There once was a song called "Arrest The President."
Contemporary music, a hit with the kids, it was a top ten.
I wasn't pop then, so I missed the bus a bit,
But politics was on everybody's hot this summer list.
The cool kids were all rocking votes,
I shit you not, I was pistol whippin' cops for hip hop. [Booyea!]

On my soap box yelling into megaphones.
Killing hard rocks using carcasses as stepping stones.
Had to promise that I'd stop holding my marches
The day that Chris Columbus got crucified on golden arches.
My pedestal was too tall to climb off,
In fact that's the reason for the high horse.
And from up here I see Marines and Hummers on a conquest;
Underdogs with wonderbras in a push-up contest,
All for the sake of military recruitment.
It felt like Kent State the way they targeted the students,
I galloped off whistling "Ohio."
The rest of them, stuck doing stand up at a cricket convention.
What would they die for? (repeat)
Is it the same machine that leaves the quality of life poor?
An abominable colony of cyborgs?
Clogging up the property that I bought with eyesores?

That clever ad campaign ain't worth
The time taken from minimum wage labor;
I don't care how half-naked or fake she looks,
She smells like dirty cash and aged paper books.
What would she die for?
Slow down Gandhi, you're killin' em
Slow down Gandhi, you're killin' em.

Now it's whistle blower vs. the pistol holder;
Case dismissed, they'll lock you up and throw away the key witness.
Justice is the whim of a judge, check his chest density,
It leaves much room for error, and the rest left to destiny.
The West Memphis 3 lost paradise,
It's death penalty vs. suicidal tendencies.
All I wanted was a fucking Pepsi.
Institution.
Making you think you're crazy is a billion dollar industry.
If they could sell sanity in a bottle
They'd be charging for compressed air,
And marketing healthcare.
They demonize welfare,
Middle class eliminated,
Rich get richer til the poor get educated.

But some of y'all still haven?t grown into your face,
And your face doesn't quite match your head.
And I'm waiting for a brain to fill the dead space that's left,
You're all, "Give me ethnicity or give me dreads."
Trustafundian rebel without a cause for alarm,
Cause when push turns to shove
You jump into your forefathers arms.
He's a banker, you're part of the system,
Off go the dreadlocks in comes the income.
The briefcase (the freebase)
The sickness (the symptom)
When the cameras start rollin' stay the fuck outta the picture pilgrim!
The briefcase (the freebase)
The sickness (the symptoms)
When the cameras start rollin'...
Slow down Gandhi, you're killin' em.

Mr. Save The World, spare us the details,
Save the females from losing interest.
And Miss Save The Universe,
You're a damsel in distress,
Tied down to a track of isolated incidents.
Generalize my disease,
I need a taste of what it's like.
Living off the fat of kings,
I play the scab at your hunger strike.
Slow down Gandhi, you're killin'em.

One love, one life, one too many victims.
Republicrat, Democran, one party system.
Media goes in a frenzy,
They're stripped of their credentials.
Presidential candidates can't debate over this instrumental.
Let 'em freestyle, winner takes all,
When the music?s dead, I'll have Ted Nugent?s head hangin' on my wall.
Kill one of ours, we'll kill one of yours.
With some friendly fire, that?s a funny term, like civil war.

Six in the morning, police at my crib.
Now my nights consist of two toothpicks and eyelids.
The crucifix and vitamins, music that is pirated.
New flavored food made of mutated hybrids.
Uh, they tell me that it's not that bad.
It fucks you up good, but its not that bad.
They hold on to these tales till it's the dog that wags.
God save us all if he lets the cat out the bag.

Who's the one to blame for this strain in my vocal chords?
Who can pen a hateful threat but can't hold a sword?
It's the same who complain about the global war,
But can't overthrow the local joker that they voted for.

They call the shots
(but they're not in the line of fire).
I call the cops
(but they're breakin the line of duty).
Lets call a stop to the abuse of authority.
The truth keeps callin' me, and I'ma live to tell the story.

So look for truth, quit seeking forgiveness.
You need to cut the noose, but you don't believe in scissors.
You support the troops by wearing yellow ribbons?
Just bring home my motherfuckin' brothers and sisters.

Cause they don't call the shots
(but they're in the line of fire).
I'd like to call the cops
(but they're breakin' the line of duty).
It's time to call a stop
(To the abuse of authority).
The truth keeps calling me
And I'ma live to tell the story.


[Meadow superstar
That is what you are
Coming from a farm
Reaching with your arm
Come away with me
To another ranch
We can rely on a tree-branch
(Greeting is on)]


Lyrics submitted by Maraja

Slow Down Gandhi Lyrics as written by Sage Francis

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Slow Down Gandhi song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

27 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    yep got the institutionalized ref.

    FRYEGUYon April 13, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in "There was a time you opened up every doorway you didn't mind if everything wasn't your way" then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else, "Don't pull away that goes against what you told me I look in your eyes I realize what you've sold me is love in a vacuum" so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it, "I think you've changed but you insist that that's not true" quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum", "You look so strange, so distant that you're hardly you Now I can see how you have been acting different You say it's me but I know that it isn't it's love in a vacuum" but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines "You will be lonely if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have, "Love in a vacuum and that's not enough love in a vacuum You will be lonely you'll be the only one who feels this way You will be lonely if you leave me alone You will be lonely you'll be the only one who feels this way it's just not enough" you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment, "You will be lonely you'll be the only one who feels this way it's just not enough and just wait you will be lonely Love in a vacuum Love in a vacuum and that's not enough Love in a vacuum". 'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song. Quintessential Aimee Mann.
Album art
Siberian Kiss
Glassjaw
its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
Album art
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Album art
The Spy
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
Album art
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate