The eternal dream. Pursuing it looks naff. But it lurks inside. It guides. It prods. It doesn’t let you go. But it’s ephemeral enough that it can’t lead. Some let it overwhelm them. Some of them end up dead. Some who could achieve it never manage to harness its energy, choosing a path less perilous.
Spend some time watching dUNETX mainman Chris Sacco on stage and you know it’s in there. But what he does with this song is staddle that line between embracing it and observing it from a safe distance. Musically, it gets on a mid-tempo rail and rides. But the lyrics flip back and forth between the simultaneously personal and universal (rolling up on that special someone) and the more rarified air of megalomania (closing your eyes and coming undone)
dUNETX has always worn its influences on its sleeve and this particular number draws from the Smashing Pumpkins end of the band’s pool. Both guitars and vocals drone while rubbing your eardrums. But they also build with enough wiggle to move things forward, keeping the listener waiting for the next bend. Surely something has to give.
Guitar Solo One yields. Guitar Solo Two builds. And then reality breaks. Icon, that’s the way it has to be. You got your rock star type clothes on. Where’d you get those threads? You used to be Jimi Hendrix? Or was that the Doors?
It’s how science works. You try something and then you keep refining it. I guarantee the first submarine didn’t work. Nor attempt to split the atom. Nor the first polio vaccine. The difference this time is it directly involves billions of human lives and lots of them are able to communicate whatever bs or good information they feel like passing along, leaving the rest of us to sort it out.
Just go get vaccinated.
—
Almost 100% of the Republican party’s attention is still focused on a combination of perpetrating the lie that the 2020 election was somehow stolen form Donald Trump and trying to obstruct investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection. It’s almost like there’s nothing to be done; no problems to solve nor bridges to fix, no virus to quell nor crime wave to nix.
From a recent Trump fundraising email:
They fabricated vote counts of 100–0 for Biden, many times!
“I warned you this would happen, Friend. What else will they find once the full Forensic Audit takes place?”
Who ‘they’ are is never defined, of course, It’s just important that they exist so there’s a bogeyman to fear. It’s also not clear how one “fabricates vote counts of 100-0 for Biden, many times,” but is sure looks bad. He’s our friend and he warned us this would happen, and the Forensic Audit hasn’t even happened yet! More terror surely lies ahead.
—
Meanwhile in Houston, regarding the defection of Democratic members of the Texas state house to DC, the proposal has been put forward to make ‘quorum denial’ a felony, thereby allowing people engaged in it to be arrested upon return.
“These steps wouldn’t be a rock solid way to ensure no future walk outs occur,” says one proponent. “However taking these steps, along with codifying [that] the Attorney General has prosecutorial authority in the venue of their choosing goes a long way to injecting fear and uncertainty to the process.”
The target might be somewhat different than the Trump email, but the overall effort is the same: scare people into believing that something terrible is happening to them so that they’ll vote for you. I guess you’ve got to do what you can if you’re not going to propose solutions to actual problems.
The presumably unintentional outing of the GOP MO is pretty cool too: Injecting Fear and Uncertainty to the Process.
Gov. Abbott called a second special session Aug. 5, doubling down on voter suppression efforts while once again ignoring the state’s failed power grid.
Then again, he and the rest of his cronies are getting paid handsomely for their looking the other way. Gov. Greg and Lt. Dan you already know. Perhaps less familiar are State Rep. Chris Paddie (R-Marshall, HD9) and State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown, SD5). Anyway, they’re among the legion of elected officials the energy business backed it cash trucks up for.
Source: Texas Tribune
Or as one University of Texas professor put it
Source: Texas Tribune
In any case, Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston, HD23) got right to work filing a bill to define legislative vacancy in order “to prevent legislators from quitting on Texas and their offices.” HB 309 defines a legislative vacancy as 14 consecutive days of unexcused absences from the chamber in which the member holds office.
Article XVI, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution prescribes the Oath of Office for elected officers that requires members of the Legislature to swear that he or she will “faithfully execute the duties of the office” to which the member is elected.
Speaking on his bill, Rep. Middleton said, “If you repeatedly don’t show up for work, you are fired from your job, our offices should be no different. Excessive, unexcused absences are certainly a violation of each member’s oath of office and a refusal to do the job the member is elected to do.” Mr. Middleton should be reminded that job the absent legislators and he were both elected to do was to represent their constituents, which they did.
