Shame a Politician

by Eric Blowtorch

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1.
How to Turn a Slow Boil into a Quick Burn 01:35
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Microchips taking us over Some action is necessary The kids crave action and we get it week after week When will you understand they did not kill that plant with too much love? You killed it with too little When will you understand? When will you understand, you thick-skulled twit? When will you understand you cannot love too much? One day, I swear to G_d, a better time, the jobs not all run out, the love not so far away, and me together OK, Blowtorch not meant to thrive Instead a match thrown out into the gutter Pathetic, alone How you gonna pay the rent? You know you shoulda thought about that on your way out of my good graces You shoulda thought about that I guess you screwed up
2.
E Pluribus Boyfriend 02:15
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The shyest side of the shiningest eyes shone bright like an neon Open sign Look down at the hands of the doctor Look up at the hands of the clocktower This is a story of love never ending It’s new enemies you’re befriending The happiest days were spent waking and walking The happiest nights were spent drinking and talking You got me through a terrible time You drew me over and over but you didn’t draw me over All our friends wondered who those two were and we wondered too Train lines and bus lines Chicago: carried you ‘round the block Some buy candy and flowers, some stay in bed for hours, some dance ‘til they drop When we said goodbye it was more like a cry of “I love you” I loved you When we shook hands as if just friends, mother called to make sure and make damn sure you were alone but we had to stay for one last happy ending We had to smile and to try not to cry Promise me you will try and always try This is a story of love never ending and, if I die, I was not pretending
3.
Cheap Labor 02:30
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Once, when you wanted out, men would come after midnight in your home Change your name and change your name and, whether you approved or not, it was work Baby-boiling bombs or the mail tray trip How deep do you dive, dick, and do you mind a fight, dick? These concerns are really just a check to maybe take you on a fortnight, take you on a fortnight What’s to account for this change of behavior? Feel this back so badly bent Do we feel like a little cheap labor? We could make back that trifle we already spent Last night I met the man with the cigar always checking me out across that bar You know, neon signs, mirrored plaques saying Commie sympathizers keep out in case of attack He believes there was no reason for the trouble or the steward who kept pushing for double His troubled face was soon replaced and he was shipped from the city in the middle of the night Why did I meet the one I said I wouldn’t? I looked in the icebox while you were asleep What’s to account for this change of behavior? Feel this back so badly bent Do we feel like a little cheap labor? This month we even might make rent
4.
The Fools 02:14
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The clown was down, he would take you to town You took each other to heart The man had a plan if you let him down He ran drills in private parts Who’s being fooled and who’s the fool? He’s the latter and it just doesn’t matter, just doesn’t matter Who’s the smile? Who is vile? He’s the two you try to reconcile Forget it, girl, ‘cause it ain’t worth your while ‘Cause he never did nor did he ever know what time it is, was, or will be ‘Cause he never did nor did he ever know what time it is, was, or will be What a time it was, time it was And then there’s Jabo Starksky – never knew what he had You would’ve been glad but he drove you mad The fool – I’d’ve been proud if I’d've been allowed, if I’d've been allowed Sometimes, when the moon shines onto my covers and it’s cold in the lonely kitchen, I sing, La la lala la, la la lala la, la la lala lalala la la La la lala la, la la la I’d speedwalk 26 miles for one of your smiles I’m not counting on my guile to guide me The fools, the fools, the poor stupid fools I’m ashamed I live in this city I’m disgusted I feel this pity Take a look at yourself and see how pretty Take a look at yourself and see how beautiful you are Are you ready? You’re lookin’ like a rock ‘n’ roll star Are you ready? You’re lookin’ pretty ready Let’s go rocking in Jackson, Elmore James on the mic Let’s go rocking in Jackson, Sonny Terry on the motorbike
5.
Wake Up! 04:10
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The girl was spent She was tired of being rent She couldn’t read your mind but you kept pushing like a president She gave you inside and outside and it stripped her of her pride She went upstairs, you went downstairs, and then she cried You never appreciate freedom ‘til you’re in chains You never think about the sun until it rains You never thanked the girl for labor pains She saved you a lot of discomfort Someone has to rise to command You’re familiar with the upper hand Your best friend you left behind for new ones unconfined by charity or morality You’re endured for now – yeah, for now Put your best to the test, walk more rigidly than the rest Recite the pledge with your chest out front and burn it into the brains of the young initiates You never appreciate freedom ‘til you’re in chains You never think about the sun until it rains You never think about from where you came, from where you got your name from where you got your name Some people, some people, some people standing in an awful long line Some people do their brother and doing fine Some would drive ‘cause they cannot walk in style Blowtorch sees ‘em like he calls ‘em: infantile He couldn’t hide it as such: she was better than a fist She didn’t like it this much, still she didn’t resist, wondering all the while, Why, why was I born? Blundering in style – this style has my scorn Now maybe you heard of the brother named Lee, Cutting the film, cutting reality Early on ’88 come the big, big break Larry Fishburne said it first: wake up Too much truth for Saturday night? Women treated like shit? What’s the matter? They might fight back – somebody laughed when somebody cried and I felt that something deep down – it died Spike’s in the right if the truth be told Black people catching hell all over the world and, like he shows you in his previous works, too many women sticking to egotistical jerks Come the big revolt you all might remember black and white men and women got to get it together No struggle’s too hard, no cause too great that women can’t input/output – wake up
