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Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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March 12, 2003
The Beastie Boys vomit up a protest song
Five years after their last album, the Beastie Boys have rushed to throw up on their website a new anti-war "song" called "In a World Gone Mad." On one hand, I'm not particularly inspired by the prospect of some cheap peace sentiments. On the other hand, the Beastie Boys are way my favorite all time rap or hip hop act. The prospect of fresh Beasties certainly has some allure.
Unfortunately this recording turns out to be next to worthless. Politics aside for a moment, there is no SONG here. There is no kind of significantly patterned note spread that could even charitably be called a MELODY. Corollary to that, there are no significant hooks; it's not catchy at all.
Further, there is no significantly creative RECORD MAKING here. Granted, the song itself doesn't give them much to work with, but they aren't even trying. This is the most bare-boned and unimaginative arrangement they have ever created. They are just throwing down the most simplistic "old school" beats, the most primitive Run-DMC or Grandmaster Flash. As a record, this ain't fit to be played between, say, "Hot in Herre" and "Work It" - much less "Sabotage" or "Car Thief." Besides being much better compositions, these are seriously 100 times better RECORDINGS than this cheap Beastie throwaway. This crap sure ain't no Paul's Boutique.
At this point, it wouldn't matter if the lyrics were a stirring tribute to America's brave soldiers facing down evil in Iraq, it would STILL suck because it's just such crappy music. [I ain't buying Darryl Worley's "Have You Forgotten" song either, on exactly these grounds.] Jeez, after FIVE YEARS you'd hope they could come up with ONE decent groove. This sure doesn't bode well for their new album in progress.
Here, however, are the words that they actually came up with:
IN A WORLD GONE MAD by the Beastie Boys
In a world gone mad it�s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight
Mirrors, smokescreens and lies
It�s not the politicians but their actions I despise
You and Saddam should kick it like back in the day
With the cocaine and Courvoisier
But you build more bombs as you get more bold
As your mid-life crisis war unfolds
All you want to do is take control
Now put that axis of evil bullshit on hold
Citizen rule number 2080
Politicians are shady
So people watch your back 'cause I think they smoke crack
I don�t doubt it look at how they act
In a world gone mad it�s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight
First the �War On Terror� now war on Iraq
We�re reaching a point where we can�t turn back
Let�s lose the guns and let�s lose the bombs
And stop the corporate contributions that their built upon
Well I�ll be sleeping on your speeches �til I start to snore
�Cause I won�t carry guns for an oil war
As-Salamu alaikum, wa alaikum assalam
Peace to the Middle East peace to Islam
Now don�t get us wrong �cause we love America
But that�s no reason to get hysterica
They�re layin� on the syrup thick
We ain�t waffles we ain�t havin� it
In a world gone mad it�s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight
Now how many people must get killed?
For oil families pockets to get filled?
How many oil families get killed?
Not a damn one so what�s the deal?
It�s time to lead the way and de-escalate
Lose the weapons of mass destruction and the hate
Say ooh ah what�s the White House doin�?
Oh no! Say, what in tarnation have they got brewing??!!!!???!!
Well I�m not pro Bush and I�m not pro Saddam
We need these fools to remain calm
George Bush you�re looking like Zoolander
Trying to play tough for the camera
What am I on crazy pills? We�ve got to stop it
Get your hand out my grandma�s pocket
We need health care more than going to war
You think it�s democracy they�re fighting for?
In a world gone mad it�s hard to think right
So much violence hate and spite
Murder going on all day and night
Due time we fight the non-violent fight
Even besides the fact that they are on the wrong side of this issue, this is a piss poor piece of lyric writing. They are simply re-gurgitating, vomiting up the regular generic politically correct slogans. They have added nothing significant to the cliches that they are spouting. They have little apparent real emotional content. The lyrics sound like they spent about five minutes writing them- they couldn't have spent enough time crafting them to have any real emotional investment.
Again, not particularly caring to answer to the trite political content per se, but looking at this as a song lyric, it is unfocused and scattered. Dubya used to drink and do coke [allegedly], and Iraq has oil. Therefore we shouldn't go to war. "Now put that axis of evil bullshit on hold" is not an argument or a striking lyrical turn of phrase. It is merely a curse. Bush is stupid, just like Zoolander. This constitutes a [patently untrue] political cliche presented through the most obvious crass pop culture reference. In other words, it is a lazy by the numbers Beasties lyrical move.
By contrast, let us compare this Beastie Boys opus to another song about fighting, by the Flaming Lips.
"Fight Test" by Flaming Lips
I thought I was smart, I thought I was right
I thought it better not to fight
I thought there was a virtue in always being cool
So it came time to fight, I thought I�ll just step aside
And that the time would prove you wrong
And that you would be the fool
I don�t know where the sunbeams end and that the starlights begin
It�s all a mystery
Oh, to fight is to defend
If it�s not now then tell me when would be the time
That you would stand up and be a man
For to lose I could accept
But to surrender I just wept
And regretted this moment, oh that I, I was the fool
I don�t know where the sunbeams end and that the starlights begin
It�s all a mystery
And I don�t know how a man decides what�s right for his own life
It�s all a mystery
�Cause I�m a man, not a boy
And there are things you can�t avoid
You have to face them when you�re not prepared to face them
If I could, I would, but you�re with him
I�d do no good
I should have fought him but instead I let him, I let him take you
I don�t know where the sunbeams end and that the starlights begin
It�s all a mystery
And I don�t know how a man decides what�s right for his own life
It�s all a mystery
Now, this is nothing to do with politics in general let alone Iraq in particular. For all I know, the Flaming Lips may be the biggest anti-war peace fags on the planet. They could even conceivably be rational adults who oppose the war. They might support the president. You can't tell on the basis of this song, as it is about something much more personal.
Whichever way you want to look at it, these lyrics mean something. Somebody is actually having a reflective moment, thinking seriously about their place in the world. The lyrics have some emotional nuance. They are poetic, without being ham handed. It is a well thought-out lyric. Oh, it also comes attached to an honest-to-Rand MELODY.
Look, I'm open to some anti-war protest songs. If you want me to swallow the cheap politics though, you're going to have to come up with a real song. At least Lennon's silly-ass "Give Peace a Chance" was catchy.
posted by Al at 3/12/2003 10:59:00 AM
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