Music as Propaganda

Good piece on the timelessness of art. Its funny how a culture can recycle its artistic icons to suit its needs, and how governments can do the same thing to unify under a single cause, regardless of whether its right or not.

But again, the game is about "Hearts and Minds", and in order to capture them, one must use the symbols that wordlessly empower those thoughts and feelings that suit the purposes of the propaganda and the machinery that creates it.

A few weeks after September 11th, 2001, the following hymn was sung in my catholic church. I had never heard it before, but it made me cry then, and it still does each time I hear it. My life has become political - I can not help it. And this song has become my anthem, of sorts:

This is my Song - Finlandia (national anthem of Finland)
music by Jean Sibilius 1899, words by Lloyd Stone 1934

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

May truth and freedom come to every nation
May peace abound where strife has raged so long;
That each may seek to love and build together,
A world united, righting every wrong.
A world united in its love for freedom,
Proclaiming peace together in one song.

I think of Riverbend, suffering our war in Baghdad. I think of the citizens of Iran - wondering what is in store. I think of all those who are victims of the wars of greedy men.

I think there has to be a better way.

This is as good a thread as any to mention this great lyric, from Art Brut, UK. Art is politics and some of the most powerful comes from the underground. Catch the wicked bit of irony in the middle of the simple lyrics and the simple punkish beat is fresh and infectious.

Art Brut - Formed A Band

Formed a band
We formed a band
Look at us
We formed a band
(x4)

A sub par goth band

Honey pie, I don't know when it started
Just stop buying your albums from the supermarkets
They only sell things that have charted
And Art Brut?
Well we've only just started

A sub par goth band

And yes, this is my singing voice
It's not irony
And it's not rock and roll
I'm just talking
To the kids

I want to be the boy
The man
Who writes the song
That makes Israel and Palestine
Get along

I'm gonna write a song
As universal as Happy Birthday
That's gonna make sure
That everybody knows
That everything's gonna be ok
I'm gonna take that song
And we're gonna play it
Eight weeks in a row on Top of the Pops

Formed a band
We formed a band
Look at us
We formed a band

A sub par goth band

Dye your hair black
Never look back
My past is my business

I love it and despite my age I'm going to a rave tonight that lasts til morning, meet a woman DJ from LA that I only know from the internet. I'm 53 and I'm a "geriatric raver."

Control this, Bush

DiAnne,

You go girl!

Thanks Nolie! Great piece.

Again and again I keep coming back to Saussure and semiotics. It's a bit of a heady read but here are some starting places:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Saussure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics

A key point is that the linguistic sign is arbitrary - in the sense that there is no natural connection between the signifier and the signified.

This has fascinating repercussions in all areas of expression...and musicologists and linguists alike have taken inspiration from it.

And here's the challenge: How does semiotics (whether in music, visual art, or words) relate to politics?

Well... If I have to have a tune stuck in my head all day, Ode to Joy isn't a bad choice.

Wonderful piece Nolie, it's good to have a fresh new voice join us.

You speak to what I was trying to say yesterday. Symbols are powerful things. They can be used or misused. It's up to us to imbue them with the meaning intended, and to look past the misuse to the orginal meaning.

DiAnne.. Take your camera phone.. this I gotta see!

It seems so odd that there are not really any anti-war songs out there (on the radio, anyway) now - certainly LOTS of people oppose the war and oppose what this government is doing.

And while I hadn't really thought much about it - because there is so much ELSE to be thinking about in this sorry state we in which we live, but maybe this payola scandle that has come to light will change that.

We can only hope, because those songs DO create powerful messages that stick with people. And that could make all the difference.

http://www.musiciansforpeace.org
http://www.worldpeace.org

This is really cool!

I don't think we'll see antiwar stuff in any mainstream sources unless there is a way they think they can make money off it.

Posted by: Carol at February 18, 2006 12:46 PM

Do tell Carol, I missed this. What payola scandal?

Oh please tell me it involves Clear Channel. I don't know about you easterners, but out here in the West they own way too many radio stations. In my town the only independent stations are either Navajo (and they only broadcast in the Navajo language.. leaves me out!) or one very tiny, very fundie Christian station.

music / politics

http://unitedsheep.com
http://complacentnation.org

LT,

100s of Radio Stations in Payola Probe

Feb. 9, 2006 — Hundreds of radio stations are under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission in the payola scandal rocking the music industry, ABC has learned.

snip

Several of the largest radio conglomerates in America — the corporate owners of FM radio stations across the nation — are within the scope of the FCC probe, which was triggered by the two year long pay-for-play investigation by Spitzer and was first reported on by ABC News.

more: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=1600966&page=1

and from July...
Eliot Spitzer uncovered a big payola scandal -

DJs were paid
to play that tune

Spitzer probe finds gigantic payola scam; Sony will pay $10M

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/331532p-283284c.html

Totally OT, but I'll post it so Madame Defarge doesn't miss it.

David Gregory on the past weeks events

http://tinyurl.com/ctemz

On Clear Channel and payola:

Payola Probe Hits CC, Entercom, Infinity

Paul Heine and Katy Bachman

FEBRUARY 18, 2005 -

Clear Channel has confirmed that it has received a subpoena from Eliot Spitzer, as part of the New York State Attorney General's investigation into allegations of payola in the radio industry.

more: http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000808264

Thanks Carol

And it raises an interesting question. Are we as grassroots activists underutilizing our state gov'ts?

Granted, over the past 70 years or so the Federal Government has taken far more regulatory power than the Framers actually ever intended, but it would appear that State AG's can do a good job of stirring the pot!

LT -

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Lest we forget...

(somewhere de Toqueville has a good sentence or two on federal power as well but I'd have to dig up the book at home)

Nolies,

This was a nice reminder about the power of music for both chilling and warming the soul. The Ode to Joy is such an emblematic piece, for all the reasons you cite. I hope that, as you create new music for our times, you will be able to recognize the power of a few notes to inspire, clarify, or embolden us.

Veritas,

On language and politics, I belong to a listserve for semioticists called Langauage for a New Capitalism, in which discussants take apart the messages of the powerful--I got on to the topics from an inquiry about the enclosure of consciousness concerns--the commodification of ideas.

Would love to talk about it with you sometime.

Our state (Washington) is trying to harness the power of the people and the Democrat-controlled legislature to improve our future as far as healthcare access and a pristine & sustainable environment.

Our city (Seattle) is an oasis. We have room for more, so come on out! We need to counterbalance the Bush/Cheney backers east of the mountains & so we can use more progressives!!!

Would love to talk about it with you sometime.

Posted by: karen at February 18, 2006 02:44 PM

Tomorrow! I'll bring the chocolate...

Posted by: DiAnne at February 18, 2006 02:47 PM

OK, everyone...pack your bags! We're going to Dianne's house for a party!!!

I'm in.. do we need umbrellas?

Riddle Time

Chicago, San Diego, & Seattle...

What do these three cities have in common?

Free DCP membership to the first person to answer it correctly...

Madame, they all turned down GOP conventions..?

[fireworks.... explosions... more fireworks]

Toolmaker guessed right!!! The RNC convention to be specific.

Posted by: Toolmaker at February 18, 2006 05:16 PM

Congratulations, Toolmaker! You win a free lifetime membership to the DCP with unlimited number of postings!

Maybe Texas and Wyoming will be the only two states to say "yes" to the GOP convention.

Posted by: Carol at February 18, 2006 01:13 PM

Yeah, DJ's were paid to "play that tune".

Just like television hosts "must" be paid to "play that tune", in my way of thinking.

I'll bet they are chomping at the bit to get their hands around more CONTROL of the internetS.

Expect it, and we should have a game plan for how to stay informed and connected if that happens, IMHO.

(There's always the fax machine!)

Veritas,

On language and politics, I belong to a listserve for semioticists called Langauage for a New Capitalism, in which discussants take apart the messages of the powerful--I got on to the topics from an inquiry about the enclosure of consciousness concerns--the commodification of ideas.

Would love to talk about it with you sometime.

Posted by: karen at February 18, 2006 02:44 PM

Oh, good, because I have been VERY concerned about this very matter!!!! It's GOOD to know you two are on board. VERY GOOD!

Good article about how US changed the balance of the power in the middle east .. & not necessarily to favor US economic interests or Israel

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iranrising18feb18,0,2404484.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Also hearing on radio while driving - Hamas does not necessarily do what Abbas wishes, which is to make nice with Israel

& noted that Chirac is visitng India - US overtures about high-tech and nuke can easily be met with competition

The top 1 percent may get richer in the short-term but they will not be able to scrabble together the workforce and fighting force to implement world domination. Oil has peaked and our power has peaked.

Seattle was considered for a GOP convention?!
Just let them try it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is a pretty interesting subject. Thank guys.

Karen and Veritas, the subject of Semiotics is pretty interesting... it's part of what makes music so much fun to dissect. That happens a lot with Shostakovich-he wrote music for the Bolshevic Russian government, yet years after his death people are still arguing about if he indended this movement as a criticism of the government and such. It's rather amusing.

Madame

About umbrellas .. we natives never use them.
That's how you can spot a tourist.
Tell the conservatives it rains here all the time. Actually there are just lots of clouds sometimes and light drizzle, not very cold - very similar to London and Paris.

P.S. An umbrella is also known as a "bumbershoot" (that's the name of the fall music festival)

Nolie,

Your love and passion for music and all that it contributes to our lives is obvious from your writing. It is plain to see that you have embraced the art of music with your soul.

Thank you for teaching me something today I didn't know about music, and particularly about
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and the movement "Ode to Joy".

Thanks, truth. That's one of the reasons I write music.

I have a recital to go to tonight(they're requiring all piano primaries to attend) so I wont be able to comment for a while...

I remember with some sadness how excited I was when George W. Bush was inaugurated in '00. The inauguration ceremony had so much pomp and circumstance - and, oh my, so much beautiful music. They had wonderful orchestras, and choirs, and a boy's choir.

Quite a bit of difference from the ceremony in '04, which I couldn't even bear to watch. I was instead, grieving for this nation.

Posted by: nolie at February 18, 2006 05:46 PM

And you write music, too? You go!!!

Off topic, too, but funny nonetheless!

The whole bird hunting accident really shows how unorganized this administration is, IMHO.

Remember that joke, how many people does it take to change a lightbulb?

How many people does it take to witness a hunting accident, tell how many beers they had (or didn't have - or yes, they did have), call the President, have Karl Rove call them back, report they discussed it going public that evening but decided to wait to announce it quietly to a small newspaper, report that they DIDN'T even discuss it at all that evening, hold a press conference with Scotty McClellan and Scotty tells the press to ask Cheney's office, blame it on the friend for getting in the way, then wait three days and then have a controlled interview on television to announce how badly you feel about shooting your friend, etc.

Cracks me up.

And they wonder why Katrina was such a disaster?

And Iraq?

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at February 18, 2006 05:47 PM

A funeral dirge was the musical theme that kept replaying in my head while George Bush travelled in his armored hearse during the motorcade at the inauguration.

Clinton, Menendez Move to Block US Port Sales
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021806X.shtml
Democratic Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey have introduced legislation to prohibit companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from buying US port operations.

Excerpt:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the administration continued to support the sale and would brief members of Congress on its decision.

"It's the considered opinion of the U.S. government that this can go forward," Rice told a roundtable of Arab journalists Friday at the State Department in Washington. Rice, who will visit the UAE next week as part of a three-country Middle East tour, said there had been a "thorough review" of the sale and "it was decided that this could be done and done safely."

Rice described Abu Dhabi as "a very good friend" of the United States.

Two of the Sept. 11 attackers in 2001 were citizens of the United Arab Emirates and the country's banking system helped transfer money to the plotters, according to Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. He was one of the signatories to the letter. "I approach this with a great deal of dubiousness," Schumer told reporters in Washington. "The chances for infiltration are just too great."

