October – U2

October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care

October
Kingdoms rise
And Kingdoms fall
But you go on…

…and on…

“‘October’ . . . it’s an image,” Bono told a Dutch television interviewer, Kees Baar, in 1981. “We’ve been through the ’60s, a time when things were in full bloom. We had fridges and cars, we sent people to the Moon and everybody thought how great mankind was. And now, as we go through the ’70s and ’80s, it’s a colder time of the year. It’s after the harvest. The trees are stripped bare. You can see things and we finally realize that maybe we weren’t so smart after all, now that there’s millions of unemployed people, now that we’ve used the technology we’ve been blessed with to build bombs for war machines, to build rockets, whatever. So ‘October’ is an ominous word, but it’s also quite lyrical.”
– Niall Stokes, Into The Heart. London: Carlton, 2001: 31.

Apocalyptic Squeeze-box: American Wheeze

Here’s Sixteen Horsepower’s David Eugene Edwards with an evil-looking rendition of ‘American Wheeze’.

i’ve grown tired, of the words of the single man
hangin’ lifeless on his every word — o man
you don’t understand dear man
the little angel held out her hand
sayin’ father, father i love you
o praise jesus i got her

ok yeah billygoat an we’ll play farm
i didn’t mean to spirit stiff you
nor to do you no harm
you say you’ve got a bone to pick
well, there’s plenty showin’ on me
come on up yeah bring your temper boy
we’ll see, we’ll see

yeah you may be the only one come on son
bring your blade and your gun
and if i die by your hand
i’ve gotta home in glory land

There Aren’t Enough Orthodox Jewish Reggae Singers in the World Today

But Matisyahu is an exception. Here’s one of his finest: ‘King Without a Crown’.

“Born in West Chester, PA and raised in White Plains, NY, the young man formerly known as Matthew Miller would undertake a monumental odyssey before discovering his path – and voice – as Matisyahu (the Hebrew equivalent of “Matthew,” and the name he became known by when he became observant). Via adventures in Colorado, Israel, Oregon, and New York City, he not only heard a profound spiritual calling, but also discerned a revolutionary way to share his discoveries and reflections, via the reggae and hip-hop sounds that had long been an integral part of his day-to-day soundtrack.”
– The Matisyahu Webpage

He’s beatboxing on this one:

I don’t like the poor – by Jeff Simmonds

Because we just can’t get enough, here’s Jeff Simmonds — the Michael Leunig of the music world.

And I… don’t like the poor
And I… don’t love them anymore
All they ever do is sit around and die
I wonder why
But I don’t love them
Because they’re poor

And I… never liked Mother Teresa
And I… don’t think I would’ve pleased her
Even though I’m sure she was a very nice person
I prefer Elle McPherson
‘Cause she’s rich and pretty
And that’s what matters

And why… don’t they just get a real job?
And why… don’t they look after themselves?
You know I’ve got real troubles of my own
Like how to pay my mortgage
And feed my children
And buy more CDs

And I… wish the poor would go away
And I… hope everyone’s rich someday
But I’m sure the poor are here to stay
And that’s too bad
But am I my brother’s
Keeper?

Jeremiah Wright’s Post-9/11 Sermon is Set to Music by Jeff Simmonds

Next election, you get to choose between right-of-centre, extreme right-of-centre, and ultra right-of-centre. So, don’t bother.

Instead, have a listen to some of the few words of sense spoken by any American Christian since 9/11 — the words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And, naturally, begin a revolution.

And now, words from Jeremiah Wright’s post-9/11 sermon have been set to music by Jeff Simmonds, New Zedland’s third-most-popular folk-rock protest singer. This is inspiring stuff. Have a listen:

Jeff-Simmonds-So-You-Say-(with-Rev-Jeremiah-Wright).mp3

Wright: ‘Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rocks.’ The people of faith have moved from the hatred of armed enemies … to the hatred of unarmed innocents, the babies, the babies. ‘Blessed are they who dash your baby’s brains against a rock.’ And that my beloved is a dangerous place to be.

Simmonds:
So, you say God loves you
That’s why you live in prosperity
God blesses you and wants you wealthy
Somehow I don’t think that’s true
Neither should you

You’re only rich because someone else is poor
Someone has to pay for your luxury
It’s not God’s blessing, it’s inequity
That makes your cup overflow
And the Third World die

Wright: We have moved from the hatred of armed enemies to the hatred of unarmed innocents. We want revenge. We want paybacks and we don’t care who gets hurt in the process…
what Malcolm X said when he got silenced by Elijah Mohammad was in fact true, ‘America’s chickens are coming home to roost.’
We took this country by terror away from the Sioux, the Apache, Arikara, the Comanche, the Arapaho, the Navajo. Terrorism.
We took Africans away from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism.
We bombed Grenada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel.
We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenages and toddlers, pregnant mothers and hard-working fathers.
We bombed Qaddafi’s home, and killed his child. ‘Blessed are they who bash your children’s head against the rock.’

We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to pay back for their attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hard-working people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they’d never get back home.
We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye.

Kids playing in the playground. Mothers picking up children after school. Civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.
We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff that we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards. ‘America’s chickens are coming home to roost.’

Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. And terrorism begets terrorism.

Simmonds:
You built your house with slavery
You maintain your household with inequality
One day you’ll fall and I won’t cry for you
Those you’ve robbed will plunder you
They’ll plunder you

‘If Jesus Came Today He Wouldn’t Be a Christian’, by Jeff Simmonds, Hits Number 1 on the Biblioblog Charts

Jeff Simmonds has a PhD in religious studies from the University of Victoria, New Zedland. I know, because he sings about it at the start of his song.

“Jeff was previously the lead singer of the band Obadiah and the Minor Prophets and as ‘Dr. Jeff Obadiah Simmonds” wrote 24 short books on a range of issues related to Christianity and social justice.”
“Along with his brother, Phill, he won the New Zedland ‘New Filmmaker of the Year’ award in 2007.”
“He is currently writing a book called Judas Moved the Stone that outlines his conclusions and his point of view.”
– Jeff Simmonds’ website

‘If Jesus Came Today He Wouldn’t Be a Christian’ is currently Number One on the Biblioblog Charts. It’s gone lead.

I love Jesus
And Jesus loves me
I know all about him
Because I’ve got a PhD
Studying Religion and Church History
And the development of Christology
From its pre-Christian origins
To the Council of Chalcedon
In 451 – Yeah!

If I could make a machine
To travel back in time
I’d go to the first century
And live in Palestine
I could talk to John the Baptist
And Rabbi Hanina Ben Dosa
I’d find St Paul
And punch him in the head
Then I’d talk to Jesus
And listen to everything he said – Yeah!

I’m sure that Jesus
Must be turning in his grave
When he sees those
Who are preaching in his name
If Jesus came today he wouldn’t be a Christian
No, he’d probably be a liberal Jew
That’s why I don’t want to be a Christian
Just a follower of Jesus
… Or maybe just a Buddhist – Yeah!

Those New Zedlanders have wacky senses of humour.

… I guess he’s probably related to Steph.

Tenth Anniversary of Buddy Davis’ ‘Creation Gospel’ Album

Yes, it’s ten years since Buddy Davis released an album that shot straight to number one throughout Kansas: ‘Creation Gospel’. Every one of these tracks is just so darn catchy, a little bit of me wished I could believe in something as daft as Creation Science. Here’s the track-listing for this monumental album:

1. Billions Of Dead Things	3:11
2. It’s Designed to Do What It Does Do	1:52
3. I Don’t Believe in Evolution	2:12
4. He makes Dreams Out of Nothing	3:33
5. Problem Solved	2:48
6. God’s The Author of Creation	2:33
7. Adam and Eve	3:01
8. Could Behemoth Be a Dinosaur?	2:02
9. Creation Week	2:14
10. The Answer’s In Genesis	2:04
11. Glory to God, Jesus is King	1:50
12. The Hands That Created the World	2:51
13. In Six Days	1:59
14. I Believe	3:45

Listening to it again makes me just weep tears of joy. Go on, treat yourself to a listen to ‘Billions Of Dead Things’. You’ll never forget the experience:

I imagine this is still number one in Kansas.

I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good

I like this song. From 1987, Steve Taylor, ‘I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good’.

“A very incendiary song indeed. Reasonable people on both sides of the abortion debate could argue that this was not a song that needed to be written, but it was the unreasonable ones who made the most noise: The director of an abortion clinic in San Diego threatened a lawsuit against a video show that aired the “Clinic” clip, and when I called her at the show’s request to explain that it was satire, she was so whining and obnoxious that I ended up giving her an earful of what I thought of her profession, then begged her to sue me. Australian TV’s version of Geraldo Rivera did a story on me prior to a national tour there, claiming I was advocating blowing up abortion clinics–the story got picked up by all the major newspapers and eventually forced cancellation of most of the tour (forever dispelling the show biz dictum “all press is good press”). I even spent an hour on the phone with an elderly bookstore owner in Arizona–he’d pulled the album because he thought it was wrong to blow up abortion clinics, and I congratulated him on his integrity in choosing principle over commerce before gently explaining to him the song’s satirical intent. So what happened? It all seemed obvious to me–the flashing neon lyric in the middle of the song that says, “the end don’t justify the means anytime.” What better example to use than a clinic bomber (except perhaps the nutcases that are now shooting abortionists?)”
– Steve Taylor, Now The Truth Can Be Told Insert Booklet, August 23rd, 1994

Militant Modern-day Manichaeans claim, ‘Carrot Juice Constitutes Murder!’

Which reminds me of the vitriolic words of Augustine in his various rants against the Manichaeans:

“The cucumbers suffer while you are cooking them,
without any benefit to the life that is in them: for a
boiling pot cannot be compared to a saintly stomach.”

“One of your silly notions is that the tree weeps when
the fruit is pulled. Doubtless the life in the tree
knows all things, and perceives who it is that comes
to it. If the elect were to come and pull the fruit,
would not the tree rejoice to escape the misery of
having its fruit plucked by others, and to gain
felicity by enduring a little momentary pain? And yet,
while you multiply the pains and troubles of the fruit
after it is plucked, you will not pluck it. Explain
that, if you can!”

“Your objection to eating flesh will be that you
cannot eat animals alive, and so the operation of your
stomach will not avail for the liberation of their
souls. Happy vegetables, that, torn up with the hand,
cut with knives, tortured in fire, ground by teeth,
yet reach alive the altars of your intestines! Unhappy
sheep and oxen, that are not so tenacious of life, and
therefore are refused entrance into your bodies! Such
is the absurdity of your notions.”