Wasteland Of The Free?

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I wouldn’t normally post on successive days, but when I was having one of my listening sessions on YouTube late last night they dropped a tune into my recommendations that I hadn’t heard in years. As I listened it struck me how relevant it still was even though it was released in 1996. Possibly even more so, given all that has happened in the US in the past eight years in particular.

I have no aspirations to be a political commentator – others do that far better than I could – so I’m just going to play you the song and share its lyrics. You can make your own mind up about it. But if you are American please ensure that you vote, and vote wisely. The rest of the world – most of it, anyway – is holding its collective breath and keeping its fingers crossed.

 

Living in the wasteland of the free…
 
We got preachers dealing in politics and diamond minesAnd their speech is growing increasingly unkindThey say they are Christ’s disciplesBut they don’t look like Jesus to meAnd it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
 
We got politicians running races on corporate cashNow don’t tell me they don’t turn around and kiss them peoples’ assYou may call me old-fashionedBut that don’t fit my picture of a true democracyAnd it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
 
We got CEO’s making two hundred times the workers’ payBut they’ll fight like hell against raising the minimum wageAnd If you don’t like it, mister, they’ll ship your jobTo some third-world country ‘cross the seaAnd it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
 
Living in the wasteland of the freeWhere the poor have now become the enemyLet’s blame our troubles on the weak onesSounds like some kind of Hitler remedyLiving in the wasteland of the free
 
We got little kids with guns fighting inner city warsSo what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doorsAnd we call ourselves the advanced civilizationThat sounds like crap to meAnd it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
 
We got high-school kids running ’round in Calvin Klein and GuessWho cannot pass a sixth-grade reading testBut if you ask them, they can tell youThe name of every crotch on MTVAnd it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
 
We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we winSome guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sinBut he’s standing up for what he believes inAnd that seems pretty damned American to meAnd it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
 
Living in the wasteland of the freeWhere the poor have now become the enemyLet’s blame our troubles on the weak onesSounds like some kind of Hitler remedyLiving in the wasteland of the free
 
While we sit gloating in our greatnessJustice is sinking to the bottom of the seaLiving in the wasteland of the freeLiving in the wasteland of the freeLiving in the wasteland of the free
 
Source: LyricFind
Songwriter: Iris DeMent
 

49 thoughts on “Wasteland Of The Free?”

  1. Yes, you’re right. When Biden called half of all Americans “Garbage” that was just terrible. And the open border that has let all these guns in is insane, and the money constantly being sent over seas for wars that Americans don’t want is just infuriating. Visiting from You’re the Star.

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  2. I couldn’t handle the music … gave it up after about a minute … but I read the lyrics — Twice! And yes, that is what it so often feels like here. I also just read Pete’s post (BeetleyPete) that had a very similar message. If we digress any more … well, suffice it to say that we are on the brink. Which way we go depends on the people of this nation. I wish I had more trust that common sense will prevail, but …

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  6. Very apt lyrics, Clive and written so long ago tells me the rot began back then and look where we are now and both sides of the pond…there is no wonder the world is holding its collective breath how could it be that close what else can that man do to change the minds of those who vote for him? I hope you have a good weekend, Clive xx

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  7. I’m so glad that you added the word “wisely” to vote. A shockingly high number of Americans don’t vote. It is a right and a responsibility that should be taken seriously. I feel like people lose the right to complain about government when they can’t even take part in the process. Even if you don’t like either of the two primary candidates running for President, everyone should be able to study the ballot measures carefully and then vote wisely.

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    • We have that problem here. Turnout in local elections is often in the 20-30% range and even a General Election struggles to get near 70%. I made that same point about ‘no vote = no complaints’ in a comment to someone else. We each have a small voice and should use it!

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  8. Pingback: I Couldn’t Have Said It Better – Facts, Fictions & Fantasies

  9. Although this song was written 28 years ago, it’s totally relevant today! We here in Canada are on tenterhooks, wondering if the orange menace will be vanquished once and for all come Nov, 5. Whatever happens in the U.S. always directly affects the neighbours. 😬 I too am perplexed how this race could possibly be so close!

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    • I’d forgotten about this song until YouTube reminded me of it last night, and its relevance to today was why I played it. If Trump does get in, whether by fair means or foul, it won’t just be Canada that will need to worry. You have proximity as your problem whereas we have the threat of Russia looming over Europe, ready to take advantage of him letting them do what they like because, as well all his other well-documented faults, he is clueless when it comes to international relations. We should all be very afraid.

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  11. Scary, prescient and now all too bloody true. This race actually being close is beyond head scratching and well into head shaking now. I pray- and as an agnostic leaning towards atheism that feels a bit of a waste of time- but any little thing to help the tip the result! Gawd knows I don’t want the day after Tuesday turning the head shaking into permanently having my head in my hands. But hey, what else can you do?

    I’ve all but given up on my ranting against the orange elephant in the room. But please, anyone even slightly Left over there who hasn’t voted, do it. Do it now.

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  13. First, had I heard this song 28 years ago, I would have thought of it as a dystopian view of our future. But that future Iris sings about is our reality today. I totally agree with John Rieber’s earlier comment. I just cannot fathom how this election is too close to call. If sanity prevails, it should be a landslide victory for Harris. But I’m afraid thst sanity is in short supply in America these days.

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  16. A very timely post, Clive…there are so many of us in the US having a hard time understanding why so many of our fellow Americans’ support someone who is a convicted felon, an acknowledged con man, a businessman who has declared bankruptcy multiple times, who doesn’t pay his bills, who lies the way others take a breath, a adulterer and so much more…someone who exemplifies the worst elements of humanity. He has wished death upon others, called his own country a garbage can, and has open contempt for those who serve in the military. Sorry for the rant but we simply cannot go back – the whole world is watching

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    • Thank you, John. The outcome of your election will have an impact on us too, so we’re watching closely. That didn’t sound like a rant to me: it was a perfectly accurate description of him!

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    • Thanks, Ernie. I wasn’t planning on posting today but felt I had to share this one. It’s almost frightening how prescient the song is: if she thought things were bad then, whatever can she be feeling now!

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