Controversial songs

[Firestarter]

Not so much a controversial as a completely misunderstood song that has been played as a flag-waving paean to America at right-wing political rallies for decades. In reality it is a lament on American working-class soldiers that were sent to Vietnam to “kill the yellow man”. See the following “patriotic” lyrics:

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

.
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA (1984)

[Lexi]

I'm glad they banned this song from the BBC .........

Tom Robinson Band - (Sing If You're) Glad To Be Gay (7" version 1978)

[Lexi]

The young singer-songwriter ran into trouble with the BBC due to the religious content in this song.

Prior to an appearance on BBC Radio 2, Doolittle was asked to change the lyric: “Sometimes I wish I was Jesus” to “Sometimes I wish it was easy to get my Air Max on and run across the sea to you.”

Seems like she conformed

[Firestarter]

After it was announced last Monday (!) that he would miss several shows because of his health, Dire Straits guitar player Jack Sonni has died (aged 68).

The Dire Straits pop stars (with “hip head bands) scored their biggest pop hit by complaining about (or promoting) … other pop millionaires and MTV. The uncensored version was banned by the CSBC in Canada for its homophobic lyrics. Knopfler replaces “faggot” in the lyrics with “queenie” when played live.

See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup?
Yeah buddy, that's his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot, he's a millionaire

.
Dire Straits (ft. Sting) - Money for Nothing (1985)

[Firestarter]

Dire Straits (ft. Sting) - Money for Nothing (1985)

"Money for Nothing" contains an interpolation of the following song, about a “young teacher” having an affair with a “girl … half his age”. I would expect that this “young teacher” would be in his early 30s or younger. It is sung by Sting, who was a schoolteacher himself before he became a popstar.

The Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me (1980)

[Firestarter]

When his popularity was at an all-time low, Paul Simon decided to record his new album Graceland in apartheid state South Africa. This was heavily criticised for “breaking” the cultural boycott. This was its “funny” lead-off single.

Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al (1986)

[Firestarter]

I thought that the “beds are burning” is a metaphor for the destruction of the environment. But in reality the song is about the lands stolen from the Aboriginals that “belongs to them" so “let’s give it back”…

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning (1987)

[Boadicea]

The Oils started their Claim to Fame Largely via my Local Pub The Royal Antler at Narrabeen, on Sydney's Northern Beaches.
The Brilliant Rob Hirst on Drums.

I did a Stint as Treasurer for 'Surfers For Nuclear Disarmament' for a Year, that Peter Garrett was Also involved in.

Fast Forward 45 Years and Garrett is Notably Absent from Railing at the Beast System which WAS his Forte.

He Eventually Delved into Politics and was Suckered into an Environmental Portfolio where a Roof Insulation Policy saw Four People Killed and according to WA fire authorities "led to one roof fire every week"

He was Also Involved in Solar Panel Rebates and the Green Loans Scheme.

Hi-Jacked and Silenced by the Powers That Be.

Now Appears to be On the Climate Change Band Wagon, though after the 70's Early 80's, he'd gone to the Dark Side for me...

Now this Once Rebellious Voice that was Midnight Oil is Silent Regarding the Genocide and The Lock-Step Agenda.
A Participant in the Hegelian Political Dialectic.

Sad We Have Fond "LONG Memories" of a Simpler Time.
Well it was a Delusion of Perception Really...

But he is Touring Again at Age 69 in 2023, Under 'Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos'

Alters Anyone?


Short Memory



When the Generals Talk..

[Firestarter]

Green Day has been ridiculed as pop-punk by punk purists. But in 2004, they suddenly become political, with “American idiot” reportedly a reference to George Bush Jr. A decade later they used the song to ridicule president Trump and his supporters.
It includes the homophobic “faggot” (sung by the bisexual frontman Billie Joe), but “redneck” is obviously OK…

Green Day - American idiot (2004)

[Lexi]

Listen to the words of this song, it could well be from the Antichrist himself.



The lyrics
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

Berlin is the place of the Pergamon the seat of satan.