I was perfectly happy writing songs about girls and stuff, but once every hundred or so songs, I would remember that this was supposed to be a political band, like The Clash. Well, sort of like The Clash, but stuck on a "Train In Vain" loop most of the time. Truth was, we were as much of a 'political band' as this is a 'political blog'` -- I write about politics when I bloody well please. (Or when I really, really want a link from Kate.)
Truth was, my political views were rapidly changing, inspired by reading The Gulag Archipelago and the eye-popping stupidity of the Left. Also, I was starting to secretly admire one Ronald Wilson Reagan. He might have been a genocidal maniac on the loose, but any kind of genocidal maniac who can come up with a line like:
I have left strict orders to be awakened in the event of an emergency, even if I'm in the middle of a cabinet meeting.
is my kind of genocidal maniac.
But appearances must be kept up, so I sat down to write a political song. Problem was, I wasn't really following politics at the time, so I used one of the standard templates (available from your finer music stores), cheap anti-Americanism. Thus I chose for my topic the most terrible atrocity of the 20th century. Well, OK, maybe Auschwitz topped it for sheer numbers. But I mean, it was worse than when the cappuccino machine in the Employee's Lounge broke, if you can believe it. At least that was the CBC's opinion, and if you can't trust the CBC . . .
I refer, of course, to the House Un-American Activities Committee, and its hearings into Communist infiltration into Hollywood, which eventually led to the blacklisting (by the major studios, not the government) of a handful of hack screenwriters and other bit-players. (And anybody who willingly served as a propagandist for the Soviet Union, is, by definition, a hack.)
Accuracy not being my strong point (which would come in handy in my later career in blogging), I seem to have conflated the H.U.A.C. with Senator Joe McCarthy and other playas of the era. I believe I even worked in a reference to Harry Truman's controversial loyalty oath. In short, I didn't have a clue what I was talking (well, more like controlled shouting) about. But it all works out in the end: America is Evil. Who you gonna believe, George Clooney, Woody Allen, and me? Or your own lyin' eyes?
So, lyrically, I would dismiss this as uninformed and trite. Fortunately, I have quite a high tolerance for stupid lyrics, having written so many of them in the past.
Musically, though, it works quite well. The guitars are appropriately snarly, the vocals are a good fit, and we maintained a consistent rhythmic punch throughout.
========================[Verse]
Well we had him up last week
And he said that you had lied
He delivered your entire conspiracy
And all its alibisH.U.A.C.
H.U.A.C.
-------------------------------------------------[Verse]
We knew you was a traitor
You wouldn't take the oath
For reasons of security
We've got you by the throatH.U.A.C.
H.U.A.C.-------------------------------------------------
[Chorus]Congress of contempt
Questions loaded for bear
If you ain't one of us
You`re gonna freeze out thereYou can take the Fifth Amendment
You can fuck * yourself
We can fire the librarians
And all the books on the shelfThere's a new agency
(and its name is)
H.U.A.C.-------------------------------------------------
[Instrumental]
-------------------------------------------------
[Chorus]
-------------------------------------------------
[Bridge]
-------------------------------------------------[Verse]
This is bitter war we wage
And you're cryin' for your lawyer
Your indignation amuses us
We`re gonna destroy yaH.U.A.C.
H.U.A.C.========================
If only there were some four-lettered acronym for a government agency that represents a real and existential danger to our hard-won freedoms. What's that, you say? There is?
So here's an offer to all those brave Canadian rockers out there. You can have the song for free, and I'll write new lyrics for it, tailored to today's realities. Instead of railing at some dusty old, long-ago mothballed quasi-court, in a different country, you can be at the cutting edge of today's political climate.
'Cause it's all about speaking truth to power. Right?
Right?
-------------------------------------------------
* Apologies for the language. Jes' keepin' it real for the homies in my crib. Or something like that.
-------------------------------------------------
H.U.A.C. Warning: Embedded QuickTime audio.
I finally found an alternate site that seems to work most of the time: H.U.A.C. Warning: Embedded QuickTime audio.
Previous:
Walk Away
Fashion Patrol
Life's Embarrassing Moments
Cry Me A River
I Got A Girl
The Very Last Man On Earth
Golddigger
Hangin' In The Park
Just So You Know
Caught By Computer
Me & J.B.
By The Lake
Dirty Little Secret
Fire In The Waxworks
Warning Shots
The Chase
Just Like A Woman