United Health: Jesse Welles Hits Home With a Tale of Hardly Humanity
Young troubadour sums up the American health care dilemma in a ditty
Storytelling, especially in music, is a potent elixir for treating what ails society.
America’s disastrous health care system offers plenty of opportunity to find fault. But it’s tough to make melodic hay out of a bureaucratic morass of paperwork crimes.
Until a current event triggers popular culture to elevate a perpetrator to culture-hero status as a form of vigilante justice.
This is what happened when a healthcare company executive was shot down on the streets of Manhattan in New York City just two weeks ago.
Brian Thompson, a UnitedHealthcare CEO, died on December 4th. Jesse Welles released his song, United Health, eight days later.
Young Jesse Welles, a 30-year old folk singer from Arkansas, tapped into both the enormous public furor and zeitgeist of the moment. He laid bare the entire healthcare insurance charade with his distinctive Arlo Guthrie looks and John Prine wordsmithing.
So, of course, America turned a timely folk ditty into a political debate about right vs. left sensibilities of justice and greed.
United We Pay, United We Die
Welles tells a comprehensive story in two minutes. That’s the power of folk poetry with rhythm.
With a sandpaper scratchy voice and a rolling fingerpicking melody, Welles looks reality in the face and presents the facts for the public to see. It’s a quick rundown of the lowdown.
Nobody likes medical insurance costs or the companies that profit from denying procedures to proudly paying customers. Ask any American about dealing with health care coverage and the temperature rises fast.
The song starts off with the basic health plan:
no the procedure that yer needing aint the cost effective route and only two percent of people end up winnin a dispute
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are caught between hard work and a hard place. Medical insurance is usually tied to your employers’ program, so if you quit working, you start stressing out about the cost of sickness and injuries.
they own the pharmacies and alotta the meds they should start buying graves to sell us when we’re all dead
In terms of health care, Americans live like lab rats.
They are captured by a system that will bankrupt them with one catastrophic accident. They are badgered by health care providers to justify medicines and treatments paid for in their insurance plans.
They wait for the industry to approve their chances for wellness.
The American healthcare racket is a national sin.
there aint no u in united health there aint no me in the company there aint no us in the private trust there’s hardly humans in humanity
Taking on Issues With Popular Wisdom
It’s a pleasant surprise when a new songwriter walks out of the woods and delivers a fresh protest song.
Though Jesse Welles just popped up on my radar, he’s been true to the cause for a decade or so.
Despite his “aw shucks” country boy appearance, Welles is a witty wordsmith that tackles the hard stuff and lulls you into a lullaby state of social consciousness.
It’s a refreshing change of pace with a smirk and a wink of an eye.
Here are just a few more samples of his quirky songs:
"Cancer" (2024)
"War Isn't Murder" (2024)
"Fentanyl" (2024)
"Walmart" (2024)
“Amazon Santa Claus” (2024)
"Whistle Boeing" (2024)
Sometimes folk artists just fade away when the spotlight turns off. Let’s see if Jesse Welles can stay around little longer. Check out his social media links below:
Coda
It’s odd to be happy about song topics such as capitalism, fentanyl, war and health care. But I’m glad to hear these songs from a millennial perspective.
We Boomers are far too long gone to be effective in the process. We are far more likely to be part of the problem, rather than a participant of the counter-revolution.
As the year winds down, the world awaits in anticipation of the next one.
I suspect Jesse Welles will harvest a bumper crop of protest medleys.
[Note: All lyrics courtesy of the artist and publisher.]
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