I've never been anti-American. I grew up on American culture - Spider-Man and Springsteen, Motown and Moonlighting. For much of my youth, I felt more American than I did British. And considering the sorry state of the UK at the moment, I don't believe we're in any state to judge.
This isn't an anti-American post then. It's just an anti-American idiots post. Because the lunatics appear to be taking over the asylum once more, and given recent events, nothing's going to bar their way. "God" help us all.
I just like Will Hoge. He makes interesting records, and he hates Trump. This isn't as angry (or, frankly, as good) as last year's POTUS-savaging My American Dream, but The Overthrow at least seems like a wish that finally came true...
Slow dancing with a straw man
With a match and gasoline
Darth Vader with a spray tan
And a girly magazine
Dance little monkeys
See you feasting on the crumbs
It's almost over
Hear them banging on the drums
The emptiness it shows
And I don't believe it
I don't think you know
But here comes the overthrow
Beyond that track, this is a more straightforward Americana record, with songs like Even The River Runs Out Of This Town and Midway Motel treading reassuringly familiar territory. Tiny Little Movies they may be, but they all bear repeated viewings...
It seems impossible, after everything that has happened in the past 4 years, that Trump will be re-elected next Tuesday. But it seemed impossible that he'd be elected in the first place. And it seems impossible that he hasn't been impeached and thrown in jail a long time ago. It seems impossible than anyone would still vote for him.
He's a demagogue Check out his rise He's a demagogue He's fatally famous He's a demagogue He plays with my fears A demagogue My shadow side dreaming The demagogue It feels so good to be dumb
From the wall straight to la cuenta Those pussy grabbing fingers Won't let go of me now Demagogue The demagogue
He's coming down the escalator With a girl from east of here He wants to make the country greater We've got nothing left to fear
Because the man in the tin foil hat Is sitting on the throne tonight It kinda feels like a coup d'etat But it's gonna be great, tremendous, amazing and all that
'Cause the man in the tin foil hat Is tweeting like a teenage girl He puts the Pluto in plutocrat But it's gonna be a huge huge huge new world He hasn't got the time for losers Unless they do as he commands He's writing checks to his accusers With those tiny little hands
'Cause the man in the tin foil hat Is gonna drain the swamp tonight And fill it up with alternative facts And it's gonna be great, tremendous, amazing and all that
Oh and I don't believe in the devil But you might make me go and change my mind You can see this whole damn world get leveled and not even lose track of time Inside your gilded walls that shine
Well another group of kids in high schools dead But you're still at your golf course teeing off at nine People marching in the streets trying to find a little peace You sit around spouting awful shit online
Well you've always been the same You ain't ever gonna change But I know it's gonna all catch up with you in time And there's a pot of gold from all the dreams you stole Inside your gilded walls that shine
On May 11th 1930, Mary Anne Macleod, from Tong on The Isle of Lewis, boarded the RMS Transylvania from Glasgow to New York City, in search of a better life. There, she fell in love with Frederick, whose father had come to America from Germany as a 16 year old barber.
The couple raised five children.
Mary Anne’s middle son would return years later to Scotland, home of his MacLeod ancestors, whose clan motto is: I burn but I am not consumed. And here - in the name of progress and profit - and executive golf - he would pit himself against time and tide. In his wake, the shifting sands at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire would never be the same.
That son of Mary Anne MacLeod is powerful.
So too is The North Sea.
The marbled, metamorphic rock of Lewis is two-thirds the age of Earth - amongst the very oldest found on our planet. It knows about power. It’s seen a lot. And so I wondered: what might that rock of Lewis have to say about the Inauguration - tomorrow in Washington DC - of the 45th President of the United States of America - Mary Anne’s middle son? This is what the rock told me.
If you're going out celebrating tonight, take care and have a good one. If, like me, you'll be asleep long before the clock strikes in the new year... enjoy that too.
Thanks for reading this dribble throughout 2018. See you in 2019.
Lest we forget, there is a dangerous, deluded psychopath in charge of the most powerful country in the world. And on top of that, Donald Trump's still the President of the USA. But while very few songwriters are expressing their concerns about Putin through lyrics, many have been getting very angry about Donald J. Here's ten of the best from 2018...
Apparently this is Trent Reznor's response to the man he called "a vulgar, grotesque dope" and “a complete fucking moron”. Trent is angry. But isn't he always?
Based on an experience Escovedo had in the 80s when he encountered a racist Texas ranger at a wedding; the character in this song is also based on an Arizona sheriff accused of violating the rights of Latinos as part of his tyrannical immigration policy... a man latterly pardoned by the 47th President of the USA.
Up until this year, a new Frank Turner release had been pretty much guaranteed a place in my year end countdown. His latest album felt like he was trying too hard to be all things for all listeners, and there were times when his trademark optimism verged on naivety. Make America Great Again is a good example of that. Frank's heart is in the right place, but...
