Mentioned at the end of my previous post and well worth attention of its own: a beautifully worded and spirited anthem in praise of the good ol’ U.S. of A. — “I’m American”.
If we ever did retire the beloved Star-Spangled Banner in favor of a new national anthem, “I’m American” would be seriously in the running for my vote.
Lyrics, and an Independence Day dedication by Stuck Mojo lead singer Lord Nelson, below:
I’m an American related to all colors of brethren
Priests and Pastors and Prophets and Reverends
Divided we fall, united we stand — together, man
In this cultural melting pot there’s nothing better than
this land of the free and the home of the brave
populated by ancestors, immigrants and slaves
who met early graves, so we could see brighter days
and we could proudly praise and raise
the stars and stripes as Americans
Hate me, blame me
You can’t shame me
Come and stand with me
I’m American
I’m an American born in these states united
where racial discrimination keeps us so divided
Well we’ve got free speech, so I won’t be quiet
We’ve got a lot of problems here, man, I won’t deny it
But ain’t another place that I’d rather be
than in this land of great opportunity
where we can be anything that we want to be
so until the day I D-I-E
I stand tall as an American
Hate me, blame me
You can’t shame me
Come and stand with me
I’m American
Lord Nelson’s dedication:
On July 4, 1776 America adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring independence from Great Britain. We have celebrated this historical event every year since that day. Today we live in an America that is a diverse melting pot of cultures, a place where so many races and faces of different color call home. Every July 4th, we celebrate freedom. We celebrate our strong and prideful disposition and unwavering love for country. Oh, what a feeling when we’re at an event and we see the red, white and blue flying. Americans engulfed in patriotism and love for fellow man.
From the fireworks to the barbecues, baseball games to swimming pools. We congregate and enjoy each others company like one big family. On this day we share a common thought of prosperity and family values. What it really means to be American. All having that desire to achieve the American dream.
The very reason that millions around the globe long to be a part of this great society. From the smallest towns to the largest cities, we all stand tall and proudly say “I’m American!” On this July 4, 2007, The Stuck Mojo Family would like to salute those troops who continue to fight for our freedom and way of life, and we would also like to praise and remember those who have fought and died for our beautiful country and for the principles that it stands for.
United we stand. Divided we fall. God bless America.
Amen!
At long last, musicians with the perspective and cojones to call out and confront the hostile homicidal intent and raw evil of Islamic Jihad, straight up. This music video by Stuck Mojo is a must-see. If only our leaders exhibited such boldly defiant convictions.
(Warning: contains some fittingly disturbing images and, er, “unsavory” language)
Lyrics below and on the band’s website. A deeply indebted tip of the hat to my good Twitter buddy @ConservativeLA for pointing these guys out. For me, finally seeing something like this makes conspicuous the huge gaping hole and dearth of similar material in the music (and, more broadly, arts/creative) world, where those who’ve taken it upon themselves to express opinions have most often demonized the United States and the Global War on Terror while ignoring the very real — and perhaps too frightening for them to contemplate — Jihadist enemy that we face.
I speak peace
when peace is spoken
But I speak war
when your hate is provoking
The season is open
twenty-four seven, three-sixty-five
Man up — yo, time to ride
No need to hide behind slogans of deceit
Claiming that you’re a religion of peace
We just don’t believe you
We can clearly see through
The madness that you’re feeding your people — Ji-had!
The cry of your unholy war
Using the willing, the weak and poor
From birth drowning in propaganda,
rhetoric and slander
All we can say is damn ya
My forefathers fought and died for this here
I’m stronger than your war of fear
Are we clear?
If you step in my ‘hood,
It’s understood — ha ha!
It’s open season
I don’t need a faith that’s blind
Where death and hate
bring me peace of mind
With views that are stuck deep in the seventh century
With so much sand in your eyes, too blind to see
The venom that you leaders preach
Is the path to your own destruction
Your own demise
You might say that I don’t understand
but your disgust for me is what I realize
Surprise!