—
Not to be outdone by his legislative colleagues, Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright proposesd that the natural gas industry receive tax incentives similar to those provided for renewable energy projects. Wright advocated tax credits for gas pipelines, storage projects, and power plants. Such provisions would better protect the state’s infrastructure from weather disasters like the deadly February freeze while also reducing flaring, according to Wright.
Well sure, if your buddies in the state house would compel them to do so. Otherwise, they’ll just be used to pad the bottom line…and make campaign contributions.
Notes: Pres. Trump has been blasting CCR’s ‘Fortunate Son’ as walk on music during his campaign. Its use works like a charm, highlighting the limited comprehension, scofflaw tendencies, and general trollishness that have been highlights of his time in office. Its use has continued despite John Fogerty’s requests that it stop.
Fogerty’s initial response came in a September video.”I wrote the song back in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War,” Fogerty said in the video, as reported by Insider.com “By the time I wrote the song, I had already been drafted and had served in the military. And I’ve been a lifelong supporter of our guys and gals in the military, probably because of that experience, of course.”
Fogerty continued in his video, saying: “Back in those days, we still had a draft, and something I was very upset about was the fact that people of privilege, in other words, rich people, or people that had position, could use that to avoid the draft and not be taken into the military. I found that very upsetting that such a thing could occur, and that’s why I wrote ‘Fortunate Son.'”
He then noted the song’s opening verses: “Some folks are born, made to wave the flag / Ooh, their red, white, and blue / And when the band plays ‘Hail to the Chief’ / Ooh, they point the cannon at you.”
“It’s a song I could’ve written now, so I find it confusing, I would say, that the president has chosen to use my song for his political rallies, when in fact, it seems like he is probably the fortunate son,” Fogerty said, ending the video.
The song hasn’t lost an ounce of its edge. I’ve included a couple of my favorite covers at the end of the post (though nothing matches the intensity of the original).
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — People with more specialized platforms—law enforcement officials, garbage men, bus drivers, etc.—were compensated more for whatever role they felt comfortable playing.
Lyrics: Some folks are born made to wave the flag Ooh, they’re red, white and blue And when the band plays “Hail To The Chief” Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no Some folks are born silver spoon in hand Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no, no It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no Yeah!
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord And when you ask them, “How much should we give?” Ooh, they only answer, “More! More! More!” Yo
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, son It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, one It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no no no It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son, no no no
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Notes: Enviro-core! Boston-based Tree made saving the Earth its main mission. But the group also kept an eye on other aspects of life in America, in this instance conjuring the ol’ “love it or leave it” trope to wonder how it is our leaders can lie with impunity while the rich get richer off the people’s backs. Maybe there’s a connection.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — Freedom of assembly on the part of the nation’s youth was legislated against to the extent that any person wishing to host a group bigger than 100 people 16-years or older had to first register the event and then accept criminal liability for any misdeeds.
Lyrics: Love it or leave it that’s what they say Love it or leave it the American way
I love this country I love this land But tolerance for liars I won’t stand Not a ring of truth in the political lies The rich get richer while the innocent die
Love it or leave it that’s what they say Change it, believe it It could happen today
If our founding fathers were alive today They’d all be rounded up and be locked away Stripped of all the rights that they created And everything they own would be confiscated
Love it or leave it that’s what they say Change it believe it It could happen today
FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE ALL OF US CREATED EQUAL RISE!!
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Notes:
Want to get scared? Put your radio on the AM and start surfing. Back when there were ownership limits, changing the frequency could change the sound. But now it’s all talk, all the time. And the talk is peddling fear. And the fear is sponsored by those selling the solution. Rights? Yeah, right. Not even over your own body. Throw you in a cage while burning a cross out front. Don’t forget Rodney King. Or Ollie North.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “The average male would be able to get into his TV set, to live the dream rather than just watching it.”
Lyrics
Turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Merge on tha networks, slangin’ nerve gas
Up jump tha boogie then bang, let ’em hang
While tha paraniod try ta stuff tha void
Let’s capture this AM mayhem
Undressed, and blessed by tha Lord
Tha power pendulum swings by tha umbilical cord Shock around tha clock, from noon ’til noon Men grabbin’ they mics, and stuff ’em into tha womb Terror’s tha product ya push Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages an scapegoats
Undressed and blessed by tha Lord
Tha same devil that ran around Managua wit a sword
Check out tha new style that Ollie found
I tune in wit a bullet ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Tha program of Vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound
Turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Flex tha cerebellum, fire, uh!
Somebody gotta shell ’em
These evil angels lists, hittin’ tha AM playlist
Paid ta say this
That one inhuman, illegal, single woman
Tha one wit out a room
The transmissions wippin’ our backs
Yeah, comin’ down like bats from Stacy Coon
Terror’s tha product ya push
Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Tha sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages and scapegoats
One caution tha mics a detonator unwound
Ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Check tha heads bow in vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Radio, nah fuck it, turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Notes:
Another lasting impression from my mid-80s patronage of Numbers nightclub/concert venue in Houston (along with Love & Rockets’ version of ‘Ball of Confusion’), this absolute floor filler by Afrika Bambaataa and John Lydon knew what it was talking about. The KGB was going to get us by way of our own screens and military tactics would be employed to control the nation!
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “Phillip was just the latest hotshot with a two-bit theory, and they wanted to see it played out.”
Lyrics
Speak about destruction
Speak about destruction
Speak about destruction
This is a world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Countries are fighting in chemical warfare
Not giving a damn about the people who live
Nostradamus predicts the coming of the Antichrist
Hey, look out, the third world nations are on the rise
The democratic communist relationship
Won’t stand in the way of the Islamic force
The CIA is looking for other tactics
The KGB is smarter than you think
Brainwash mentalities to control the system
Using TV and movies – religions of course
Yes, the world is headed for destruction
Is it a nuclear war?
What are you asking for?
Eins, zwei, drei, vier
This is a world destruction
Your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
The rich get richer
The poor are getting poorer
Fascist, chauvinistic government fools
People, Muslims, Christians and Hindus
Are in a time zone just searching for the truth
Who are you to think you’re a superior race?
Facing forth your everlasting doom
We are Time Zone
We’ve come to drop a bomb on you
World destruction, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom
This is the world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Nationalities are fighting with each other
Why is this? Because the system tells you
Putting people in racist categories
Knowledge isn’t what it used to be
Military tactics to control a nation
Who wants to be a president or king? Me!
Mother Nature is gonna work against you
Nothing in your power that you can do
Yes, the world is headed for destruction
You and I know it, ’cause the bible tells you
If we don’t start to look for a better life
The world will be destroyed in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Speak about destruction
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Speak about destruction
Time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Destruction
Destruction
Time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone (destruction)
I’m in a time zone
No
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Notes:
Power Trip has been laying down socially conscious crossover thrash out of Dallas, Tex., since 2008 and ‘Armageddon Blues’ gets almost back to the very beginning. Focused primarily on man’s failed stewardship of earth, the ultimate message is do what you can while you can but be getting your affairs in order in the meantime!
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “Neither karma nor irony were things Nathan spent much time mulling; except for when he once wondered to himself how he’d ended up getting into so much trouble despite being kind to women.”
Lyrics:
PROGRESSION has ceased!
We’ve doomed ourselves
Armageddon blues cause I can’t fool myself
And though we’d like to pretend that we have the choice
To shape the world without paying the price
Petty obsessions are the least of our transgressions
We’ve raped the land for power and possession
Two thousand years and all we’ll have
Is a planetary toxic deathbed
We’re not blind, we just lost the vision
As the sun remains unrisen
Sewn seeds can never come to fruition
And so the soul remains undriven
THE SOUL REMAINS UNDRIVEN!
You cannot stop the hands of time
You can’t break its wrists because we ignored the signs
In the final hour i’ll do what i can
Despite the futile attempts to stop a violent end
After all, in all that we’ve done
Do you really think we deserve forgiveness? NO!
Light for humanity is looking dim
If there’s a god, we’ve surely displaced him
Existence unfiltered
We took the gift of life only to burn it in return
Haunting reality, apocalyptic end is guaranteed!
Chemical dawn, come on and bring it on!
Find solace in the warmth of nuclear fog…
And let your armageddon blues turn to bliss!
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Album: Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part 1
Producer: Ray Davies
Label: Reprise
Year: 1970
Notes:
This lament of the modern world’s man-made problems isn’t so much a call to arms as a contemplation of flight. Its laundry list of maladies, however, is coupled with an inescapably catchy chorus, keeping you rooted on the spot. Have some fun while the world burns! It’s not like you’ve got somewhere else to be.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “His host, however, sprang upright, mouth agape and eyes agog.”