{{{Snark: For Clinton and Menendez and others to ask for more discussion, and worse: ask Bu$h administration officials to look into the matter further.... See my post on the original link to this story on on the last thread. What more can I say...? >>}}}

Truth Will Prevail
When you mention the contrast between how you felt at the 2000 and 2004 elections, related to new information that you found out - it reminds me of how I was just thinking a few years ago that the world was gradually getting better. Now it usually seems (in many ways) to be getting worse, even physically falling apart (melting glaciers etc), mostly due to man. There does seem to be some grief process.

Anybody have BattleBob's new email address? I used to have it before he moved. If you do, could you please send it to me?

Thanks.

On second thought, if anyone has BattleBob's new email addy, could they please email him and ask him to email me? I have a new email addy too, so you might have to give that to him also.

Thanks.

There does seem to be some grief process.

Posted by: DiAnne at February 18, 2006 06:35 PM

Yeah, a slight grief process. Kinda like putting your head in a bucket filled with cement, and jumping off the nearest bridge.

Other than that it's a piece of cake.

(We can't let it immobilize us though, so we won't. But, we all know what we have lost, and what we need to regain, which is why we are here!)

Posted by: oncall at February 18, 2006 06:04 PM

Oncall,

We must have heard the same orhestra that day. I heard the dirge too.

BEHIND THE WHITE HOUSE'S BILLION-DOLLAR PROPAGANDA PUSH
Michelle Chen, The NewStandard
In two years, the Bush administration spent $1.6 billion to paint a prettier picture of its failing policies, even as it cut away the social safety net.
http://www.alternet.org/story/32378/
EXCERPT from one of the people in the comments section:
A Traitor in the White House?
Posted by: HughEScott on Feb 18, 2006 5:49 AM

In January 2006, President Bush made David Sanborn head of the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Transportation Department. Previously, Sanborn worked for DP World.

The next month, on February 16, DP World, a multinational company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said it would supervise the operations of six U.S. seaports as part of a corporate purchase. Unless stopped by Congress, DP World will be in charge of harbors at New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami and New Orleans.

{{{Ka-ching! Once again, cronyism triumphs.... And if The Cretin's administration is so danged great, why is it necessary to spend billions in a PR campaign and lots more on top of that for his incessant PR trips around the country to sell his programs and ideas to the people of this nation - and more yet on war propaganda commercials?!? Seems to me his cheerleading role in college was apt. He's a cheerleader for failed causes....}}}

Fitzgerald: Libby Seeks to Thwart Criminal Case
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021806A.shtml
A federal prosecutor has said I. Lewis Libby Jr., former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is trying to sabotage the criminal case against him by insisting through his lawyers that he be given sensitive government documents for his defense.

White House Joins Texas Redistricting Case
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021806E.shtml
The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Bush administration's request to join Texas in defending a Republican-friendly congressional map engineered by Representative Tom DeLay.

Wisconsin Referendums Call for Troop Withdrawal
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021806G.shtml
Peace activist Jill Bussiere wants the United States to bring its troops home from Iraq immediately, so she went door-to-door in this community in the hopes of getting others to join her cause.

EUREKA! AND BADA-BING!
Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
With its gunplay, good ol' boys and beer, Cheney's Armstrong Ranch is sounding more and more like a Mafia strip club.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/32411/

Posted by: nolie at February 18, 2006 05:35 PM

We did a lot of Shostakovich when I was overseas...hardly ever here in the States though. I was writing program notes as well as performing so I got caught up in the questions of how subversive his music was intended to be....of course extending to just about every Soviet artist. The struggle to close the distance between content and intent I think drove many of them mad eventually. Of course there were a lot of crazy musicians...it's back to that fine line between genius and madness.

BU$H IS COMING TO MICHIGAN - MONDAY

HA HA - HE HE - HO HO !!!

I tried to stir up some protests in the Detroit Area - Women in Black; Code Pink; Billionaires for Bu$h, various peace groups; the Grey Panthers etc.... Exactly by Bushian design, people in Michigan didn't know about the Prez visit until late Friday. Even then they weren't giving out many details LIKE TIME OF DAY...