Your homicidal ways
has got the whole world watching,
Whole world scoping,
So if you bring it to my home base,
Best believe it
The season’s open
My forefathers fought and died for this here
I’m stronger than your war of fear
Are we clear?
If you step in my ‘hood,
It’s understood — ha!
It’s open season
I see you
Hell yeah, I see you
Motherfucker, naw, I don’t wanna be you!
If you come to my place, I’ll drop more than just some bass
Yo you’ll get a taste of a
Sick motherfucker from the Dirty
I ain’t worrying not a fucking bit
I’m telescoping like Hubble
Yo, you in trouble
Yo, on the double
I’m wild with mine
Bring that style with mine
Fuck with my family I’ll end your line
Just the way it is, Just the way it be
Do you understand?
No matter if you’re woman or man, or child
My profile is crazy
That shit you do doesn’t amaze me
I’m ready to blaze thee
I don’t give a damn what god you claim
I’ve seen the innocent that you’ve slain
On my streets you’re just fair game
Like a pig walk to your slaughter
The heat here is so much hotter
And my views
won’t teeter totter or fluctuate
Step to me you just met your fate, and I’ll annihilate
With the skill of a Shogun assassin
Slicing and dicing precise with a passion
In any shape form or fashion
Bring it to my home,
Welcome to the danger zone
Cause your attitude’s the reason
The triggers keep squeezing
The hunt is on,
and it’s open season
It’s open season
My forefathers fought and died for this here
I’m stronger than your war of fear
Are we clear?
If you step in my ‘hood,
It’s understood — ha!
It’s open season
Another great Stuck Mojo video from the same album: “I’m American”
The album, Southern Born Killers, is available on the iTunes store.
Those whose musical tastes may run more along the lines of Pink Floyd’s The Wall should also check out Imagine Jihad by Weapon of Musical Defense — another very admirable musical effort to shine some daylight on an insufficiently widely understood ideology of hatred, domination, repression, and general 7th-century backwardness. Not as directly hard-hitting as “Open Season”, perhaps, but lyrically more in-depth.
This is the final post in a series of six, in which I’m lyricblogging the 1976 Rush album 2112. To start at the beginning, see the post that started it all here.
“Something for Nothing” is the gem and culmination of 2112, the part I’ve been most eager to get to — a song I can listen to again and again, and a parting bit of imparted wisdom that sticks deep in your mind where it belongs.
Neil Peart (Rush’s peerless drummer and primary lyricist) is well known for having drawn inspiration from Ayn Rand’s “Objectivist” philosophy, and he has surely produced no more direct expression of that influence than in “Something for Nothing”, which is both a wake-up call to the dreamer who has yet to back his plans up with committed and decisive action, and a fierce defense of the individual’s right to take pride in and enjoy profit from his own hard-won achievements.
“Something for Nothing” is a worthy anthem to rouse you to action when you crawl reluctantly out of bed in the morning, or to keep in your head through late night entrepreneurial labors of love when exhaustion might drive others to their comfortable beds. Its bold, ringing declaration has surely changed my life for the better, and I hope it will do the same for others.
Something for Nothing
Waiting for the winds of change
To sweep the clouds away
Waiting for the rainbow’s end
To cast its gold your way
Countless ways
You pass the days
Waiting for someone to call
And turn your world around
Looking for an answer to
The question you have found
Looking for
An open door
You don’t get something for nothing
You can’t have freedom for free
You won’t get wise with the sleep still in your eyes
No matter what your dream might be
What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story
In your head is the answer
Let it guide you along
Let your heart be the anchor
And the beat of your own song
You don’t get something for nothing
You can’t have freedom for free
You won’t get wise with the sleep still in your eyes
No matter what your dream might be
Previous: Tears
2112 — The Complete Album
- 2112
- A Passage to Bangkok
- The Twilight Zone
- Lessons
- Tears
- Something for Nothing
This is the fifth post in a series of six, in which I’m lyricblogging the 1976 Rush album 2112. To start at the beginning, see the post that started it all here.
“Tears” is where the album gets philosophically interesting to me again, as its longing, reflective lyrics seem to pose a profound question about the value of compassion and its limits.
