| Devo – Fresh Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
Devo is the de-evolution band, and the entire album was made with the help of focus groups. This provides a context for the lens in which we look at this song. It describes overpowering stimuli that cannot be found in nature, a phenomena found (and exploited) in modern society, which subsequently gnaws away at free will ("I see a fork in the road..."). There's a word for this, and it's well-studied: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernormal_stimulus More on this concept, and how it relates to marketing and 'devolution' can be found here: http://lesswrong.com/lw/h3/superstimuli_and_the_collapse_of_western/ |
|
| Dead Kennedys – I Am The Owl Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
This is about unwarranted wiretaps being used to discredit and take out political opposition. This song predates Obama's war on whistleblowers, the FISA amendment act, USA PATRIOT Act, recent changes to NDAA that allow indefinite detention of American citizens, and 'Enhanced Interrogation'. Simply put, we've got a bigger problem now. Just think about what these changes enable in a retold narrative of this song. The owl isn't even needed for gathering info anymore, with mass surveillance and a file on everybody, the CIA doesn't need costly targeted wiretaps. With the FISA amendments act, telecoms are immune from prosecution when participating with warrentless wiretaps. But with enormous homeland security budgets, this didn't stop them from flying helicopters during Occupy events to keep a watch. Agent provocateurs were in the crowds trying to escalate things towards violence. The famous Occupy Cleveland bomb threat was entirely manufactured by the FBI who just needed to mislead a few dumb anarchist kids to take the fall, supplying them with all the plans and even a fake bomb. The NDAA enables indefinite pretrial detention of anybody they don't like. Even retweets have been cited for felony charges against journalists investigating the military industrial lobbying complex. Things have changed since Watergate, and whistleblowers have even fewer protections from these little games. |
|
| Dead Kennedys – Moon Over Marin Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| This song showcases the contradictions that arise when greed affects how our government handles the enforcement of property, contrasting the privatization of a beach (usually considered as a public commons) with the laissez-faire attitude towards environmental protection (inevitably leading to an oil spill). The contradiction of values literally washes up upon this yuppie Marin county residence, the proprietor, having given up any concerns of the rest of the world in the pursuit of this symbol of wealth, copes with their oil-sodden acquisition by strapping a gas mask on and sidestepping the remains of ocean fauna to remind themselves of who owns the deed. The irony of it all that nobody now can truly enjoy what once belonged to no one. | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.