This event, like all Dumbya's events, will be tightly stage-managed and choreographed. Since Prez is visiting a "manufacturing plant" the event will be closed to the public EXCEPT THE MEDIA OF COURSE. This reminds me of a tightly controlled visit to a "private plant" that Bu$h made during his first term - it was a visit to distributing warehouse. The problems was that about 75% of the stuff in the warehouse said "MADE IN CHINA" on it. The normally flawless Bu$h advance men/women went scrambling to cover up the Made in China stamps (so as not to be seen in the paramount photo-ops) - they used ill-matching brown (to try to blend with the brown cardboard of the boxes) tape.

I am just hoping that George will visit a university, or other public place; open it to the public; announce it 5 days in advance etc...

Ralpheh
Find 'im and give 'im hell!
I live in Seattle but when I visited my friend Bert in Minneapolis we went to some godawful suburb on a bus, waited in a parking lot surrounded by yellow emergency police tape, then were allowed to gather in a small spot along the roadway far from the venue. His local supporters not cashy or important enough to be allowed inside gave us a hard time. We wore bright yellow shirts that said "Hands off our Social Security." Eventually the road was closed off. A bunch of military looking people examined the road very closely, then the limousine finally sped by but it had black windows so not sure if he saw any of us from his insulated bubble. A couple of college guys had an interesting costume. One stood on top of a box with an Abu Graib hood & the other held an electrical cord connected to it. There was also a woman in a Cheney costume that she had won in a church auction. "That's the kind of church I go to," she said. I enjoyed hanging out with the good liberals of Minnesota. Prior to the busride we had a rally inside the state capital.

When he came here (Seattle), I took the day off work & we drove across the lake to where he would be at Craig McCaw's house (McCaw Cellular). He has not, to my knowledge, entered the city in several years - though Cheney has snuck into hotels for secret fundraisers. We didn't stay because we decided we didn't want his limo to cross our path - it's like the black cat superstition, I think. We went back to Seattle to a Dem rally, but we did hear later that there were even protesters in kayaks.

You really cannot get very close to the royal procession. Even when the Queen of England came to Hec Edmonson Pavillion (UW Campus), she drove right by with her entourage, and they didn't close off all the airspaces. When Clinton came to Shoreline Community College, people lined the roads and he drove right by, waving. Jimmy Carter walked into University Bookstore with just a few guys. Clinton shook hands with people at Issaquah Costco (granted, he was no longer president). When Clinton was President, there were two rock bands and people lining the streets. He spoke on an ordinary podium, down by the Pike Market, right downtown along he waterfront. Kerry spoke at the Westin, the Sheraton, the Waterfront, the Seattle Center, Everett Events Center, Tacoma some big lot - sure there was alot of security but it wasn't insular. He wasn't speaking to the converted or preparing such an obvious photo op. His wife came to the Democrat headquarters & to a private residence, like a normal person.

Oh the paranoia and the need to control, it knows no bounds!

Dennis Kucinich shook hands with everyone - in a regular church, in a gay bar.
Howard Dean spoke at Westlake Mall, at the Westin, in an airplane hangar, at Town Hall. He shook hands with people and talked to people.
Dick Gephart spoke at a Labor Union. I talked to him at the DC and London airports. Same with Al Sharpton at Boston Logan airport. Mosely-Braun, Edwards and Clark were accessible if one wanted to see them, meet them, be represented/informed.
It was relatively easy to hear and see all of the Presidential candidates of the Dems and I did, on a limited income and with very little vacation.

I would have gone and listened to Bush and given him a fair hearing, had he admitted regular people. I met people who had sent for tickets and were screened out. They had no strikes against them other than being documentable Democrats.

It is such a contrast. We need transparency and balance in government and we have opaqueness and skew.

My Republican uncle just sent a whole bunch of Cheney jokes - from the Wall Street Journal!
This covers everything on Letterman, Leno, Jon Stewart etc. Wow.

jerrylink:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113988242820273069-uV6g3R3JvkijUuStCosUy3Gv2Bs_20070213.html?mod=blogs

otterlink:
http://tinyurl.com/8enkm

Art at the bottom of this thread has a comment about this topic with a link:

http://tinyurl.com/c7oyj

Oops..that link is from progressiveu-nolie's blog

Ralph,

Are you going?

