Just listened to this song closely the other day and was amazed by the wit of Jack's songwriting. The song is definitely about the US invasion/liberation (depending who you talk to) of Iraq. Song starts with accordian
"Trouble travels fast" - You can quickly start a war
"When you're specially designed for crash testing" - When you spend a lot of money on weapons and military (Military-Industrial Complex)
"Or wearing wool sunglasses in the afternoon" - Or when we have the wool over our eyes, blind to what's really going on.
"Come on and tell us what you're trying to prove" - To the US Govt; what are you really trying to do
"Because it's a battle when you dabble in war" - Saying the war was not made with a serious decision, almost like a hobby
"You store it up, unleash it, then you piece it together" - You prepare for the war, execute it, when it hasn't gone as you intended you try to figure out a way to resolve it and package it for the media
"Whether the storm drain running rampant just stamp it" - Regardless of the outcome, say we've won
"And send it to somebody who's pretending to care" - And tell all the world that we did, yet nobody cares
"Just cash in your blanks for little toy tanks" - Blanks could be diplomacy
"Learn how to use them, then abuse them and choose them"
"Over conversations relationships are overrated" - Definitely military force over diplomacy
""I hated everyone" said the sun" - no clue
"And so I will cook all your books" - False documentation on weapons of mass destruction
"You're too good looking and mistooken" - American's didn't search for truth
"You could watch it instead, From the comfort of your burning beds" - American's didn't get involved, just watched on TV
"Or you can sleep through the static" - Or didn't pay attention at all
Who needs sleep when we've got love? - We should care about what's going on and do something
"Who needs keys when we've got clubs?" - 2 ways of opening doors
"Who needs please when we've got guns?" - 2 ways of getting what you want
"Who needs peace when we've gone above" - We are already at war
"But beyond where we should have gone? We went beyond where we should have gone" - We shouldn't have gone to war
"Stuck between channels my thoughts all quit, I thought about them too much, allowed them to touch, The feelings that rained down on the plains all dried and cracked" - With all the news of the war, he stopped thinking about the details and his heart started feeling what those in Iraq might feel, making to the reference to the weapons raining down on Iraq's dry and cracked plains
"Waiting for things that never came" - Waiting for the end that didn't come
"Shock and awful thing to make somebody think" - Reference to the shock and awe strategy
"That they have to choose pushing for peace supporting the troops" - Made to feel you are against US troops if you support peace
"And either you're weak or you'll use brut force-feed the truth" - people made to think that diplomacy shows weakness, military shows might
"The truth is we say not as we do" - We go against our American ideals and values
"We say anytime, anywhere, just show your teeth and strike the fear
Of god" - demonstrate US military force whenever we want
"wears camouflage, cries at night and drives a dodge" - with soldiers who are regular people
"Well mighty mighty appetite, we just eat 'em up and keep on driving" - appetite for conquest; take one country, keep on going
"Freedom can be freezing take a picture from the pretty side" - the freedom we bring isn't freedom, but the US Govt focuses on what looks good
"Mind your manners wave your banners" - told to support the country and war
"What a wonderful world that this angle can see" - from our TVs it all looks good
Just listened to this song closely the other day and was amazed by the wit of Jack's songwriting. The song is definitely about the US invasion/liberation (depending who you talk to) of Iraq. Song starts with accordian
"Trouble travels fast" - You can quickly start a war "When you're specially designed for crash testing" - When you spend a lot of money on weapons and military (Military-Industrial Complex) "Or wearing wool sunglasses in the afternoon" - Or when we have the wool over our eyes, blind to what's really going on. "Come on and tell us what you're trying to prove" - To the US Govt; what are you really trying to do
"Because it's a battle when you dabble in war" - Saying the war was not made with a serious decision, almost like a hobby "You store it up, unleash it, then you piece it together" - You prepare for the war, execute it, when it hasn't gone as you intended you try to figure out a way to resolve it and package it for the media "Whether the storm drain running rampant just stamp it" - Regardless of the outcome, say we've won "And send it to somebody who's pretending to care" - And tell all the world that we did, yet nobody cares
"Just cash in your blanks for little toy tanks" - Blanks could be diplomacy "Learn how to use them, then abuse them and choose them" "Over conversations relationships are overrated" - Definitely military force over diplomacy ""I hated everyone" said the sun" - no clue
"And so I will cook all your books" - False documentation on weapons of mass destruction "You're too good looking and mistooken" - American's didn't search for truth "You could watch it instead, From the comfort of your burning beds" - American's didn't get involved, just watched on TV "Or you can sleep through the static" - Or didn't pay attention at all
Who needs sleep when we've got love? - We should care about what's going on and do something "Who needs keys when we've got clubs?" - 2 ways of opening doors "Who needs please when we've got guns?" - 2 ways of getting what you want "Who needs peace when we've gone above" - We are already at war "But beyond where we should have gone? We went beyond where we should have gone" - We shouldn't have gone to war
"Stuck between channels my thoughts all quit, I thought about them too much, allowed them to touch, The feelings that rained down on the plains all dried and cracked" - With all the news of the war, he stopped thinking about the details and his heart started feeling what those in Iraq might feel, making to the reference to the weapons raining down on Iraq's dry and cracked plains "Waiting for things that never came" - Waiting for the end that didn't come
"Shock and awful thing to make somebody think" - Reference to the shock and awe strategy "That they have to choose pushing for peace supporting the troops" - Made to feel you are against US troops if you support peace "And either you're weak or you'll use brut force-feed the truth" - people made to think that diplomacy shows weakness, military shows might "The truth is we say not as we do" - We go against our American ideals and values
"We say anytime, anywhere, just show your teeth and strike the fear Of god" - demonstrate US military force whenever we want "wears camouflage, cries at night and drives a dodge" - with soldiers who are regular people
"Well mighty mighty appetite, we just eat 'em up and keep on driving" - appetite for conquest; take one country, keep on going "Freedom can be freezing take a picture from the pretty side" - the freedom we bring isn't freedom, but the US Govt focuses on what looks good "Mind your manners wave your banners" - told to support the country and war "What a wonderful world that this angle can see" - from our TVs it all looks good