THE BALLAD OF GUITEAU
Come all ye Christians
And learn from a sinner:
Charlie Guiteau
Bound and determined
He'd wind up a winner
Charlie had dreams
That he wouldn't let go
Said, "Nothing to it
I want it, I'll do it
I'm Charles J. Guiteau.
The Ballad Of Guiteau - Assassins (Stephen Sondheim)
Watching Netflix’s excellent new series Death by Lightning, about the 20th President of the United States, James Garfield, and his assassin, Charles Guiteau, I was reminded that America’s political history is almost as famous for its assassins as for its presidents. The two seem to go hand in glove — twin representatives of the American dream, moving in lockstep with one another: the shadow ambition of society’s outsiders stalking the ambition of those insiders who hold the highest office in the land. Except in this instance, Garfield was also an outsider of sorts, who became President almost by accident after being selected as a compromise candidate at the Republican National Convention in 1880, even though his intention in attending the event had been to nominate someone else entirely.
This well-researched series offers a historically grounded account of two men whose fates become intertwined through a moment of madness by Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen), who is far more desirous of fame and power — ironically — than the more power-resistant Garfield (Michael Shannon), who was a political anomaly at the time he took control of the White House. The dogged Guiteau, however, is driven by the desperate hope of being recognised by the men in Washington and invited to take a seat at their table — though he is repeatedly and humiliatingly shunned with each new, deluded attempt.
Of course, like many assassins before and after him, Guiteau eventually snaps, leading to his shooting of Garfield in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. (now the site of the National Gallery of Art), only six months into the President’s first term in office.
Watching this historical miniseries reminded me of the great song “The Ballad of Guiteau” featured in Sondheim’s musical revue Assassins, about the lineage of killers throughout America’s history who achieve immortality by way of the gun. The song comically captures the defiant, sociopathic optimism of Guiteau and his indefatigable nature even after shooting Garfield, and incorporates part of a hymn he actually sang — “I am going to the Lordy” — before his hanging.
Perhaps Sondheim enjoyed the theatricality of the scene at the District of Columbia Jail on June 30, 1882, where Guiteau’s showman-like self-importance was on full display delivering final grandiose statements before a small crowd. The finality of the trapdoor, which silences his final words as his body kicks and twitches brings to mind a similar trapdoor used in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd — another societal outsider seeking a demented form of justice.
I am going to the Lordy...
Charlie Guiteau
Drew a crowd to his trial
Led them in prayer
Said, "I killed Garfield
I'll make no denial
I was just acting
For Someone up there
The Lord's my employer
And now He's my lawyer
So do what you dare."
Charlie said, "Hell
If I am guilty
Then God is as well."
But God was acquitted
And Charlie committed
Until he should hang
Still, he sang:
Look on the bright side
Not on the black side
Get off your backside
Shine those shoes!
This is your golden
Opportunity:
You are the lightning
And you're news!
Wait 'til you see tomorrow
Tomorrow you won't be ignored!
You could be pardoned
You could be president—
Look on the bright side...
I am going to the Lordy...
Charlie Guiteau
Had a crowd at the scaffold—
I am so glad...
—Filled up the square
So many people
That tickets were raffled
Shine on his shoes
Charlie mounted the stair
Said, "Never sorrow
Just wait 'til tomorrow
Today isn't fair
Don't despair..."
Look on the bright side
Look on the bright side
Sit on the right side...
Of the...
I am going to the Lordy
I am so glad!
I am going to the Lordy
I am so glad!
I have unified my party
I have saved my country
I shall be remembered!
I am going to the Lordy...
Look on the bright side
Not on the sad side
Inside the bad side
Something's good!
This is your golden
Opportunity:
You've been a preacher—
Yes, I have!
You've been an author—
Yes, I have!
You've been a killer—
Yes, I have!
You could be an angel—
Yes, I could!
Just wait until tomorrow
Tomorrow they'll all climb aboard!
What if you never
Got to be president?
You'll be remembered—
Look on the bright side—
Trust in tomorrow—
And the Lord!