individual as decision-making agents of free enterprise -- one economic, one romantic -- and upon him place the burden of decentralized political efficacy.

In his landmark address, Hoover delineates a conservative policy of small government similar to Republican presidential predecessors Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. He calls for the continued rollback of former Democratic president Woodrow Wilson's "big government" initiatives of 1917-20, which Hoover describes as "centralized despotism which undertook unprecedented responsibilities, assumed autocratic powers and took over the business of citizens. . . ." and "to a large degree . . . regimented our whole people temporally into a socialistic state." Hoover argues that Wilson's socialistic doctrines had not only proved harmful to the American economy by eroding free market endeavors but also, by threatening corporate liberties, ran the risk of eventually "impair(ing) the very basis of liberty and freedom" for individual men and women.

Rhetorically, Hoover links individual self-sufficiency with the economic conditions that encourage creativity and innovation. He states: "New methods and new ideas are the outgrowth of the spirit of adventure of individual initiative and of individual enterprise. Without adventure there is no progress."

Similarly, on the album "0304" Jewel implicitly argues for government deregulation of romantic strictures by encouraging self-actualization and individual fulfillment similar to Hoover's call for "individual initiative . . . through which our people have grown to unparalleled greatness." She suggests that a government which guarantees its citizens individual liberties of romantic choice engenders healthy romantic society, making personal Hoover's political notions of self-government and individual agency.

Upon the foundation of a Hooverian meritocracy, Jewel suggests building a society of (largely) romantic individual freedom and responsibility. At her core a devotee of 19th-century essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jewel echoes in the song "Intuition" Emerson's directive "to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men - that is genius" ("Self-Reliance," Essay II). Set atop innovative arrangements composed of acoustic and electric guitar, accordion and pulsating club beats, Jewel advises her listeners to "follow your heart/your intuition/it will lead u in the right direction," melodically stretching the word "intuition" to flame the fire of self-reliance. For Jewel, this intuition is "easy 2 find," but only within the nurturing structure of Hoover's "ordered liberty, freedom and equal opportunity" is it possible to "just follow your heart, baby."

American society to which Jewel and Hoover locate their arguments are deeply flawed, but for vastly different reasons. Hoover is most concerned with an America one decade removed from World War I and issues of whether or not "government should continue their wartime ownership and operation of many [instruments] of production and distribution. We were challenged with a ... choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines -- doctrines of paternalism and state socialism."

Jewel's America is equally troubled, but in different ways. On songs such as "Run 2 U," "2 Find U," "Yes U Can" and "U & Me = Love," Jewel, an Alaska native no stranger to rural wilderness, finds herself in a digital wilderness in which she's beset by postmodern signifiers dictating, or at least informing, modes of personal expression. Lost "in a high-tech digital world" ("Intuition"), "a world of postmodern fad/(where) what was good now is bad" (ibid) and where "nothing's what it seems, I mean/It's not all dirty, but it's not all clean" ("Stand"), Jewel desperately "tr(ies) to understand/all the powers that rule this land" ("Intuition").

She overcomes the barriers of this dystopia of irony and cultural manipulation -- where you might find "children paying bills/. . . monks buying thrills/. . . pride for sale in magazines/. . . pills for rent 2 make u clean" ("Stand") or people who learn "cool from magazines" and "love from Charlie Sheen" (ibid) -- in two different ways. First, through protection in a union of like-minded souls via a call to arms -- "we are what everyone wants 2 be/we are young/and carefree" ("Doin' Fine") -- and, second, by exercising romantic choice guaranteed within the framework of Hoover's "ordered liberty, freedom and equal opportunity": "hey, u," she sings, "do not walk away/let's choose love, come on/what do u say" ("2 Find U"). Bolstered by love, Jewel acknowledges that even in a flawed society, she "would spend/my whole life all over again" (ibid).

Through these rhetorical strategies, Jewel positions herself romantically outside of the mainstream. Importantly, just as Hoover acknowledges that "political freedom requires . . . economic freedom," Jewel wisely concedes that the capacity to be carefree requires a healthy economics of love: "There's a price on everything/It's not 2 cheap to buy your dreams" ("Yes U Can") and makes protective concessions. For example, in order to locate herself economically in this system of romantic independence she smartly trades on commodified desire by selling her most valued capital: herself. In the same way that Hooverian democracy promises to "restore confidence and hope in the American people, and free and stimulate enterprise" by investing in "the rights and responsibility of the individual," Jewel promises to "mesmerize with milky thighs and languid eyes" ("Leave the Lights On") and implores others who have ". . . got something' that you're wantin' 2 sell" to "sell your sin, just cash in" ("Intuition").

