Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart Lyrics
Grenada - Haiti - Poland - Nicaragua
Who shall we choose for our morality
I'm thinking right now of Hollywood tragedy
Cuba, Mexico can't cauterise our discipline
Your idols speak so much of the abyss
Yet your morals only run as deep as the surface
Tipper Gore was a friend of mine
I love a free country
The stars and stripes and an apple for mommy
(Democrats say) "There ain't enough white in the Stars and Stripes"
The white man has just found a new moral saviour
Vital stats - how white was their skin
Unimportant - just another inner-city drive-by thing
Real privilege, it will take your problems away
Number one - the best - no excuse from me
I am here to serve the Moral Majority
Tipper Gore was a friend of mine
I love a free country
The stars and stripes and an apple for mommy
The world's first taste of crucified grace
(And we say) there's not enough black in the Union Jack
(And we say) there's so much white in the Stars and Stripes
Fuck the Brady bill!
If God made man they say
Sam Colt made him equal
It's not that nice about england either. Just about racism and the racism that is still present in our society. Focusing on America.
The song title means what it says. It is based on the idea that if "white America", i.e. the political elite could just be honest and own up to it's own citizen's that it corrupt and looking after it's own interests then it would implode.
The reality is that a lack of gun control and available drugs in the poverty ridden areas of America means that the white elite don't have to watch their own backs - the poor can just appear to dwell in a cesspit of their own making.
The song wants to illustrate that America isn't the land of the free it claims to be - it wants to show that has developed into an apparent land of make-believe, fantasy, Hollywood and mass produced shite. Big Macs and the "American Dream".
At the begining the lyrics show that some people are prepared to pay $1000 for plates of food in celebration of people who did nothing to develop the country and litterally looked after their own endeavours and didn't give a toss for anything else. After all why should they? These elitists have got everything to loose by helping anybody else out, their world would just fall apart if they did, it would destroy their own personal "American Dream".
Just think about it...
On inspection the American Dream appears to be a highly self destructive philosophy that billions of people buy into through fear and fabrication.
REFERENCES.
The title is a quote from Lenny Bruce and is most likely shortned to fit on the album cover. But that IS how it's spelt and it's NOT a potshot at American linguistics.
Grenada-Haiti-Poland-Nicaragua = all places where the US military have fought
Tipper Gore = For my fellow brits, she's Al Gore's wife and, long story short, she's the reason for those bloody 'Parental advisory' stickers on CDs.
Union Jack = UK's flag, in case you didn't know.
Moral Majority = movement of rich conservative christians that started around 1979 who believe in pro-life, censorship and the suppression of homosexuality. I'm sure Jesus would dissaprove of the cunts as much as most sane people do.
Zapruder = In case you've been on Mars for the last 50 years, this fella had hand-held camera footage of the Kennedy assassination. Back and to the left. Back and to the left....
Sam Colt = Gun manufacturer. The lyric is a popular saying.
Brady Bill = named after the fella who took a shot at Reagan and didn't finish the job, unfortunately. The bill legislated the five-day waiting period for guns in the US.
The higlight of the album to be sure, and yes, the sample IS an advert for a real event... the horror the horror.
Conservative say: there ain't no black in the union jack Democrat say: there ain't enough white in the stars and stripes
No difference between progressives and conservatives when it comes to the issue of race is what I think they're saying here. Interesting that they used Conservative instead of Republican, expands the song beyond being just America.
My fav bit is the bit about privilege, they're saying that most people don't care about social problems so long as they have their little comforts.
Actually, I think he's making the point that there is no difference between the American left and British right: in Britain it is perfectly acceptable to be a socialist and one of our main parties, Labour, were hardline socialists until not too long ago, you might even argue that they're still socialists of some kind. It's a criticism of America and it's lack of tolerance for new ideas, especially socialism. It's also a criticism of America's susceptibility to propaganda, e.g. McCarthy and the red scare. (I know it doesn't mention McCarthy but to me it conjours up his image)
Actually, I think he's making the point that there is no difference between the American left and British right: in Britain it is perfectly acceptable to be a socialist and one of our main parties, Labour, were hardline socialists until not too long ago, you might even argue that they're still socialists of some kind. It's a criticism of America and it's lack of tolerance for new ideas, especially socialism. It's also a criticism of America's susceptibility to propaganda, e.g. McCarthy and the red scare. (I know it doesn't mention McCarthy but to me it conjours up his image)
Big mac: smack: phoenix r: please smile y'all Cuba, Mexico can't cauterize our discipline Your idols speak so much of the abyss Yet your morals only run as deep as the surface
a simple reference to river phoenix's overdose and what that does and doesn't mean to society in general. it speaks of a lack of understanding and empathy, and i would assume big mac refers to the disposable nature of pop-culture icons
It's really clever how the music in the chorus (cool-groovy-morning-fine etc) is made to sound really... patriotic and jolly. You can't help doing a little American dancer style salute while listening to it, which makes it such a contrast to the rest of the lyrics.
It's so hard to tell with early Manics when they're being sincere, when they're being sarcastic, and when they're just saying something controversial for the sake of being controversial. That said the gun control element of this song doesn't seem sincere to me, and Finland's quote seems to back that up.
As for the anti-American sentiment of the song, I think that while it's criticising America, I think it's also criticising both Americans who believe that their country is the only one to suffer the problems discussed (i.e., the song is saying that the USA's problems are no more important than anyone else's, despite what Americans might like to think) and Britons who hold up America as an example of All That Is Wrong without being willing to address the similar issues we have over here.
This is the proper title. It's one word, not separate.
And by the way blind rockstar, we really don't need some fucking skater whose favourite band are one hit wonder thickheads commenting on what way the manics choose to have their song titles.
America took action to suppress socialist - potentially communist - uprisings in Grenada, Haiti, and Nicaragua (and Chile, and Guatemala...), in case anyone was wondering what their relevance was. And I've since discovered that the title was inspired by Lenny Bruce, a controversial American comedian who strongly opposed censorship. Info courtesy of www.manics.nl, if anyone's interested.