A New Song I'm Writing

Jazzooo · January-28th-2005, 04:15 AM

A protest song for my upcoming vocal album, Midlife Chrysalis...

The rhythm of the lyrics might appear funny on paper, but with just the right phrasing it's quite cool.

"Keep Us Scared, Keep Us Stupid, Keep Us Shopping"

I love my country (you know it's true)
Cause it clearly is the best
Other countries say they're free (you know the way they do)
But I think we're freer than the rest

It's a complicated world
When you don't know who to trust
Old friends turn into enemies
Old treaties turn to dust
But still they all respect us
And we'll make 'em if we must...

I used to love our history
The revolutions and the wars
Many fine people fought and died
But it was clearly justified
We got the world goin' just the way we like it

Now some buzzkill's trying to tell us
That we might have gone too far
Well, you gotta break some eggs to make an omelett.
And our enemies don't sit around and worry 'bout the rules...

They say Hoover was a faggot
Jefferson slept with slaves
Colombus slept with all the squaws and
Slaughtered all the braves
I say "Why rewrite our history? It was *good* the way it was!"
But no, someone's got to wreck Thanksgiving for the rest of us...

Today we find ourselves in a sea of sand
Man, they hate us over there!
We're busy living modern lives
With SUVs and sexy wives
While they shoot rifles in the air...

(I haven't written the lyric where I humbly advise the president to keep us "scared, stupid and shopping" yet, but I'll get there!)

(c) 2005 Doug Robinson

Squaredancecalling Steve · January-28th-2005, 04:32 AM

Phil Ochs would have loved it, Doug! Me, too!

HenryMc · January-28th-2005, 06:42 AM

Its got a great beat and you can dance to it, I give it a 77

Richardo Caerleoni · January-28th-2005, 06:51 AM

Doug - Excellent...although Randy got there first!

RC.

Political Science
by Randy Newman

No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

clinthopson · January-28th-2005, 11:31 AM

Doug,

Mose Allison coundn't have said it better.

Jazzooo · January-28th-2005, 12:28 PM

Believe me, I'm trying my best to not just do a weak clone of Political Science! It doesn't help that my voice, while not as unique as Randy N's, is similarly limited.

I think the musical arrangement is what will set it apart--it starts with rubato block chords (same as Political Science), but it goes into a mit-tempo boogie woogie with some funny chord voicings peppered in for flavor.

at least so far. By the time I finish, it could be a 250 bpm punk raver.

Thank you for the encouragement!

Enforcer · January-28th-2005, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzooo

It doesn't help that my voice, while not as unique as Randy N's, is similarly limited.

Nice work, Doug! I have to say that I've always imagined you doing a perfect job with the vocals on a cover of Mark Cohn's Walking In Memphis. Don't ask me why.

graypencil · January-28th-2005, 01:58 PM

Hmm ..thats odd ..I got a lot of Dave Frischberg attitude out of it so far ..very good!

you've just GOTTA create a good repeated hook outta your tag line! ("Keep Us Scared, Keep Us Stupid, Keep Us Shopping" )

it's too good not to use more than once!!

clinthopson · January-28th-2005, 02:27 PM

Doug's song "Haven't Really Given Up Yet" has a certain Frishbergian quality to it. I'm a huge Dave Frishberg fan so that's IMHO a great compliment.

The song is on his "Two Days In November" disc and I highly recommend it. Donna made the comment that this is music you pay attention to.

RBS · January-28th-2005, 02:32 PM

I like it a lot. To the point, poignant and funny.

You win!

Coda · January-28th-2005, 02:59 PM

This guy is destined for either your song or American Idol. Click Here

Valerie · January-29th-2005, 03:42 AM

doug: i love your writing, your voice, and you (and glenda)!!! some things never change!! keep it goin', guy!!

xoxo

Jazzooo · January-29th-2005, 03:58 AM

Thanky kindly, folks!

Coda, I clicked on the link but it goes nowhere.

Wait till you guys hear the MUSIC to this song--I'm channeling Donald Fagen in my studio right now!

Ron Thorne · January-29th-2005, 05:01 AM

Doug, as our mutual friend, SinginSumo would probably have said .... Coolio!

Jazzooo · January-29th-2005, 12:47 PM

Thanks, Ron!

By the way, I recently learned that 'coolio' means anus in Spanish. The first person, a woman, told me it meant 'butt,' but later others told me it was more specific than that!

GoodSpeak · January-29th-2005, 06:35 PM

Doug,

I can't wait to hear your Michael Franks-like voice and phrasing on the finished product

Tim

clinthopson · January-30th-2005, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzooo

Thanks, Ron!

By the way, I recently learned that 'coolio' means anus in Spanish. The first person, a woman, told me it meant 'butt,' but later others told me it was more specific than that!

Doug, It's actually "culo."

I'm the pedantic asshole, you know.

Deke · January-31st-2005, 08:51 PM

This is as good a thread as any to tell you all about my Sunday bath. It's been a tradition with me ever since I was a little kid getting bathed in a tub in front of the fire, every Sunday I take a long, relaxing bath. Getting clean is incidental in this bath, its main purpose is for me to lie down in and shut myself off for about an hour. So yesterday I'm in there and for no apparent reason (I caught the last few minutes of Back to the Future II earlier in the week. Maybe that was it.) I start thinking about how great it would have been to be a songwriter in the 50s, and how weird it seemed nowadays that Leiber and Stoller would spend hours perfecting a song that most of us would rattle off without thinking these days. As if to prove it I came up with the following. It also has melody and arrangement in my head, but I can't put that down here. This is the first verse.

Who strolls into class in a pair of blue jeans? (James Dean)
Who combs his hair and the girls all scream? (James Dean)
James Dean (Don't go talkin' to his mumma)
James Dean (You'll be in traction all summer)
His real name is Charlie, but when he hits the scene he's James Dean.

Now aside from the fact that lyrically it's a blatent 'Charlie Brown' rip-off, did I really come up with that (There's another three verses, a sax solo, and a middle eight) or is it something I heard long ago and it's just come back to me? Does anyone recognise it?

Ron Thorne · February-1st-2005, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clinthopson

Doug, It's actually "culo."

I'm the pedantic asshole, you know.

Doug, I think that Clint has it right.

Our jazz brother, SinginSumo, meant "cool-to-the-max", I'm sure. That's what I meant, too.

Nothing wrong with asses, mind you. I'm not referring to the braying kind, either.

So, when do we get to hear a sample of this new song?

Jazzooo · February-1st-2005, 03:16 AM

Deke,

I thought that was a ripoff of Steve Martin's King Tut!

Alright, ladies and gentlemen: step right up for the world premiere of my (newly retitled) protest song, entitled With Us/Against Us.

It may be the first song by a white man, besides Eminem, to use the words 'faggot' and 'pussies' and still be funny. at least, it's funny to me!

Available for quick download at http://www.virtualstudiosystems.com/...hp?ArtistID=21

There will be a couple of more tweaks before it is finalized, and Glenda will be adding her vocals to the chorus of "With Us/Against Us." But it is basically ready to be heard.

Both this and Tell HIm Anything (another song on the page) are from my upcoming album, Midlife Chrysalis. Hope you enjoy the tunes.

Thanks,

Doug

Jazzooo · February-1st-2005, 03:39 AM

By the way, here are the revised lyrics. I dropped Scared, Stupid and Shopping because it doesn't fit the guy in the song. I'll save it for another song!

WITH US/AGAINST US

I love my country (and that's the truth)
Cause it clearly is the best
Other countries say they're free (you know they all do)
But we're freerer than the rest

It's a complicated world
When you don't know who to trust
Old friends turn into enemies
Old treaties turn to dust
But everyone respects us
We can make them if we must

(I'll tell you what I'm talking about...)

I used to love our history
The revolutions and the wars
Many fine people fought and died
But it was clearly justified
We got the world runnin' just the way we like it

Now some buzzkill's trying to tell us
That we may have gone too far
Well, you gotta break some eggs to make an omelett
And our enemies don't stay up late and
Argue 'bout the rules
(And it's them or us, baby)

(With Us/Against Us, With Us/Against Us...)

(Now check this out!)

They're saying Hoover was a faggot
Jefferson slept with slaves
Colombus slept with all the squaws
And slaughtered all the braves
I say "Why rewrite our history?
It was so good the way it was!"
But they've just got to wreck Thanksgiving for the rest of us

Today we're set adrift in a sea of sand
They really hate us over there
We're busy leading modern lives
With our pleasant jobs and our sexy wives
While they shoot rifles in the air

All those people lived in chaos
Till we tore that statue down
Now they're lining up to vote
And harmony abounds
I'd say our Mission was Accomplished
and that wasn't so hard, now was it?

(Pussies!)

With Us/Against Us, With Us/Against Us, With Us/Against Us...

(c) 2005 Act As If Music

Ron Thorne · February-1st-2005, 05:31 AM

After listening to the song sample , as expected, ... Coolio!

Thanks, Doug. It's totally diggable!

So is the album title, by the way.

Jazzooo · February-1st-2005, 12:07 PM

Aw, shucks Ron--thanks.

Come on--only one person has listened? Let's get it while it's hot, gang!

bump

steve(thelil) · February-1st-2005, 04:33 PM

Doug:

I really liked it - especially musically. I also agree with the sentiments, and think you expressed them well.

One suggestion I have regards the chorus of "with us, against us". I know what you're getting at, but I don't think those lyrics tie into the other lyrics well enough to work as a powerful chorus. (Musically, it sounds great). I would suggest something more like "Why don't they love us?" or maybe "how can they hate us?" or alternating both.

My suggested lyrics might not be as connected to the other lyrics as one would like either, but they are more of a complete thought than "with us against us" , so the lack of a nexus might not be a problem .

I don't mean to suggest that the recording isn't really a nice job. It is.

Jazzooo · February-2nd-2005, 12:58 AM

Thanks, Steve--

I do agree somewhat to your point. I think that making the title of the song "With Us/Against Us" and attributing the quote to W will probably make it a little clearer, if not completely obvious. I don't want to go too broad on this--it's too easy to write a song and say "Look at the moron!" This guy starts off saying some reasonable and sympathetic things, with only slight wrinkles at first. By the time it's over, it's clear that he's a callous littlebrain ("People died, but hey--gotta break some eggs to make an omelet!")

I was almost going to stick a sitar drone under the line about us being adrift "in a sea of sand," to subtly imply that this guy thinks that one dark-skinned race is pretty much the same as another, but that seemed too subtle.

Thanks for listening!

Jazzooo · February-2nd-2005, 03:47 AM

I was emailing with Fred Simon (he used to be around as Frednow, a very talented composer). he suggested captitalizing on the current theory that Lincoln was gay (instead of Hoover) to add a little contemporary reference to the song, and I agreed.

I re-recorded the line, and let me tell you something: the word "Hoover" is way more fun to sing than "Lincoln."

Ron Thorne · February-2nd-2005, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzooo

I was emailing with Fred Simon (he used to be around as Frednow, a very talented composer). he suggested captitalizing on the current theory that Lincoln was gay (instead of Hoover) to add a little contemporary reference to the song, and I agreed.

I re-recorded the line, and let me tell you something: the word "Hoover" is way more fun to sing than "Lincoln."

Yeah, and Hoover(ing) has way more potential inferences, too.

Deke · February-3rd-2005, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzooo

Deke,

I thought that was a ripoff of Steve Martin's King Tut!

Hmm... You're right. The lyrics are almost interchangeable. On the other hand mine has a melody line (Which, of course, you knew nothing about...

), but funky Tut may well have been lurking in my head via the 'What makes me laugh' thread...

Who knows what lurks in the head of a man in his bath? But if anyone else writes it after me I'll always have this thread to prove that I was first!

Jazzooo · February-4th-2005, 06:58 PM

I just wanted to give you guys one final chance to hear the rough mix of this song, WITH US/AGAINST US, before it fell off the Corner.

http://www.virtualstudiosystems.com...php?ArtistID=21

HenryMc · February-4th-2005, 07:39 PM

Thank God for the edit button hey!!

I changed this totally because it was uncharitable

Doug
I think you've lost all the irony of the song in the lyrics. Listening to it I felt it was very pro-bush and dismissive of the alternative view. Your original intent of protest is, to me, lost now. There is not enough of the tongue in cheek left to suggest your opinions are the opposite of that expressed (if they are - of course if it was pro war your going for then you nailed it)