Lyrics:
I think I’m sophisticated
‘Cause I’m living my life like a good homosapien
But all around me, everybody’s multiplying
And they’re walking round like flies man
So I’m no better than the animals sitting in their cages
In the zoo man
Because compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an Apeman
I think I’m so educated and I’m so civilized
‘Cause I’m a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I don’t feel safe in this world no more
I don’t want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
And make like an Apeman
I’m an Apeman, I’m an Ape Apeman
No, I’m an Apeman
Well, I’m a King Kong man, I’m a Voo-Doo man
No, I’m an Apeman
‘Cause compared to the sun that sits in the sky
Compared to the clouds as they roll by
Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies
I am an Apeman
I’m an Apeman, I’m an Ape Apeman
No, I’m an Apeman
Well, I’m a King Kong man, I’m a Voo-Doo man
No, I’m an Apeman
I don’t feel safe in this world no more
I don’t want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
And make like an Apeman
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Notes:
I hadn’t paid a second’s worth of attention to this band until I stumbled upon a Facebook Live (while it was happening) of them performing on a set by themselves in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. The power was palpable. Formed from the remnants of three other LA-area bands, Fever 333 played its first show in 2017 in the back of a moving truck parked at a donut shop in Inglewood. The 333 in the band’s name represents the three core views the three-piece band espouses: Community, Charity, and Change. The band’s logo is an homage to the Black Panther Party.
Lyrics:
We are the melanin felons
We are the product of
Plunder and policy that you gotta love
Casinos, amigos on forty acres, uh
They built this shit on our backs
Made an America
Living in terror all while they terrorise
Cover your eyes ’cause people terrified
Fuck all the promises you were promised ’cause
They’re cutting your oxygen ’til you paralysed
Where we land is where we fall (Made an America)
All for one and none for all (Made an America)
No stars dead bodies on the boulevard
Cop cars, true killers, and they still at large
Where we land is where we fall (Made an America)
Home of the big bodies and wide blocks
The government giving ghettos that crack rock
Making quotas off baking soda and mass shock
This ain’t a theory, I saw it happen on my block
The homie Hector selling heroin from nine to five
My brother’s burning down the block when Rodney almost died
We’re giving thanks for measles, blankets, and genocide
They call it “cleaning up the streets”, we call it “homicide”
Where we land is where we fall (Made an America)
All for one and none for all (Made an America)
No stars dead bodies on the boulevard
Cop cars, true killers, and they still at large
Where we land is where we fall (Made an America)
Made an America, we made an America
Made an America, we made an America
Made an America, we made an America
Made an America, we made an America
Ah, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Alright
You built this on our backs
Okay
Show ’em who we is
Where we land is where we fall (Made an America)
All for one and none for all (Made an America)
No stars dead bodies on the boulevard
Cop cars, true killers, and they still at large
Where we land is where we fall (Made an America)
Made an America, we made an America
Made an America, we made an America
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Notes:
This song is steeped deep in the class inequalities bared by the 1992 riots in the band’s hometown of Los Angeles. The message: stop pointing your anger at each other, start pointing it at the people running the show. And don’t forget Black Panther Fred Hampton’s death at the hands of the FBI. Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Lyrics:
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain’t seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain’t seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
Bangin’ this bolo tight on this solo flight can’t fight alone
Funk tha track my verbs fly like tha family stone
Tha pen devils set that stage for tha war at home
Locked wit out a wage ya standin’ in tha drop zone
The clockers born starin’ at an empty plate
Momma’s torn hands cover her sunken face
We hungry but them belly full
The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull
In tha ruins there’s a network for tha toxic rock
School yard ta precinct, suburb ta project block
Bosses broke south for new flesh and a factory floor
The remains left chained to the powder war
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So make a move and plead the fifth ’cause ya can’t plead the first
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain’t seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one
Yes I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain’t seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
Bare witness to tha sickest shot while suckas get romantic
They ain’t gonna send us campin’ like they did my man Fred Hampton
Still we lampin’ still clockin’ dirt for our sweat A ballots dead so a bullet’s what I get A thousand years they had tha tools
We should be takin’ ’em
Fuck tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin’ em Our target straight wit a room full of armed pawn to Off tha kings out tha west side at dawn
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse
Make a move and plead the fifth ’cause ya can’t plead the first
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
These people ain’t seen a brown skin man
Since their grandparents bought one
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
The rungs torn from the ladder can’t reach the tumour One god, one market, one truth, one consumer
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance!
Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we’ll never have Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we don’t have
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Chris Smith, Author 