Song of the Day: Life Support #1

So I missed yesterday's song of the day because I was pulling a double at work and by the time I got home the last thought I had was updating the blog.  I have a feeling this may happen more often than not by the time school starts up again in September, but I'll do my best to make sure I get these up here because I do enjoy doing it.  Today's song comes from a show that I do not particularly like.  Much of my dislike from the show comes from how overly loved and worshiped it is.  I also despise it because every musical theater fan in my age group either points to this and Wicked as their favorite show and I'm sorry if that's the best you can come up with... well just shame on you.  There is much better theater out there.  I will give Rent some credit, however, because at the time of its release it was groundbreaking.  It's music spoke to a generation of New Yorkers dealing with the AIDS crisis, homelessness, drugs, and untimely artistic ambitions.  It's music was powerful and a real first for Broadway at the time.  I always point to Rent as the ultimate downfall of the Broadway musical and why we are constantly barraged with so called"rock" musicals all the time now.  But back in 1996 Rent was a masterpiece in it's own right and it rightfully won the Pulitzer for Drama.  The film, which this clip comes from, is a train wreck.  It tried to use as much of the original cast as possible, which was a huge mistake considering they were all about 10 years too old for the part.  Couple this with Chris Columbus's uninspired and pedestrian direction plus the fact that the film was not even shot it in New York, what you end up with is a pretty ho-hum musical.  And a film version of Rent should have been anything but Ho-Hum.  Still this clip in particular is pretty moving and does capture the spirit of the original show.  Enjoy.