On two songs that specifically echo Hoover's call to accumulate material assets, Jewel, in order to offset the economic transience of romantic transaction, encourages ownership as a means to self-sustainability. On "Run 2 U" she extends the metaphor of selling to ownership by informing her lover "But I alone can love u/u belong 2 me," and on "2 Become 1" she sings that like "a bird owns its wings/. . . U Belong 2 Me." Most creatively, Jewel, in a fit of self-reflexive genius, uses ownership as a trail out of the postmodern wilderness by stating "If u will just take me/It might just complete me/And together we can make a stand/Like a song belongs 2 melody/U belong 2 me" ("2 Become 1"). These metaphoric proposals echo Hoover's 1928 speech, in which he boasted about the fact that:

. . . there are almost 9 automobiles for each 10 families. The slogan of progress is changing from the full dinner pail to the full garage. Our people have more to eat, better things to wear, and better homes. We have even gained in elbow room in our homes, for the increase of residential floor space is over 25 percent with less than 10 percent increase in our number of people.

It's important to note that Jewel suggests the caveat that there is room for romantic (comm)union outside of the strictly economic. At different points on "0304" she offers herself to a theoretical romantic associate: "If u want me, let me know/I promise I won't say no" ("Intuition"); "If you u just take me/It might just complete me" ("Stand"); and "Won't u come 2 my side/I need u tonight/Run 2 me, I`ll run 2 u/Let me crash into u" ("Run 2 U). (Comm)union, in this sense, isn't communal but personally completing. To wit: when she offers that "together we can make a stand," she's foremost bolstering her position as a free agent in the market. Whatever promise of romantic love she offers in return is secondary to shoring up her romantic liquidity.

Two theoretical limits to Jewel's economics of the romantic mark important divergences between her philosophy and that of Hoover: firstly, she acknowledges that her system does not allow for blame to be placed on any one tangible entity ("It's a shame there's no one 2 blame/For all pain that life brings" ["Stand"]). Secondly, in the song "Haunted," she allows for the possibility that this hard-fought freedom might lead to a profusion of stalkers. We can attribute these incongruities to the fact that the particulars of romantic, economic and social mores had changed over the course of the 80 years that separated the two philosophers. Though Hoover does not address these issues directly, it's worth noting that nothing in his treatise disallows them.

Both Hoover and Jewel conclude their treatises by reaffirming their belief their construction of the American system. Hoover notes that "Our American experiment in human welfare has yielded a degree of well-being unparalleled in the world. It has come nearer to the abolition of poverty, to the abolition of fear of want, than humanity has ever reached before." Similarly, on "America" Jewel extols a country that legislates freedom of speech ("Walkin' 2 the corner of Main Street, USA/look at the good people, hear what they gotta say -- uh-huh") and the opportunity to purchase and use cologne in the personal hygiene process: "Old Spice is nice/but sweat is better."

Furthermore, Hoover exalts America, "as definite and positive a political and social system as has ever been developed on earth. . . ." He continues, "Our country has become the land of opportunity to those born without inheritance, (providing) equality of opportunity to every American, rich or poor, foreign or native born, without respect to race or faith or color, to attain that position in life to which his ability and character entitle him.. . . ."

Similarly, on "America" Jewel's sings of an America which encourages interstate commerce ("we're trucking in America") and sexual intercourse ("we`re f---ing in America"); allows for personal emotion ("we are laughing in America/we're crying in America"); and protects its citizens from movie directors with pedophilic proclivities ("Poliniski's banned in America").

In closing, we can find the author's faith in the individual in the titles of their respective work While Hoover's "Rugged Individualism" is self evident, Jewel's "0304" pairs two seemingly contrasting numbers to create a mathematical tension and subtext of personal responsibility. Though one number odd and one even, one prime and one not prime, they are both divisible by one, and when divided their respective quotients equal one: three divided by three is one; four divided by four is one. One is one, ad infinitum.