"It is happening...again..."
-The Giant in "Lonely Souls", episode 14 of TWIN PEAKS
Eight months is a blink of an eye these days. I used to call songs like these "prescient". Now I just think of them as reminders I can shake my ass or slow dance to, but reminders, nonetheless, that we're not learning anything from history. And these days, history keeps getting closer and closer...
Listen to these songs. Shake your ass. Slow dance. But LISTEN. If they don't seem topical right now, just wait until it is happening again. Because it will.
One
David Bowie - "It's No Game (Part 2)" from the 1980 album SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPERCREEPS)
"I am barred/from the event/I really don't understand this situation/so where's the moral?/People get their fingers broken/to be insulted by these fascists is so degrading...."
Two
The Clash - "English Civil War (live)" outtake from the film RUDE BOY
"It's still at the stage of clubs and fists/hurrah....hurrah/a well known face got beat to bits/hurrah...."
Three
Rolling Stones - "Street Fighting Man" from the 1968 album BEGGARS BANQUET
"Everywhere I hear the sound of marching charging feet, boy/'cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy...."
Four
Stevie Wonder - "Big Brother" from the 1972 album TALKING BOOK
"My name is secluded/we live in a house the size of a matchbox/roaches live with us wall to wall/you've killed all our leaders/I don't even have to do nothing to you/you'll cause your own country to fall...."
Five
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" from the 1975 album SHAVED FISH
"If you don't believe me take a look at the one you're with...."
Six
Nina Simone - "Ne Me Quitte Pas" written by Jacques Brel, from the 1965 album DON'T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD
This song was my sole response on social media after the terrorist attack in France. Eight months ago.
-Alex Smith
July 15, 2016