6.
Airport Blues 02:22
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And you will not be all right and you will not lead a normal life Don’t take it personally It’s in your mind and you can’t kill G_d
7.
(Jeffrey Lee Spangenberg) 01:13
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8.
Remember 02:31
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You’re older and you’ve seen how sad you can be and how alone you can be but, Tracy, now please see, please run free, jump Remember you are the chosen and it doesn’t matter who chooses What matters is you and only you Remember, Tracy, remember: you don’t get any younger Tracy, you don’t get any younger Stacy, you can’t go on forever and it just doesn’t matter whom you do your dancing around for you will always have love to go around Remember you are the chosen and it doesn’t matter who chooses What matters is you and only you Remember, Tracy, remember: you don’t get any younger But you know I can’t know so I sing for you have always seen through us all and now, Tracy, I look at you in awe
9.
Defenestrate 01:51
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You, you authoritate You stand upon the state You never tolerate You’d better abdicate You, you, you Lest we defenestrate because you stand upon the state and you step on everyone Hey there, candidate Hail thee, good and great Joke about the flaming fate of mankind Call out the press Babble like a madman Threaten first strike Get out of my sight Lest I defenestrate because you stand upon the state and you step on everyone Now I’m so glad there is a right-wing party for our misfits to suck each others thumbs but we don’t need two, said we don’t need two I changed my mind: we don’t need one Sleaze is the word or so you have heard above the propellers’ propelling You make the argument for Yankee parliament strangely compelling Abdicate lest we defenestrate Abdicate lest we defenestrate
10.
His Excellency Ska 03:15
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There he goes, there he goes, two napkins up his nose He’s looking for a plate of them Greek gyros Nobody knows what the rude boy knows What’s his line? Where his mine? Who’s his future wife? What’s the story of his life? I hope his troubles don’t run rife Still nobody knows what the rude boy knows His Excellency is here, is here, is here Forget you ever felt this bad When you meet him you will be glad He is a real person and he really cares If you were imprisoned for those hideous flares he’d march his straight legs up 30 flights of stares and hai karate your abductors unaware He’s heavily conversant with the Harlem Renaissance He took his trousers off at the Homestead High School dance He has a clothier who says he hails from southern France When he says he loves his uncles and his aunts, believe him His Excellency is here, is here, is here He is a soothsayer and a seer When you meet him you will be glad He has more friends than enemies, he has plenty of these He is the Titan of Trash and the King of Compassion He will lend you his surfboard, his records, his car His light is on, he might be home
11.
Keys to Your Heart 03:58
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They say love can move a mountain Love's gonna bring down trees It's on this that I'm counting Cause for your heart I found the keys, keys The keys to your heart heart Yes, I got them on a chain chain When the doors come apart, part and we'll never be the same, same I used to be a teenage drug-taker I used to hate the taste of cheese I was gonna be an undertaker Until for your heart I found the keys, keys The keys to your heart heart Yes, I got them on a chain chain When the doors come apart, part and we'll never be the same, same They put me up in a court of law, pleading to the judge and the jury who saw big blue policeman, little black book wrote it down but he didn't look I changed the lock on your heart and I got the keys Call that a crime? [unknown] Now you know I done cracked the lock It's no use shaking at the knees Don't leave the lock unlocked for your heart I found the keys, keys The keys to your heart heart Yes, I got them on a chain chain When the doors come apart, part and we'll never be the same, same
12.
Best Wishes 02:04
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When saddest times befall and you think to yourself, That’s all and dearest friend become bitterest foes think of me I know how true, how bad, how funny, how sad Darling, walk between the raindrops So we think it’s over and done with, all our energies wasted, all our ever-tumescent fluids flowing down the drain It’s so vital, this one pursuit we got We got it But we’ve lost it, lost it all for good now I seen you crying here, I seen you crying there I want to see you better but no I swear I’ll write, I’ll call Goodbye for now, that’s all It was a shame, you know, that I believed in us
13.
Late Night Convenience Store 03:19
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Lonely Libidinous Fishnet – fair game Night time Right time See her in the theater See her and you weep for the heroic father you never knew and weep for the daytime life you lost and wander through lonely ledgers across your great country Register, radio Late night convenience store Missing someone very far away Cry, cry for her Try, try to call her Try to reach her Spell in the service should teach you and you weep for your teenage malcontent What once was titled Sir is now known as Spent and wander through deserted drags across your great country Try to go to sleep tonight, wishing you knew what was at the back of the minds of all your dearest friends, not always our friends Try to go to sleep
14.
The Bubble Done Burst 02:45