Last time The Cretin came to the Cities it was to 3M... I heard it on the evening news and he was here at noonish (and late) the next day. I thought it odd that he blitzed in and out without a six month advance notice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, besides a Miami firm planning to sue, some 9/11 families in NYC have now heard about the proposed port sale to UAE, too.... I suspect those port cities with large populations - particularly NYC - may object a lot more than The Cretin thought they would. Jaded New Yorkers aren't gonna fall for that "trust me" crap that he's been dishing out lately... I was hoping this story would have long giant legs... a third story about it....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060219/ap_on_re_us/port_security
Firm Sues to Block Foreign Port Takeover

It is a given that, contrary to the opinions held in common among intellectuals, it is the common sentiment among the populace that they love their God, but detest religion. Let it be shown that both their King and their aristocracy have so debased themselves in criminal conduct, that, not content to commit crimes against common humanity, they also commit crimes against High Heaven itself.

- from a little ditty called the Declaration of Independence

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060218/ap_on_bi_ge/suvs_tax_breaks
Tax Breaks Given on Gas-Guzzling SUVs
LOS ANGELES - New tax breaks are available to anyone who wants to help the environment by purchasing fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. But if owners of small businesses really want to save money, they can get even bigger federal tax breaks by buying the largest gas-guzzling SUVs.

{{{Wow.... some incentive to buy economical vehicles and cut down on the consumption of gas..., eh? ... Snark~!}}}

Ralph,

Are you going?

Posted by: sparrow at February 18, 2006 09:58 PM

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

I wish I could... There are two problems:

1) Distance/transportation
2) Money

I live in Battle Creek, about a 3 drive to Detroit and I don't have a car.... I tried to contact people in Detroit (peace groups etc..) no one seemed particularly interested in the prez visit. I started calling and emailing on Friday - I have gotten practically no response. I emailed a bunch of people in Ann Arbor and haven't heard back...

BTW re. the Presidential Visit:

I called the Detroit Free Press newsroom on Friday to find out the schedule for Monday's visit THEY DIDN'T KNOW.

I laughed and told them that THE PRESIDENT IS A COWARD - HE IS AFRAID OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. He has to visit "private venues" closed to the public. The Freeper muttered some junk about "security reasons" blah blah. (I should interjected "the terrorists have won")

Bush now has to speak at military bases (captive audiences) and private business (with employee captive audiences). PATHETIC...

NonnyO
My same friend Bert decided not to bother with protesting the 3-M visit.

Ralpheh
Just send your worst vibes. We can do that from wherever we are.

veritas... I don't understand why Shostakovich's music hasn't cought on as much here in the US, he is my FAVORITE composer next to lecuona and chopin. Oh. and I like Prokofiev too, but that's another story(sonata for 2 violins YEAH!)

I can see why trying to figure out the intent WOULD drive people mad...

The music for "The Green Table" is some of my favorite *cinematic* (descriptive of the action) music; it was written by Fritz Cohen, who was Kurt Jooss' composer. Cohen is one of the main reasons Jooss fled Germany in 1933 for England. (I think Jooss' wife may have been Jewish too).

I would recommend trying to find it; it has the light but ominous tone of the disingenuous, the deal-makers, the oh-so-polite warmongers. Death's music is clear and direct. When I saw the piece a few weeks ago, I was struck again by how the music narrates so much of what we experience in this country every day.

Time To Move On
by Tom Petty

It’s time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It’s time to move on, it’ s time to get going

Broken skyline, movin’ through the airport
She’s an honest defector
Conscientious objector
Now her own protector

Broken skyline, which way to love land
Which way to something better
Which way to fo rgiveness
Which way do, I go

It’s time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going

Sometime later, getting the words wrong
Wasting the meaning, and losing the rhyme
Nauseous adrenaline
Like breakin’ up a dog fight
Like a deer in the headlights
Frozen in real time
I’m losing my mind

It’s time to move on, time to get going
Wh at lies ahead I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going

Actors, director of award-winning film on Guantanamo arrested in UK under anti-terror laws

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m20779

This is outrageous!