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Nearly four decades ago, it was a commercial promoting visits to the DIA because "you gotta have art."
Now it could be an anthem for museum loyalists defending it against assaults by Detroit bankruptcy creditors.
If you've never loved art,
We're gonna show you how
"When the little things in life get you low, you ought to see van Gogh."
That lyric and others are sung to the tune of "You've Gotta Have Heart" from "Damn Yankees," a 1955 Broadway musical and 1958 movie.
We've got art,
Miles and miles and miles of art
When the little things in life get you low,
You ought to see van Gogh
OK, original songwriters Richard Adler and Jerry Ross might roll over (for miles and miles and miles), but their lyrics are so of the moment that a YouTuber named Keith Norman posted the spot. It's being shared locally on social media and Detroit Jalopnik, where Aaron Foley writes Wednesday: " 'You gotta have art!' just seems so timely now, doesn't it?"
Yes, it does -- a song fit for figurative barricades around our museum.
