The market keeps rising up. The big machines control the sea and the air
Those big machines, they gotta go somewhere.
So we keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
And then those questions come up.
Like was the Constitution written in invisible ink?
Has everybody here forgotten how to think?
Is this great big boat starting to sink?
Pinpoint nukes. Ready to fight. Dressed to kill. Sure we're right.
Welcome to, welcome to, welcome to the American night.
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up.
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
You know Tom Paine wrote the first best-seller at a dark time in the Revolution when we were losing and all the soldiers were deserting. Giving up. And the book was called “Common Sense” and it was really just a long list of questions. And one of the questions was: “Does it make common sense for an island to rule a continent?” And everybody kind of went hmmm and they signed back up.
And today you could ask: “Does it make common sense for a country to rule the world?”
But no matter what your answer, no matter what you think, no matter what you vote for
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
And you thought there were things that had disappeared forever.
Things from the Middle Ages.
Beheadings and hangings and people in cages.
And suddenly they were everywhere.
And suddenly they're alright.
Welcome to, welcome to, welcome to the American night.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
Those big machines, they gotta go somewhere.
So we keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
And then those questions come up.
Like was the Constitution written in invisible ink?
Has everybody here forgotten how to think?
Is this great big boat starting to sink?
Pinpoint nukes. Ready to fight. Dressed to kill. Sure we're right.
Welcome to, welcome to, welcome to the American night.
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up.
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
You know Tom Paine wrote the first best-seller at a dark time in the Revolution when we were losing and all the soldiers were deserting. Giving up. And the book was called “Common Sense” and it was really just a long list of questions. And one of the questions was: “Does it make common sense for an island to rule a continent?” And everybody kind of went hmmm and they signed back up.
And today you could ask: “Does it make common sense for a country to rule the world?”
But no matter what your answer, no matter what you think, no matter what you vote for
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
We just keep calling em up, calling em, calling em up. No matter what.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
And you thought there were things that had disappeared forever.
Things from the Middle Ages.
Beheadings and hangings and people in cages.
And suddenly they were everywhere.
And suddenly they're alright.
Welcome to, welcome to, welcome to the American night.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
We keep callin’ em up, callin’ em, callin’ em up.
inviata da Bernart - 7/9/2013 - 23:47
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Parole e musica di Laurie Anderson
Nell’albun intitolato “Homeland”
Nel 1776 Thomas Paine pubblicava anonimamente (firmandosi “Written by an Englishman”) il suo “Common Sense”, riflessione sulla improcrastinabile necessità per gli americani di ottenere l’indipendenza dalla Gran Bretagna: “Ha un senso, una logica che un’isola domini tutto un continente?”
La domanda che si pose Paine viene qui attualizzata dalla Anderson: “Ha un senso, una logica che un paese domini il mondo? Benvenuti nella notte americana, un’oscurità dove ricompaiono dappertutto cose da Medioevo, cose che si credevano scomparse per sempre: decapitazioni, impiccagioni e persone in gabbia...”
Mi pare che la domanda della Anderson sia molto cocente in questi giorni, con il vento di guerra americano che soffia verso la già martoriata Siria, un vento di guerra che paradossalmente è alimentato da un personaggio fresco di un premio (ig)nobel per la pace...