Photo by Bingham X/Courtesy of Orange Peel Moses
Audio By Carbonatix
Plenty of artists have released songs decrying the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shock troops in Minneapolis and many other communities across the country, including Bruce Springsteen and enough other notable provocateurs to fill an anti-ICE Spotify playlist. Perhaps the least likely entertainer to raise his voice in outrage is Orange Peel Moses, a Denver performer associated with clever musical parodies — although he prefers to label the tunes “derivative” — and his yeoman efforts to preserve the art of the singing telegram, which he’ll deliver to the person of your choice for prices starting at $195.
OPM’s contribution to the dialogue surrounding the immigration-related crackdowns is entitled “1984 (ICE Out),” and it’s definitely no joke. The salvo merges the melody and lyrics of “1999,” the classic by Minneapolis native Prince, with allusions to George Orwell’s famed dystopian novel. Sample couplets include “When I woke up this morning/Another person killed today,,” “I wish I was dreamin’ as I write this/Fascism escalatin’ fast,” and “Why does two-thousand-26 feel like 1984/Today we’re gonna protest ’cause we can’t take anymore.”
At the same time, though, the song qualifies as a genuine bop as opposed to a simple blast of anger, and that makes sense given OPM’s dedication to love and happiness — topics at the center of a romantic-poetry event he’s taking part in on Valentine’s Day. “This protest song is more hopeful, joyous, celebratory,” he says. “We want to give people hope, because joy is an act of resistance.”
The man born George Peele has spent his career trying to brighten spirits. A Coloradan since he was nine months old (he was born on a San Francisco military base), he dates his romance with show biz to kindergarten, when he was cast as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in his school’s Christmas pageant. By third grade, he was writing poetry, and a talent show at a church camp in Estes Park when he was fourteen set the stage for his nascent attempts at songwriting a couple of years later. The pianist and saxophone player began performing at coffee shops while a student at the University of Colorado Boulder, but his path was truly set after he met a belly dancer who worked for a singing telegram agency. “My first paid gig was on April 20, 2004 — my birthday,” he recalls, “and I kept doing them. The more I said yes, the more opportunities I got.”
Over the years that followed, he expanded his repertoire to include stilt-walking, go-go dancing, character-acting at festivals, mascot portrayals and modeling for drawing classes, plus writing about creative-arts topics that appealed to his wicked sense of humor.
“I wouldn’t have considered myself a prankster growing up,” he admits. “But I think through singing telegrams, I have very much embraced this trickster spirit. Singing telegrams have different objectives, but many of them are a bit of a prank. They’re usually a surprise at workplaces or businesses, and even when they’re super-sweet and sentimental, they’re often infused with a little bit of prankster energy.”
But while OPM is a big fan of impish silliness, he stresses that he pays close attention to current events — and after he chanced to hear “1999” a few weeks ago, “I realized I could make a derivative song out of it that could be about politics now,” he recalls. “I thought it could be really powerful, since Prince was from the epicenter of all this heinous ICE activity. It was an idea that just had to be done, and the experience of writing it was very easy. It’s almost like it wrote itself.”
Check out the song here:
The positive feedback “1984 (ICE Out)” has generated thus far hasn’t convinced OPM to entirely change his style, however. His next recording, set for release in the coming days, is a version of “Grow Old With You,” from the 1998 Adam Sandler film The Wedding Singer.
And then there’s that Valentine’s Day event, dubbed The Poetry Brothel Denver’s DEVOTION.
“The Poetry Brothel is an immersive poetry cabaret,” he explains. “The organization began in New York, and now there are chapters in several other cities, including Denver. The show is modeled after bordellos. I’m emceeing and performing.” He’ll do so alongside poets such as MirIam, Stina French and Aerik Francis, all delivering one-on-one readings of original works in private spaces within Prismajic Arts at the Colorado Mills Mall. A stage show is also part of the festivities.
The event will be the last to take place at the venue, which is scheduled to move out of Colorado Mills shortly after the final kiss is planted. But Orange Peel Moses is trying his best to find positives within a negative situation, just as he does in “1984 (ICE Out).”
“With the barrage of negative news we experience on a daily basis if we’re tuned into any kind of news channel, it’s often hard to find hope and joy in dark times,” he concedes. “But it’s absolutely essential that we do. If we don’t find hope and joy, they’ve already won.”
The Poetry Brothel Denver’s DEVOTION, 8 p.m. Saturday, February 14, Prismajic Arts, 14500 West Colfax Avenue, Suite 359B, Lakewood, 21+, 303-590-1515, $48.80-$145.