"Well, it’s inspired a little bit by the guy who’s currently in the White House. I think it was written initially during the campaign, before the election, just sort of exploring that tone of voice that he was taking. The character in the song, the first-person character, is a demagogue, absolutely, so it was an exploration of, “What is demagoguery, and where does it come from?” as we were seeing this very public figure express these kind of insane and incredible sentiments in public. Of course, I think the song took on a different life once he was actually elected. But yeah, it’s sort of an exploration of the voice of a demagogue, and so hopefully people will find it reviling. I can only hope."
Just in case you're easily offended, I used asterisks. Then again, if I were really worried about causing offence, I'd probably need to write this post about D***** T****.
All the girls think you're a stud Even though your hands are covered in blood And they're turned on by your cover-ups
The highest compliment is being feared I bet that you don't even think that's weird You don't care who your deeds corrupt
Well another group of kids in a high school, dead But you're still at your golf course teein' off at nine People marchin' in the streets tryin' to find a little peace You sit around spoutin' more bullshit online
Oh and I don't believe in the devil But you might make me go and change my mind You could see this whole damn world get leveled And not even lose track of time Inside your gilded walls that shine
And that's not the only track on this album to take aim at the bloated POTUS. But more on that soon...
1. Karine Polwart - I Burn, But I Am Not Consumed
As previously discussed on my United Kingdom of Song feature, Donald Trump's mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, comes from the Isle of Lewis. Edinburgh's Karine Polwart has much to say about that on this exceptional talky song from her latest album...
I've been a fan of Will Hoge for a good few years now. He's an Americana artist with a chameleon-like ability to take on the best qualities of his many musical heroes, from Springsteen to Kristofferson to Isbell, and write songs that live up to their reputations. On his latest record though, he's angrier than I've ever heard him before: at Trump, the Republicans, and everything that's going wrong in his country. Once again, he successfully channels the likes of Neil Young, John Mellencamp and even Elvis Costello... angry artists all into a blistering 8 song assault that takes no prisoners.
The attack commences with Gilded Walls, a molotov chucked straight into the White House...
Well another group of kids in a high school, dead
But you're still at your golf course teein' off at nine
People marchin' in the streets tryin' to find a little peace
You sit around, spoutin' more bullshit online
Oh and I don't believe in the devil
But you might make me go and change my mind
You could see this whole damn world get leveled
And not even lose track of time
Inside your gilded walls that shine
Next up is Stupid Kids, a punky, Mellencampian rallying cry to the youth of America...
Turn your music up, make up your own damn songs
You know you got it right when all the old white men don't sing along
Oh stupid kids, don't listen what the old folks say
You're the only ones that are ever gonna make things change
Keep your feet marching, raise up your voice, don't quit
Keep doing what you're doing, keep being stupid kids
That's my American dream and I've been all that I can be
With nothin' left to lose at all, I guess I'm free
That's my American dream – it disappeared in front of me
With nothin' left to lose at all, I guess I'm free
The Illegal Line brings the Neil Young guitars for a first person account of a Mexican immigrant doing his best for his wife and kids...
Then it's back to the hotel, split a case of beer
One for every person that's livin' here
Four dollars-an-hour but nobody moans
'Cause it's three-fifty more than we can get back home
Then I send the money back down to my sweet wife
So she can tell my children 'bout a better life:
"Papa's tryin' hard just to make it fine
"Fifty miles north of that illegal line"
And it all wraps up with Nikki's A Republican Now, about how so many young rebel liberals end up as bitter old right-wingers... which probably explains why we are where we are.
I got online and found her and I just could not believe
But there's Nikki with a Bible and a AR-15
She says that all lives matter and the media's a scam
The only gun control that she supports is using both hands
She stands up for the anthem, says that marriage is a woman and a man
Oh my good God!
And that's every song on the record. Because every song is worth writing about. At just under half an hour, My American Dream is lean and mean. It's definitely Will Hoge's angriest record to date... it may also be his best.
I've got so many series on the go at the moment, I can't keep up with them all. So here's a Top Ten of Grumpy Old Men songs (aided and abetted by a few grumpy old women) based around the idea that things were much better when I was a lad. Y'know: strikes, power-cuts, the three day week, Margaret Thatcher, the Yorkshire Ripper, Kajagoogoo... I'm talking the good old days now!
(Nothing personal against Kajagoogoo. They just have a funny name.)
When I did a google image search on "things ain't what they used to be", the above image popped up and I felt it somehow appropriate.
One of those songs you pick up on an old Uncut or Mojo CD, burn to your record library, then never actually listen to until 20 years later when you come up with a random post idea and... not bad, actually.
Amazing that this is the first time Neil Young has featured in my Grumpy Old Men series...
Talk to me, my long lost friend, tell me how you are Are you happy with your circumstance, are you driving a new car? Does it get you where you want to go, with a seven year warranty? Or just another hundred thousand miles away From the days that used to be
Can we ever live up to what our parents' generation went through. Probably not...