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Let’s take a trip in time down a thin yellow line down Highway 1973 Let’s dive under the big bus shelter built by bloodsucking bats without doors or seats for you and me Anger grows, blood flows from the heart to the hand to the pen to the paper, to the microphone stand I’m coming ‘round at dawn to make my demand Where do you stand? Where do you stand? How is the national health? How the hell is the national health supposed to be? I hope you’ve no illusions about greed It’s a big casino; hope it don’t come in between-o It might prick the indignation, 700,000 homeless every night and your government cuts you free at a frozen traffic light It might fire the imagination: 100,000 children homeless every night 40 million American live with no insurance The Fortune 500 are testing our endurance Our unions powerless, workers misrepresented Direct action by inertia and pride prevented How long will the 500 stand as the first? How long until mere water will not slake that thirst? How long ‘til the poor rise up and pull a Patty Hearst? The bubble done burst and we’re busted
15.
You Can Depend on Me 02:53
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Though you say we’re through, I’ll always love you You know you can depend on me Though someone you’ve met has made you forget, you know you can count on me I wish you success, loads of happiness, but I must confess I’ll be lonely, I’ll be lonely, I’ll be lonely If you need a friend, I’m yours until the end You know you can count on me
16.
What Now? 04:09
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So what’ll it be this drought, this famine? Women would cross themselves and not examine: Man created God and God created man A man, a plan, a canal Will we run laughing to hug each other on Sunday, On that free green stretch we saw together? Will you make love to me and will you only see my face when it hurts and it rains? The NSC sees you and me and they all must agree that to be young and so trapped is too bad What now of our lives? you say as you clutch me close and swear the whole thing off anyway and Let’s play our parts better than they and Let’s close our eyes and let’s hope it away, close our eyes and wish it away So what now that we must face that we’re wrong, our unknown neighbors shrieking high overhead As we ducked in the ditch you kissed me so hard Now why, now why was that? The men in the trees still will kill you and me for even acting or thinking this way What now of our lives? you say as you clutch me close and swear the whole thing off anyway and Let’s play our parts better than they and Let’s close our eyes and let’s hope it away, close our eyes and wish it away Dead on the field, you were right Like bananas gone black in the sun you were right but it was said that you were not right What now of our lives? you say as you clutch me close and swear the whole thing off anyway and Let’s play our parts better than they and Let’s close our eyes and let’s hope it away, close our eyes and wish it away
17.
That Was the Modern World 03:30
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He was a teenage Tacitus, self-made strumaholic He was a very good dancer and a legend and a fool He lived by the rock and rule in his parents’ house He was my friend and that was the modern world Garages full of speakers and tightened up strings We were all artists and love was just one of those things Eating like bugs and walking on springs, we were 17 and that was the modern world We sang Take me back to Trenchtown if you can set me on the freedom track, stayed up late waiting for the future We were the future – no future Futurism failed and we hailed cabs everywhere for a while, looking like gangsters in the white hot Chicago sun Points of view at the top of your lungs, hints of health in the drunken weekend Clean-shaven, sober, we loved the college girls Nigel Scott ruled the airwaves and that was the modern world Last saw him on the platform What an afternoon Passport in his hand The past could not command him I was so proud He blended in with the crowd The train pulled away and I never saw him again Take me back to Trenchtown if you can set me on the freedom track, stayed up late waiting for the future We were the future – no future Blood is thicker than catgut, brother Friendship never dies You can hit the market on Saturday morning and cleanse the crud from your eyes You can sing the blues, Layton You can run away alone but the Sounds from the Street and Police and Thieves will always remind you of home
18.
There Is Hope 03:49
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We are the targets of a million shells, walking through living hells, but throughout the valley something smells Something burns and that something is hope At the vice for 15 years is vicious, an early retirement not so pernicious, freedom no slavery, ignorance no strength but I have to work ‘til I die But my true love understands Evenings my breaking back is under loving hands and she translates the hungry grandchildren’s changing plans Sometimes I want to die at the end of my rope but she’s my ears and all she hears is hope Stop catching hell from the bosses, demand respect If you can’t catch love in a net, catch wreck From your finest hour to your last paycheck you will learn to protect your neck – that’s my hope

about

Recorded straight off the vinyl, mastered by George Horn.
Originally released as Bopaganda! BOP LP 001, August 1990.

credits

released August 1, 1990

Recorded at Cornerstone Studios (engineer: Dave Siebauer),
Art Sound (engineer: Art Sound), the Candy Store (engineer: Brian Wooldridge), & the kitchenette of Farwell & Irving Manor (engineer: EB)
Photography: Dave Schlabowske, Ann D'Acquisto, and Chris Hauer

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Eric Blowtorch image

Eric Blowtorch Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Singer/guitarist/songwriter Eric Blowtorch sings, plays, and writes reggae, ska, rocksteady, soul, rock 'n' roll, funk, Latin, disco, hip-hop, Anglo-Afropop, and jazz songs with rhythm, melody, passion, and original comic timing. E. B. plays solo, in small combos, and with a band, Eric Blowtorch and the Bodyguards. ... more

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