A musician with Fox Cities roots is feeling the Bern all right. So much so that Appleton native Mel Flannery and her husband, Danny Sher, who live together in New York, put their talents into "Hold Me Closer, Bernie Sanders," a song that's a Sanders-centric take on the Elton John classic "Tiny Dancer."

Flannery, Sher and a few friends — who for this venture have called themselves Punned It — wrote and recorded the song on February 7, 2016, "when everybody else was watching the Super Bowl," Flannery said. They timed its release for after the New Hampshire primary. "We wanted to give those feeling the Bern something to celebrate with," Flannery said.

Here's a sampling of the lyrics:

You’re the closer, Bernie Sanders
Fix the wage gap, schools and highways
End the school-to-prison pipeline
And bring the troops back home today



Punned It also features Alex P. Wernquest, Lindsey Poleck and Wesley Nichols. The whole thing, video included, came together in a span of 48 hours. It was recorded straight to tape at Wernquest's Basement Floods studio in Catskill, New York.

Flannery, an Appleton East High School grad, fronts Mixtape (dubbed "a cover band for hipsters") and also leads the original band Mel Flannery Trucking Co. The idea for the song came after a Mixtape gig. "Tiny Dancer" was on and Sher sang along, subbing the presidential candidate's name in the chorus. It got some laughs and they ran with it from there. "It's a tribute to both Bernie and Elton John and made out of love and adoration for both," Flannery said.

It just might be the best take on "Tiny Dancer" since Phoebe Buffay's "Hold Me Close, Young Tony Danza."

Back to Headlines