Go Burt! Go Burt!I've been writing love songs all my life, never rocking the boat. There were years that I paid no attention to the political process, times I never voted. *** But starting with the 2000 election, things for me began to change. I watched as Bush basically stole the election, and other terrible situations occurred; and by the time 9/11 hit, I didn't feel like writing love songs.
***
On "Who Are These People," it was very important for me to make a statement about what I was feeling at the time.
"Who are these people that keep telling us lies
and how did these people get control of our lives
and who'll stop the violence 'cause it's out of control?
make 'em stop."And then when Elvis [Costello] came in on the middle verse he sang,
"This stupid mess we're in just keeps getting worse,
so many people dying needlessly
looks like these liars may inherit the earth
even pretending to pray and getting away with it."Elvis sang my last two lines with the very strong intensity I felt:
"Things really have to change,
Nobody has ever sung fucked like Elvis Costello.
Or we're all fucked!"
He's obviously not going for radio airplay with that one - especially with the new obscenity laws.
So this is what our broadcast media has come to: a Burt Bacharach song can't be heard, while we get endless doses of the psychopath known as Ann Coulter (who has yet to respond to a very generous offer from Henry Rollins).
When you can't say 'fuck,' you can't say 'fuck the government.'(thanks to A House Is Not A Homepage for the pointer)
-- Lenny Bruce
ps - Coincidentally, I've been spinning those classic Bacharach/Warwick collaborations lately - amazing stuff.
