Clueless songs and artists

"On our trip to England I noticed something obscene
People still actually give a shit about the Queen"

and aha! Wikipedia has details

it's based on an actual flag Francis Scott Key saw flying at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. wiki's got it covered

Even the tiniest bit of research would likely have prompted Paul, Delores and Jim to go 'Err, maybe I'm a bit out of my depth here.'
Proof, if proof were needed, that the circular, useless nature of sectarian violence is nowhere near as terrifying as the circular, useless nature of Bono's influence on 'issue' rock.

"But we know frogs go (CLAP) sha la la la la,
they DON'T GO mmh mmmh blahhhhhh"!!!!

to which you could add whatever Gang of four song it is that has the chorus 'H-Block/ Long Kesh' and Sham 69's 'Ulster'

I agree that "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" is a bit of a one-dimensional take, but for the record it predates Bono's recording career by something close to a decade. I'd say that means it's Paul McCartney's circular, useless influence on 'issue' rock that's in play but I don't think that thesis really holds much water. Is John Lennon ultimately to blame? Dylan?

Incidentally, I love "England Swings" and continue to picture England in its jolly tones even after having been there twice. "Bobbies on bicycles, two by two" - that's just how it is! "Westminister Abbey, the Tower, Big Ben" - those things are sure there!

see there once was this parochial style of music in the states called COUNTRY and Roger Miller was not only a gifted practioner of same but something of a SATIRIST who poked fun at the genre he worked in. plus there was a lot of media hype in the mid 60s about "swinging London" and four long-haired musi...ah fukk it.

Jeru talking about "the Sixteenth Chapel" or the clip that "killed Noriega."

Daz or Kurupt calling himself "the black Idi Amin."

Canibus and Common: "I'm your worst nightmare squared. That's double for n**** who ain't mathematically aware."

They're fine if your worst nightmare is the number 2, though!

AH, HA HA!

Their heart was in the right place and it's an epic song. But MFK was killed in the evening, not the "early morning" of April 4.

Yeah, I was just thirteen
You might say I was a musical proverbial knee-high
When I heard a couple new-sounding tunes on the tubes
And they blasted me sky-high
And the record man said every one
Is a yellow Sun Record from Nashville

Errrrrrrrrr, that should be yellow Sun Records from Memphis of course

(Not trying to argue - I just don't know half of the lyrics. I do like that song, tho.)

Interesting about "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." I didn't know that we usually sing just the chorus.

"Everybody's gone surfin, surfin USA"

So, he knows they aren't here. And he knows where they have gone.

...How can I go on
When every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus?

No, Billy, it's a helium nucleus.

But people *do* still give a shit! Witness lots of flag-waving mooks out on the street at jubilee/trooping the colour/general royal walkabout type things.

(unless, of course, you think that the cluelessness is them thinking that this is obscene, in which case, erm...)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002TWJ.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

that was by lester bangs, and can be found in main lines, blood feasts, and bad taste: a lester bangs reader. and yeah, lester pretty much nails it.

can't for the life of me remember which songs ("Holly" is a good guess for republica, but i haven't played the cd in ages . . . and i think i actually sold the Sunscreem on account of the lyrics being so awful)

Except that the desert environment in the song is pretty removed from the mountains of Kashmir and the music seems to reference Arabic music more than Indian or Pakistani music. They'd said themselves that they were inspired by their travels in Morocco. I still think it's a great song of course. (And I've never been to Kashmir either.)

When I did a seminar presentation on this song [extreme and potentially confusing simplification ahead], my music and pomo prof suggested that the sense of frustration in the song (deriving from the way that, in the main riff, when the guitars [in 3] reach their climax the drums [in 4] have already started their cycle again so the climax is never really attained) actually kind of undercuts the lyrics by bringing home the inability to ever truly connect with or know 'the East' or more broadly, the 'other,' which is maybe the central feeling in the song. So the song functions as its own self-critique in a weird way.

Add to that "Beach Baby"'s trip to San Jose.

More dubious placement: Olivia Newton-John claiming Nashville heritage and a fondness for good Kentucky whiskey in "Please Mister Please," Grace Slick attempting to apprehend skater culture on "Skateboard," and the legendary BJ Snowden immortalizing "Canada." (Pilot did the same, but far less amusingly.)

http://idisk.mac.com/mysticalbeast/Public/SmartGirls.mp3

Which is clueless on many levels.

http://idisk.mac.com/mysticalbeast/Public/SmartGirls.mp3

Yeah, there's a rock/metal tradition of using vague "oriental" tropes and scales to stand in for the whole eastern world. Led Zep are not alone in taking that approach, and I'm sure they were well aware they didn't understand their subject, or did so only superficially. It's pretty self conscious in its orientalist approach. Great song, though.

I initially read that as 'porno prof' and assumed his thesis had been about the use of wah-wah in Johnny Wadd films.

John Webster was one of the best there was
He was the author of two major tragedies
The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfior
The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfior"

"Don't Stop Believin'", by Journey, references a "South Detroit", which would place the protagonist's birthplace in Windsor, Ontario, Canada...