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Speaking of inspirational…. I listened to the Dead Kennedys on the drive to work this morning. That really gets you going. Where the hell are all the punk bands now? With all the shit we are neck deep in these days, we could use some smart, angry music out there to wise the kids up a bit. Maybe I am just out of touch, and the high school kids have got some great, angry, protest stuff they listen to while slinking around avoiding gym class – I hope so. They ought to be angry, everyone seems to be screwing up their future world pretty good these days.
Here are some lyrical selections that could be especially apt:
POTSHOT HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD
Hey! / Yo! / We’re the United States Marines / We know you’ve all been killing each other / For at least two thousand years / But we’re here now / To protect the family / Of Christian heroin warlords (maybe that should just be Capitalist Oil Warlords now) / Most friendly to the west / So you knock off this fighting / Or we’ll tell mom / Ever notice news / Is staged like TV wrestling shows / With Reagans and Khaddafis cast / As cartoon villains and heroes / Or those wildlife “documentaries” / Where a lion from a zoo / Kills a deer tied down ahead of time / “At the perfect camera angle” / When lemmings balk at dying for Disney / They’re just hurled off the cliff / We are gathered here today / To take photos of the president / Pretending to mourn these brave young men / Who came home from Beirut / Gift-wrapped in body bags / A truck bomb blew them to bits / We knew they were sitting ducks / We sacrificed ‘em, Aztec style / So we could use their dead meat / To cook up war fever back home / So make sure you take lots of pictures / And slant you news on our way / Just like in Wild Kingdom / We first tied down the prey / We want people boiling for revenge / In their living rooms / So we can go play shoot-em-up / Anywhere we choose / And our backers can cash in / Without the public asking questions
I recommend you either go listen to Bedtime for Democracy right now, or just read this whole page of lyrics while strumming an out of tune guitar and pounding your head against a wall.
And here – an old favorite:
WHERE DO YA DRAW THE LINE
Seems like the more I think I know / The more I find I don’t / Every answer opens up so many questions / Anarchy sounds good to me / Then someone asks, “Who’d fix the sewers?” / “Would the rednecks just play king / Of the neighborhood?” / How many liberators / Really want to be dictators / Every theory has its holes / When real life steps in / So how do we feed / And make room for / All the people crowded on our earth / And transfer all that wealth / From the rich to those who need it? / Where Do Ya Draw the Line / Where Do Ya Draw the Line / I’m not telling you / I’m asking you / Ever notice hard line radicals / Can go on star trips too / Where no one’s pure and right / Except themselves / “I’m cleansed of the system” / (‘Cept when my amp needs electric power) / Or – “The Party Line says No. / Feminists can’t wear fishnets” / You wanna help stop war? / Well, we reject your application / You crack too many jokes / And you eat meat / What better way to turn people off / Than to twist ideas for change / Into one more church / That forgets we’re all human beings / Where do ya draw the line? / In Toronto someone blew up / A cruise missile warhead plant / 10 slightly hurt, 4 million dollars damage / Why not destroy private property / When it’s used against you and me / Is that violence / – Or self-defense? / You tell me / Where Do Ya Draw the Line / I’m not telling you, I’m asking you / Where Do Ya Draw the Line / I’m not telling you, I’m asking you / Where Do You Draw the Line?
I think I am going to start a band now called Where the Fuck is Punk? If you want to join, come by my house and lets do it.
