All my anger crammed into one song.
bruce mckinney
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Story behind the song
I started writing this song two years ago at a songwriting workshop. They gave me three words, and told me to write a song using them. Two of the words were crucifixion and crossroads. I don't remember the third, but it wasn't a happy word. So I wrote a verse. It was kind of cathartic, and since I knew this would never be a song, why not try something different. I wrote it in F--not usually the folk singer's first choice of key. Then I forgot all about it for two years. Then just before the election I came across it again and realized that if I was ever going to make it a song, the time had come. So I wrote two more verses and rewrote the verse I had until none of the three original words appeared in the song. I wrote a bridge in the middle, vaguely inspired by hip hop. So there it is. A real downer. My fondest hope for this song is that in a few months, anybody who hears it will say, "I don't get it. What the hell is he talking about? Why is he so angry?"
Lyrics
Guantanamo
What a drag for Saddam to run into Osama
And Dick and George in hell
Fundamentalist perpetrators
Opposite sides parallel
Taxi to the dark side
With a neighbor sold for loot
You’ve got to guess what the man wants to hear
‘Cause you know he won’t believe the truth
Fool’s ambition, accomplish mission
Conscience doesn’t work very well
You can pray like hell for redemption
But God says redeem yourself,
Go on down, down, down, down
Deliver us from evil
The parasite within our hearts
Idiotic, patriotic lies
On apocalyptic charts
Humiliated laughter
Leather to the dog
Sleepless days, tortured nights
Memory lost in fog
Helpless rage in chain ;;link cage
Devils behind the facade
Truth is ugly, lies are pretty,
But they’re both the same if you’re God
Looking down, down, down, you’re going down, down, down
Desperation, bad translation
Indignation at false accusation
Devastation, earn salvation,
Sleep deprivation at unknown location
Disintegration of civilization, slow it down, down
Detonation, amputation
Premature celebration
Innocence for breakfast
Cynicism lunch
Penitence for dinner
Blood and oil in punch
The best view of the suffering
Is up in the luxury suites
Interrogators tricked by gladiators
Intrigues within deceits
Is almighty on our side?
Ask the dinosaurs
Every prayer is answered
But God’s timing is different than yours
Take it down, down, down, tear it down, down, down
Copyright 2008, Bruce McKinney