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Sen. Hatch's song reduced Sen. Franken to tears

January 8, 2010, 5:33 pm by Michael O'Brien

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) had his new Democratic colleague, Sen. Al Franken (Minn.), in tears with his singing.

Franken told HometownSource.com that, earlier this year, a song written by Hatch about their late colleague, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), was so beautiful that it made Franken cry.

Franken said that during his first week in the Senate he'd invited Hatch, a longtime singer and lyricist, over to hear some of his senior colleague's tunes.

“And the first one was just a beautiful song sung by an old blues guy — Orrin doesn’t sing,” Franken said. “And it was like a demo. Done very simply. But it was a song about Teddy."

The song, which incorporated a sailing metaphor, sparked an emotional moment.

“I got a little bit — a little misty there,” Franken told the website. “And I just started to cry."

Hatch, who was a close friend of Kennedy's in what was an unusual political odd couple, delivered a eulogy for Kennedy during a memorial service after the veteran senator died in August.

The moment led Franken to help write a bridge for the song, which soon brought the pair of him and Hatch to laughter, the Minnesota senator said.

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