I was also confused by the seemingly anti-tax lyrics (bc it’s Ted Leo), but I’ve come up an interpretation that I think makes a lot of sense. Notice that the “angels’ ” in “Angels’ Share” is plural, unlike the usual expression “angel’s share,” referring to the amount of liquor that is lost to evaporation.
Like most of the rest of Shake the Streets, it’s about the war in Iraq. The “angels’ share” (alluding to the loss of life in 9/11) is the high portion of tax money that goes to the US military. His “letter to the president [Bush]… to help a girl pay rent” is pleading to use the money to help struggling Americans instead of wasting tax dollars on a war driven by hysteria. Still, he finds the money “we saved” has been “spent” on the military once again. After 9/11, Bush made “a promise to the air,” which is a promise to the “angels” who lost their lives in 9/11. He didn’t have enough information to make a specific promise about how to ensure the safety of Americans, so he began what was basically a war for revenge that turned out to be against the wrong group. The war is a “burden on the land,” a financial burden on the US and the cause of destruction and death in Iraq. In the end, Leo says, “I’m not sure [the angels],” perhaps now referring to the American lives lost in 9/11 and the war thus far, “care.” Why would the dead want in an unnecessary war to continue, causing more unnecessary loss of life? People still acted like we needed to finish the war for them, but it doesn’t actually matter. Instead, we should have stopped the war for their sake so that more people didn’t share their fate.
I was also confused by the seemingly anti-tax lyrics (bc it’s Ted Leo), but I’ve come up an interpretation that I think makes a lot of sense. Notice that the “angels’ ” in “Angels’ Share” is plural, unlike the usual expression “angel’s share,” referring to the amount of liquor that is lost to evaporation.
Like most of the rest of Shake the Streets, it’s about the war in Iraq. The “angels’ share” (alluding to the loss of life in 9/11) is the high portion of tax money that goes to the US military. His “letter to the president [Bush]… to help a girl pay rent” is pleading to use the money to help struggling Americans instead of wasting tax dollars on a war driven by hysteria. Still, he finds the money “we saved” has been “spent” on the military once again. After 9/11, Bush made “a promise to the air,” which is a promise to the “angels” who lost their lives in 9/11. He didn’t have enough information to make a specific promise about how to ensure the safety of Americans, so he began what was basically a war for revenge that turned out to be against the wrong group. The war is a “burden on the land,” a financial burden on the US and the cause of destruction and death in Iraq. In the end, Leo says, “I’m not sure [the angels],” perhaps now referring to the American lives lost in 9/11 and the war thus far, “care.” Why would the dead want in an unnecessary war to continue, causing more unnecessary loss of life? People still acted like we needed to finish the war for them, but it doesn’t actually matter. Instead, we should have stopped the war for their sake so that more people didn’t share their fate.