CHLOE KOWALYK
Special to The Leader
The term “POTUS” is an acronym for “President of the United States,” a fitting title for David W. Jacobson’s presidential perspective-themed album.
Jacobson’s album highlights many of the lesser-known U.S. presidents and presents each song as a first-person narrative from that president.
The album, consisting of 11 different songs, highlights several aspects of American history.
Jacobson has created music since he was just 13 years old, writing the beginnings of lyrics and chords during middle and high school.
Raised in New Jersey, Jacobson explained that music has always been “a part of growing up.”
Jacobson said that he saw Bruce Springsteen in concert as a kid, and that “guitars were central back then.”
This is a huge part of where his inspiration to make music came from.
He decided to write the songs in the album because he, “realized how little he knew about American history apart from the highlights,” and recognizes that “there were a lot of gaps in [his] knowledge of American history.”
Listening to “POTUS” can help listeners gain a new perspective on American history and the presidents that were a part of it.
Jacobson started writing the songs back in 2015 and started by listening to podcasts about American history.
While creating “POTUS,” he hoped to make his music more personable and aimed to have a musical theatre-like feel to the music.
When listening to the music in the album, listeners will gain a unique perspective on our country’s history.
Jacobson said that he wrote the songs both to educate his listeners on American history, and as a fun side project for him to work on.
He has made a few other albums while working on this one.
Writing the songs has been a long process. For instance, Jacobson wrote the song describing Nixon’s impeachment before Trump was even elected into office.
He also had fun writing the music. “1799” is a parody of Prince’s song “1999,” and “Crying at Your Grave” is a “jilted love song.”
“I really wanted to have a human element that you can take as something other than what it is,” said Jacobson.
According to Jacobson, the strongest song on the album is “Shanties.” It is told from the perspective of Herbert Hoover, as he complains that the run-down towns in cities are called “Hoovervilles.”
However, Jacobson said he has the most fun performing the song “Nothing Left to Do,” which is about President Franklin Pierce, who was terrible at his job.
In preparation for reelection, Pierce’s party declined his request to re-run, choosing another candidate to run in his place. As a response, Pierce stated, “There’s nothing left to do but to get drunk.”
Possibly more intriguing than the music, is the album art. The cover features four U.S. presidents, much like the cover of The Beatles’ album, “Meet the Beatles,” depicts each Beatle.
The “real kicker,” as Jacobson explains it, is that the four presidents featured on the album cover aren’t even discussed in any of the songs on the album.
The feature presidents are also lesser-known, and Jacobson explains that he did this to, “give them some representation.”
Jacobson is a solo artist through and through. He said that while playing in a band has great social aspects, playing solo makes it, “easier to do things on your own.”
Jacobson wants people to know that anyone interested in American history will surely get a kick out of his album.
The album is closely related to a singer-songwriter folk genre, but also hints at musical theatre.
Personally, I really enjoyed listening to “POTUS,” and I’d recommend the song “1799.”
I feel that Jacobson has a unique voice and the fact that he creates the music on his own makes the album even more impressive.
Many of the songs are fun and lighthearted, and even teach the listener an often undiscussed aspect of American history. Anyone interested in Jacobson’s album can listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and visit http://davidwj.com/ for an explanation of lyrics and access to his other albums.