Something for my own (crap) piece of mind

After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, the Angelic Upstarts did a song called "Guns for the Afghan Rebels" To show that they were as against militaristic communist regimes, as much as they were against Thatchers Britain. This would serve to bolster their socialist / nationalist agenda.

After the WTC bombing I remembered the song and think it amusing that it's all come to this. Infact I decide to rewrite and record a version. But then, in the media, the rebels were taken to be the Northern Alliance rather than the Taliban. So it sounds like it has the some sort of pro US patriotic sentiment behind it, rather than the idea of simply being an arsehole.

This is bad, because the 'cool' people I am trying to impress are basically ambivalent about the war, and this is what I wanted to reflect.

Then I got worried about people taking it the wrong way, and I massively over thought it, deciding that I could either do a straight political punk song deriding the US, or a parody that had a surface meaning of supporting terrorism - But the current thing just didn't make sense.

Then wrote some new lyrics, but when I showed them to 'Mr E' he called me a sell out, and he was right. - Well you decide:

Body parts for Afghanistan (alt lyrics)

It could not buy it's way out of trouble
When the towers were turned to rubble
The stars and stripes don't seem so nice
When the planes are flying in
They fight with cutters - and never surrender
The planes are flying in...

Take it out on Afghanistan
Take it out on Afghanistan
Body parts for Afghanistan
Trying to kill all the Tailban

The towers explode as Bush is told
There's martyred men, to start the war
Jihad is their cause

Chorus

Guns, they are not needed
Where knifes they have succeeded
Long it had been brewing
But the warning signs weren't heeded

Chorus

 

So now that you know, I don't have to feel bad anymore.

The other thing is that the second song "You're going to die" was written as kind of a metal/OI number back in 97. It had some serious angst behind it at the time, but when I came to record it now, I couldn't do it as anything other than a subtle parody. But then I got worried about that too, as I thought that the lyric "We smoke, we drink, we spread disease" could be taken as an illusion to biological attack, when it really meant venereal disease/general unhealthiness etc. (So that's OK)

Yeah, so I'm a cock and have to write this, and you can laugh at me, cos I'm just as great as you.

Fuck you.

 

I sincerely hope this piece of writing has ruined it for you, as much as thinking about it has for me.

 

By Senrab Rutan - Conservative Punk

 

Song info:

Guns for the Afghan Rebels Performed by the Base Jumpers, Written by the Angelic Upstarts, Arranged by Rutan / Ketch.

You're going to die Performed by the Base Jumpers, Written by Rutan / Ketch.

All instruments: Mr E Ketch.

Vocals: Senrab Rutan.

A culturally ill production

Restrainer Records 2001

---

thebasejumpers[don't spam]@yahoo.co.nz