Vermont Senator and potential 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders recorded a folk album in 1987, and it’s pretty special.
The Brooklyn native was mayor of Burlington, Vt., when he agreed to record the album, “Bernie: We Shall Overcome,” on the whim of a local producer, Todd Lockwood, reported Vermont newspaper Seven Days.
Sanders compiled a list of songs he wanted to sing, and they started recording. They soon realized Sanders has no rhythm, so they hired a bunch of backup singers and let Sanders talk/preach some of the lyrics.
“This is a guy who couldn’t even tap his foot to music coming over the radio,” Lockwood told Seven Days. “No sense of melody. No sense of rhythm — the rhythm part surprised me, because he has good rhythm when he’s delivering a speech in public.”
Songs on the record include “This Land is Your Land,” “Oh Freedom,” and of course, “We Shall Overcome.” Lockwood maintains the message of the songs is consistent with the message Sanders’ has been preaching for years.
“I don’t see any reason why he would be embarrassed to have it out there,” Lockwood told Seven Days. “When you listen to what he’s saying, a lot of the message is exactly what he’s saying now — the one percenter stuff. Its been in his repertoire for a long time.”
Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist. If he does end up running for president, Lockwood said his label might release a CD version of the album. (RELATED: Socialist Bernie Sanders Begins To Lay Out His Presidential platform) LISTEN: