Did you know, did you know,
That the whole round world
Is going to have to live
The American way,
As interpreted by Bundy (1)
And L.B.J., (2)
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know, did you know,
That the whole round world,
Four billion people
Of every shade and hue,
Is going to have to do
As the Americans do,
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know, did you know,
That the whole world round
Is going to have democracy
Rammed down it's neck
On the model of Trujillo (3)
And Chiang Kai Shek (4)
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know that Americans
Who can't find jobs
Are going into training
Controlling mobs--
People on the march
Who are trying to say
That they don't want to live
The American way
As interpreted by Bundy
And the C.I.A.
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know that Americans
Fight and die For Texaco oil
The whole world round
And a Madison Avenue (5)
In every town
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know, did you know
We've a beautiful role
America the Virtuous
To save the world's soul
The little Bobbie Bakers (6)
The hucksters and the fakers
The gangster empire that nobody stops
General Electric
And the New York cops
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
That the whole round world
Is going to have to live
The American way,
As interpreted by Bundy (1)
And L.B.J., (2)
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know, did you know,
That the whole round world,
Four billion people
Of every shade and hue,
Is going to have to do
As the Americans do,
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know, did you know,
That the whole world round
Is going to have democracy
Rammed down it's neck
On the model of Trujillo (3)
And Chiang Kai Shek (4)
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know that Americans
Who can't find jobs
Are going into training
Controlling mobs--
People on the march
Who are trying to say
That they don't want to live
The American way
As interpreted by Bundy
And the C.I.A.
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know that Americans
Fight and die For Texaco oil
The whole world round
And a Madison Avenue (5)
In every town
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Did you know, did you know
We've a beautiful role
America the Virtuous
To save the world's soul
The little Bobbie Bakers (6)
The hucksters and the fakers
The gangster empire that nobody stops
General Electric
And the New York cops
Did you know, did you know, did you know?
Note:
(1) William Putnam "Bill" Bundy, dirigente della CIA, consigliere per gli affari esteri per i presidenti John F. Kennedy
(2) Lyndon B. Johnson. Ebbe un ruolo chiave nella pianificazione della guerra in Vietnam.
(3) Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, dittatore della Repubblica Dominicana dagli anni ’30 fino al 1961, quando fu assassinato. Trujillo fu un tipico caudillo sanguinario, fanatico anticomunista e perciò sostenuto da Washington fino a quando divenne incontrollabile (pianificò addirittura un attentato ai danni del presidente venezuelano Betancourt). Allora la CIA lo tolse di circolazione.
(4) Chiang Kai-shek è stato un protagonista della storia politica e militare della Cina dagli anni ’20 fino al secondo dopoguerra. Per il suo sviscerato anti-comunismo fu naturalmente sostenuto dagli USA. Nel 1949, sconfitto dai comunisti, riparò a Taiwan dove di fatto istituì un regime autoritario durato fino alla sua morte, avvenuta nel 1975.
(5) La Madison Avenue a Manhattan, New York City, è forse la main street più famosa del mondo.
(6) Robert Gene Baker, consigliere del presidente Lyndon B. Johnson, era un “berlusconi” ante litteram, assai noto per l’abitudine a mescolare impunemente politica e interessi personali.
(1) William Putnam "Bill" Bundy, dirigente della CIA, consigliere per gli affari esteri per i presidenti John F. Kennedy
(2) Lyndon B. Johnson. Ebbe un ruolo chiave nella pianificazione della guerra in Vietnam.
(3) Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, dittatore della Repubblica Dominicana dagli anni ’30 fino al 1961, quando fu assassinato. Trujillo fu un tipico caudillo sanguinario, fanatico anticomunista e perciò sostenuto da Washington fino a quando divenne incontrollabile (pianificò addirittura un attentato ai danni del presidente venezuelano Betancourt). Allora la CIA lo tolse di circolazione.
(4) Chiang Kai-shek è stato un protagonista della storia politica e militare della Cina dagli anni ’20 fino al secondo dopoguerra. Per il suo sviscerato anti-comunismo fu naturalmente sostenuto dagli USA. Nel 1949, sconfitto dai comunisti, riparò a Taiwan dove di fatto istituì un regime autoritario durato fino alla sua morte, avvenuta nel 1975.
(5) La Madison Avenue a Manhattan, New York City, è forse la main street più famosa del mondo.
(6) Robert Gene Baker, consigliere del presidente Lyndon B. Johnson, era un “berlusconi” ante litteram, assai noto per l’abitudine a mescolare impunemente politica e interessi personali.
inviata da Alessandro - 9/6/2009 - 13:40
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Words and music by Malvina Reynolds.
Testo trovato su Broadside Magazine n.59 del giugno 1965.