This is a fan favorite and probably the funkiest song I’ve recorded yet. It’s a simple cautionary tale of how celebrity, glamour, ambition and just-plain inauthenticity can twist a human soul. I hit similar thematic territory in The Lady Vanishes, but I’ll talk about that later.
I played this song for a group of Nashville music professionals 4 or 5 years ago as part of a songwriting contest. Not only did they not like it, one of them commented that she would have preferred it if there had been an actual point to the song, instead of just stringing together words that sounded cool. I maintain that this says much more about Nashville than it says about me.
Moving sharply into the political spectrum, we have this conspiratorial little ditty. I wrote it way, way back in ‘91 or so, but it seemed so appropriate to where we (as a nation) were heading in 2003 that I re-recorded it (with a slight lyrical update). This was during the period that political blogs were just finding their feet, when Daily Kos was just one of the crowd, and I actually got mentioned by Atrios! Twice! (Wow, he even called me “my good friend.” I should use that in the quote file.)
Maybe someone can help me with this, but I remember being distinctly peeved after hearing a John Wesley Harding song that made a quick reference to the “government literally took my vocal chords” idea, but I don’t remember which song it was in. For the record, my song came out first, okay?
(UPDATE 1/23: FOUND it! The song is called “The Truth” and it’s on Harding’s 1992 album “Why we Fight”. After re-reading the words, it’s clear that we were working from the same page. I won’t claim to have had the idea much earlier than JWH, but I promise I didn’t steal it.)
And if there’s anyone reading who has doubts that we live in the authoritarian world depicted in this song, I have four words for you: “Don’t tase me, bro!”
