An early attempt at a political song with Shelf Life and our first original song written together.
'Vonnegut's Blues' was written as a (loosely disguised) diatribe about the Bush administration, inspired by a piece written by the late American author Kurt Vonnegut, who was still alive when the song was written. The original article that prompted the song was discovered on Common Dreams, where the writer bemoaned the state of his country under Bush Junior. What got him through such times was music - always having good tunes to take away the pain - and that was the one thing that couldn't be taken away from him. A sentiment I couldn't help but agree with.
...'No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.'...
The opening lines check Rumsfeld, 'him at the top' would be Junior himself and 'Number Two' bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain Mr Cheney. The chorus takes on the idea of peak oil and implores the audience to speak out about the parlous state of the future. The song was an attempt to write something quite simple and direct, lyrically speaking, instead of cloaking the message in elusive imagery.
I seemed to have had the opening lines knocking around my head for years and finally found a song that they'd fit. Long after it had been written and performed a number of times, I found myself one day singing along to an old Dylan tune. To my embarrassment, I found that I'd almost exactly lifted them straight from 'A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall' ('...the executioner's face is always well hidden...')!
Should Dylan and Vonnegut therefore be listed as co-writers (pretty cool names to share your writing credits with at least)? Let's just say that they provided some useful 'inspiration' for the song!
The song itself can be heard on our MySpace page, and purchased from
. Vonnegut's book 'A Man Without A Country' is also a fine read.
'Vonnegut's Blues' was written as a (loosely disguised) diatribe about the Bush administration, inspired by a piece written by the late American author Kurt Vonnegut, who was still alive when the song was written. The original article that prompted the song was discovered on Common Dreams, where the writer bemoaned the state of his country under Bush Junior. What got him through such times was music - always having good tunes to take away the pain - and that was the one thing that couldn't be taken away from him. A sentiment I couldn't help but agree with.
...'No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.'...
The opening lines check Rumsfeld, 'him at the top' would be Junior himself and 'Number Two' bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain Mr Cheney. The chorus takes on the idea of peak oil and implores the audience to speak out about the parlous state of the future. The song was an attempt to write something quite simple and direct, lyrically speaking, instead of cloaking the message in elusive imagery.
I seemed to have had the opening lines knocking around my head for years and finally found a song that they'd fit. Long after it had been written and performed a number of times, I found myself one day singing along to an old Dylan tune. To my embarrassment, I found that I'd almost exactly lifted them straight from 'A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall' ('...the executioner's face is always well hidden...')!
Should Dylan and Vonnegut therefore be listed as co-writers (pretty cool names to share your writing credits with at least)? Let's just say that they provided some useful 'inspiration' for the song!
The song itself can be heard on our MySpace page, and purchased from
. Vonnegut's book 'A Man Without A Country' is also a fine read.Vonnegut's Blues
The executioner’s kept hidden
He cuts from the bottom and the middle
No matter how bad it gets
We’ll have music
No matter where they take us
We’ll still have our songs
We’re on a flatout week
Until the oil supply peaks
The future’s looking bleak
So it’s your turn to speak
Him at the top is an accident
Dad and friends put him there for revenge
No matter how bad it gets
We’ll have music
No matter where they take us
We’ll still have our songs
We’re on a flatout week
Until the oil supply peaks
The future’s looking bleak
So it’s your turn to speak
Number Two is watching me and you
There’s not a great deal he’ll let us do
No matter how bad it get
We’ll have music
No matter where they take us
We’ll still have our songs
We’re on a flatout week
Until the oil supply peaks
The future’s looking bleak
So it’s your turn to speak
The executioner’s kept hidden
He cuts from the bottom and the middle
No matter how bad it gets
We’ll have music
No matter where they take us
We’ll still have our songs
We’re on a flatout week
Until the oil supply peaks
The future’s looking bleak
So it’s your turn to speak
Him at the top is an accident
Dad and friends put him there for revenge
No matter how bad it gets
We’ll have music
No matter where they take us
We’ll still have our songs
We’re on a flatout week
Until the oil supply peaks
The future’s looking bleak
So it’s your turn to speak
Number Two is watching me and you
There’s not a great deal he’ll let us do
No matter how bad it get
We’ll have music
No matter where they take us
We’ll still have our songs
We’re on a flatout week
Until the oil supply peaks
The future’s looking bleak
So it’s your turn to speak