Whoah-oh, story after story Of all your faded glory Is all I ever hope to live up to Whoah-oh, know as I get older I'm standing on your shoulders Trying to be just like you But they don't make 'em like they used to
Most things change, but some things stay the same...
There's a freeway where we played football in the fields Apartments on the pitch at Highbury There's a shed called Deer Creek Of which my one critique Is there's no creek now and it's all deer-free
There's a Walgreens where there was no wall, just greenery There's a theme park in a palace in Tennessee That tree there is a pylon But some things you can rely on There's a Starbucks where the Starbucks used to be
Considering Marvin wrote this heartfelt plea for the ecology back in 1971, you can imagine him turning in his grave every time Donald The Trump opens his mouth.
Wait, you say. Those aren't the lyrics to a Max Bygraves song! They're the lyrics to The Kinks' 1983 comeback single, Come Dancing. True enough, but I bet Ray was thinking of Max's big hit from 23 years earlier when he penned those lines... if you don't believe me, just listen to the opening lines of Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be.
Here's a proper grumpy old man song for you! Go on, Max!
Number #6 on My Top Ten Albums of 2015 was Will Hoge's last record, Small Town Dreams. At the time I loved the mix of sophisticated Americana with 80s Ameri-rock flashback: hints of Bruce, Mellencamp, Petty and more. Since then, I've been looking forward to whatever Hoge did next... and here it is.
Anchors is a more mature, contemporary record - straight down the middle Americana which owes a lot to Jason Isbell's current style. But just as before, Hoge's songwriting stands out. There's a maturity of detail to the lyrics that easily makes him worthy of mention in the same paragraph as Isbell...and to be honest, this stripped down, bombast-free set will probably appeal more to the musos among you than his last record.
Stand-out track at the moment is this one, the story of a marriage gone wrong, staying together for the kids... the sort of everyday mundanity it's hard to romanticise, yet Hoge makes it quietly heartbreaking.
You go to bed early and darlin' I'll stay up late
Come to the morning the kids are already awake
Get 'em dressed, get 'em breakfast, out the door and on the bus
Hope they don't see these walls building up between us I drive to work in this rusted out pickup truck
Coffee steams in the holder
I'm torn between staying and just giving up
Sometimes I sit in this parking lot and I just cry
And wonder how the hell this became our life
The older you get, the more you lament the fact that "they don't make 'em like they used to"*. And you recall the albums of your youth with a deeper fondness than they deserve in some cases. But the artists in questions (if they're still around) are either shadows of their former selves, or they've grown and matured (and their sound has done the same). When I was younger, I loved 70s & 80s American rock - obviously Bruce and Steinman-era Meat Loaf, but also John Cougar Mellencamp, Tom Petty, Bob Seger and, yes, even Bon Jovi. None of those guys make records today that sound like the ones they made in the 80s (with the possible exception of Jon BJ, but he really needs to grow up), and I didn't expect to ever hear a new record from a younger artist that reminded me of those days...
...until I came across Will Hoge. Although Hoge is classed as a country artist, his latest album is deeply rooted in 80s American rock, so I shouldn't have been surprised to discover he's exactly the same age as me. (So... not that young, then, but not in his 60s like most of the guys named above.) He's obviously raided his record collection to create Small Town Dreams, but the occasional sense of homage doesn't stop this being one of the catchiest albums I've heard all year.
The album opens with a classic Springsteen sentiment turned on its head. Here, the small town teenager who was so desperate to escape the sticks returns home older and wiser, and proud to have "grown up around here". Track 2 nails Hoge's plan with a title referenced above (*)...
Story after story Of all your faded glory Is all I ever hoped to live up to I know as I get older I'm standing on your shoulders Trying to be just like you... But they don't make them like they used to
'Better Than You' is the track that introduced me to Hoge (courtesy of Bob Harris), although vocally he sounds more like Elvis Costello on this one (admittedly, Elvis in his Americana phase). Americana is the word here, from the small town snapshots of 'Middle Of America' to the best song Jon Bon Jovi never wrote ('Guitar Or A Gun' - full of Jovi-isms, right down to a guest appearance from Jesse James). If occasionally the record slips into pastiche ('Just Up The Road' opens with the title followed by '...there's a road that leads to another road'... which almost sounds like the Flight of the Conchords doing Springsteen), it's forgivable when the standard is set so high elsewhere. The closing track, 'Til I Do It Again' starts out like 90s Bruce but then kicks into a tongu-in-cheek Steinman-esque chorus that Meat Loaf would kill to get his hands on in 2015...
Oh my, hear the church bells ring Saturday night spilled into Sunday again Tell you I'm sorry and I know it's a sin... It's the last time I do it... 'til I do it again
So, no, they don't make 'em like they used to. But every now and then... they come damned close.
Next, Number 5... including a Wham! tribute with plenty of elbow grease...