“What would touch me deeper?”, the song asks, “Tears that fall from eyes that only cry?” Tears draw our natural sympathy, but their meaning is diluted when coming from someone for whom we know they flow frequently and freely.
“Would it touch you deeper, than tears that fall from eyes that know why?” Whose tears carry the greater sorrow, or should be ascribed the greater gravity? Those of the ignorant and consequently helpless, or the more reservedly given tears of one who sees and understands the world through the lens of reason, and is moved by a deeper understanding of its workings and flaws?
Tears
All of the seasons and all of the days
All of the reasons why I’ve felt this way
So long…
So long
Then lost in that feeling I looked in your eyes
I noticed emotion and that you had cried
For me,
I can see
What would touch me deeper…
Tears that fall from eyes that only cry?
Would it touch you deeper
Than tears that fall from eyes that know why?
A lifetime of questions, tears on your cheek
I tasted the answers and my body was weak
For you,
The truth.
What would touch me deeper…
Tears that fall from eyes that only cry?
Would it touch you deeper
Than tears that fall from eyes that know why?
Previous: Lessons | Next: Something for Nothing
2112 — The Complete Album
- 2112
- A Passage to Bangkok
- The Twilight Zone
- Lessons
- Tears
- Something for Nothing
This is the fourth post in a series of six, in which I’m lyricblogging the 1976 Rush album 2112. To start at the beginning, see the post that started it all here.
“Lessons” picks up the mood with an upbeat, rambling riff and largely optimistic lyrics to match. The impression I get is of a joyous homecoming, as might be experienced by the guitar-discovering protagonist of 2112 in encountering the world he had only dreamt of, or perhaps by members of the Elder Race, as they returned to reclaim their home planet. The choruses in between the upbeat bits evoke the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx, protesting that their demands of conformity to The Plan have gone unheeded. Their reprimands appear to be in vain, as the song ends on an upswing, fading off merrily over the horizon.
Lessons
Sweet memories
Flashing very quickly by
Reminding me
And giving me a reason why
I know that
My goal is more than a thought
I’ll be there
When I teach
What I’ve been taught
And I’ve been taught…
You know we’ve told you before
But you didn’t hear us then
So you still question why
No! You didn’t listen again!
You didn’t listen again!
Sweet memories
I never thought it would be like this
Reminding me
Just how close I came to missing
I know that
This is the way for me to go
You’ll be there
When you know what I know
And I know…
You know we’ve told you before
But you didn’t hear us then
So you still question why
No! You didn’t listen again!
You didn’t listen again!
Previous: The Twilight Zone | Next: Tears
2112 — The Complete Album
- 2112
- A Passage to Bangkok
- The Twilight Zone
- Lessons
- Tears
- Something for Nothing
This is the third post in a series of six, in which I’m lyricblogging the 1976 Rush album 2112. To start at the beginning, see the post that started it all here.
As with “A Passage to Bangkok” I’m letting the lyrics to this moody intermediate track stand on their own. The most interesting stuff to analyze will be coming up shortly, as we get to the last few tracks on the album.
The Twilight Zone
A pleasant faced man steps up to greet you
He smiles and says he’s pleased to meet you
Beneath his hat the strangeness lies
Take it off, he’s got three eyes
Truth is false and logic lost
Now the fourth dimension is crossed
You have entered the twilight zone
Beyond this world strange things are known
Use the key, unlock the door
See what your fate might have in store
Come explore your dreams’ creation
Enter this world of imagination
You wake up lost in an empty town
Wondering why no one else is around
Look up to see a giant boy
You’ve just become his brand new toy
No escape, no place to hide
Here where time and space collide
You have entered the twilight zone
Beyond this world strange things are known
Use the key, unlock the door
See what your fate might have in store
Come explore your dreams’ creation
Enter this world of imagination
Previous: A Passage to Bangkok | Next: Lessons
2112 — The Complete Album
- 2112
- A Passage to Bangkok
- The Twilight Zone
- Lessons
- Tears
- Something for Nothing
