Since this is my first diary, indulge for a moment the explanation of topic... There are so many contributors with a better handle on politics than I that I enjoy reading their work and seldom comment. I don't want to freeload, so I choose to write about something I hope is relevant - politics in music. I hope this isn't distracting to the general discourse. Since music is a common language of the people and has been used historically to share views on philosophies, including political thought, I think it's relevant - please comment if you think otherwise.
I chose Mind Bomb as a first diary entry because it is possibly the most politically charged and still relevant album to emerge from the 1980's. The lineup was a little different from the regular members of The The, and so it sounds different from any of their other work. This is, IMHO, a good thing. I want to give a little personal history on how I learned of this album before getting into the music itself.
My Personal History with Mind Bomb:
It was 1990, and I was in my fourth year at the state university. My roomie John and I went to a party at one of the "art fag" houses (I use the phrase with some cheekiness - John was a self-professed art fag. No offense intended...) Everybody was on mushrooms that night, it seemed. The house was hot, reeked of pot, and there was a general din, not one huge uproar, but several small groups of people talking enthusiastically, several small little calamities that added up to a general din. As we filtered through the front room, these conversations passed over us one after the other. One group of people was spinning Mind Bomb in a corner, and just listening, not talking. As we walked by that group, John turned to me and exclaimed "did they just say 'God doesn't go to church?' I need to hear that!" I wasn't paying any attention at all, but, after he excitedly petitioned them to spin it back a little bit, he joyfully exclaimed "Holy shit! They did! They said 'God doesn't even go to church'! Here, listen! And that's all it took for John. The next day he went on a quest to find a copy of Mind Bomb and see what other heresy lurked within. He hooked me the next day, and this is still one I'll pull off the shelf when the time is right. Incidentally, the guy on the album cover looks like he could be John's twin brother, so I've always kind of thought of this as belonging to him in some weird way...
The Songs:
You can't title a disc "Mind Bomb" without giving it a short fuse and a big bang. The first song, "Good Morning Beautiful" is that fuse, and contains within it the blasting cap that sets off the bomb:
I know that God lives in everybody's souls
And the only daemon in your world lives in the human heart.
So now ask yourself, what is beauty, what is truth?
Ask yourself whose voice is this that whispers unto you?
Oh, boy. It's going to be preachy. Or is it? Later in the song:
Now some of you will live, and some of you may die.
But remember nothing in your world can kill you inside.
For he is in you, in your great cities of great solitude.
Oh, children, you've still got a lot to fucking learn!
The only way to Heaven is via Hell.
As John said to me as the last tones of the song faded out, "Here comes the album." To wit, "Good morning, beautiful, Goodbye world..."
"Armageddon Days are Here Again" is the next number, and classic rock fans will recognize the opening riff lifted and lightly twisted from "Ballroom Blitz":
Are you ready, Jesus? "Uh huh"
Buddah? "Yeah"
Mohammed? "Okay"
Well, I like this... let's GO!
This song describes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and global Jihad (remember, this is 1989...), and assigns blame to all religious fundamentalists (mainly Christians and Muslims) who have ignored the message of peace in their respective scriptures. And it does all this with a catchy, pop beat that is a little disarming:
'It's war!' she cried, 'It's war!' she cried, 'THIS IS WAR!'
Drop your posessions, all you simple folk.
You fighting on the beaches in your underclothes,
You'll thank the good lord for raising the Union Jack,
You'll watch your ships sail out of the harbor,
and the bodies come floating back.
Well, if you think that Jesus Christ is coming,
honey, you've got another think coming.
If they ever find out who hijacked his name,
they'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave.
Islam is rising, the Christians mobilizing.
The world is on its elbows and knees,
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds...
Wow. There's lots of heavy stuff in that song, you simply must.
Another favorite of mine on this disc is "The Beat(en) Generation", which warns us that we're being intentionally misinformed, and to "open your eyes, open your imagination." This is another quite catchy tune with a dark message. In fact, if you're not paying attention to the lyrics, it kind of bounces by you in a pop-song kind of way. I reproduce the full lyrics here because it's such a powerful message:
When you cast your eyes upon the skyline of this
once proud nation,
And you sense the fear and the hatred
growing in the hearts of its population...
And our youth, oh youth are being seduced
by the greedy hands of politics and half-truths.
The beaten generation, the beaten generation,
reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation.
The beaten generation, the beaten generation,
open your eyes, open your imagination.
We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes and
hypnotized by the satellites and
you believe in what is good and what is right.
You may be worshipping the temples of Mammon,
or lost in the prisms of religion,
but can you still walk back to happiness
when there's nowhere left to run?
The beaten generation...
And when they send in the Special Police
to deliver us from liberty and keep us from peace,
won't the words sit ill upon their tongues,
when they tell us that justice is being done,
and freedom lives in the barrel
of a warm gun?
The beaten generation...
Still right on point, still relevant. And even more so given the current war profiteering situation and media manipulation.
This entire album is full of such heady themes, these are a few of the most politically relevant examples. Besides hitting on agnosticism, religious extremism, and war, they take on several matters of the heart - themes of co-dependence, unrequieted love, reconciliation, and lust. The last three tracks on the disc, by the way, are great makeout songs. By the time "Beyond Love" is over, you'll be dry-humping like teenagers. Mind Bomb is highly recommended listening.
UPDATE: Thanks to monkeybiz for this link to The The's jukebox!