Television, The Drug Of A Nation

[Forkboy]

One nation
under God
has turned into
one nation under the influence
of one drug


Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation


T.V., it
satellite links
our United States of Unconsciousness
Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive
The methadone metronome pumping out
150 channels 24 hours a day
you can flip through all of them
and still there's nothing worth watching
T.V. is the reason why less than 10 per cent of our
Nation reads books daily
Why most people think Central America
means Kansas
Socialism means un american
and Apartheid is a new headache remedy
absorbed in it's world it's so hard to find us
It shapes our mind the most
maybe the mother of our Nation
should remind us
that we're sitting too close to...


Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation


T.V. is
the stomping ground for political candidates
Where bears in the woods
are chased by Grecian Formula'd
bald eagles
T.V. is mechanized politic's
remote control over the masses
co-sponsored by environmentally safe gases
watch for the PBS special
It's the perpetuation of the two party system
where image takes precedence over wisdom
Where sound bite politics are served to
the fastfood culture
Where straight teeth in your mouth
are more important than the words
that come out of it
Race baiting is the way to get selected
Willie Horton or
Will he not get elected on...


Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation


T.V., is it the reflector or the director ?
Does it imitate us
or do we imitate it
because a child watches 1500 murders before he's
twelve years old and we wonder why we've created
a Jason generation that learns to laugh
rather than to abhor the horror
T.V. is the place where
armchair generals and quarterbacks can
experience first hand
the excitement of warfare
as the theme song is sung in the background
Sugar sweet sitcoms
that leave us with a bad actor taste while
pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars
You saw the video
You heard the soundtrack
Well now go buy the soft drink
Well, the only cola that I support
would be a union C.O.L.A.(Cost Of Living Allowance)
On television


Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation


Back again, "New and improved"
We return to our irregularly programmed schedule
hidden cleverly between heavy breasted
beer and car commercials
CNNESPNABCTNT but mostly B.S.
Where oxymoronic language like
"virtually spotless", "fresh frozen"
"light yet filling" and "military intelligence"
have become standard
T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined
like "recession" to "necessary downturn"
"Crude oil" on a beach to "mousse"
"Civilian death" to "collateral damages"
and being killed by your own Army
is now called "friendly fire"
T.V. is the place where the pursuit
of happiness has become the pursuit of
trivia
Where toothpaste and cars have become
sex objects
Where imagination is sucked out of children
by a cathode ray nipple
T.V. is the only wet nurse
that would create a cripple

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6CgotCUtMo&NR=1

Food for thought. :)

[Bennyboy]

1. Michael Franti.......

My favorite artist. And live the guy really kicks some ass

[Forkboy]

2. Somehow I knew you'd like it.

:D

Never seen him, and he rarely seems to come my way (Boston). One day I'll catch him though.

[Bennyboy]

3. They are festivalizing all summer long........

So, Bonnaroo, JazzFest,the NJ one,Rothbury all on the eastern part of the country...That's kind of the future of music, the festival. Single shows are too much for only the biggest and smallest bands....At a fest the PA and lights are suually there, you can add some of your own, they have monitors, sound boards,and all that already there rather than having to drag all that crap with you.

Of course if you are Dave Matthews or someone on that level, there is enouhg people willing to shell out 40+ bucks, so they got all the best stuff....

[Forkboy]

5. I have him linked on my Myspace page...I'll have to investigate.

I'd love to see him. He's one the very best we have in the music biz.

[DarkTirade]

4. Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,

And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasents as far as I can see,

[Forkboy]

6. .....

:thumbsup:

[DarkTirade]

7. A while back I was in the mood to just record a bunch of stuff

and somebody on here suggested that one. :)

http://www.stickmanltd.com/practicesessions/workingclasshero2.mp3

[Forkboy]

12. Wow, that was really good.

Not to shabby for a "practice session". :)

Thanks for sharing that!

[DarkTirade]

13. That was actually my third version. :P

First version was the one I did right then, and since I didn't know the song yet I just did basic chords and that was all.

Second version was when I decided to try and work on multi-track stuff. I hadn't really figured out how to hear the playback properly and record at the same time, while keeping the playback low enough that I could hear my own voice. So I was HORRIFICALLY out of tune in that one. And then the third version there was after I learned to play it properly and learned how to do multi-track recording properly. :P

[Forkboy]

15. Whatever...it came out nice.

:D

I can't play a damn thing....just listen, intently and often.

[DarkTirade]

18. Well thanky. :)

I had the slight advantage of coming from a musical family and having an innate sense of perfect relative pitch. (which still doesn't help much if I can't hear what I'm s'posed to be matching pitch too of course. :P )

[Starbucks Anarchist]

8. Ironically shown on television.

:rofl:

[Forkboy]

10. I remember laughing about that 17 years ago.

:thumbsup:

[LynzM]

9. Agreed.

I've always said that if a group really hated our way of life, and could figure out a way to just stop broadcast TV for a month or two... that would go an awfully long way to waking people back up to real life. Like most drugs, some people can dabble and walk away, but for far too many, it's really an addiction. :(

[Forkboy]

11. Disconnecting cable was the best thing in the world for me.

I still get PBS for free, and that's about all I need.

[LynzM]

14. Nice, isn't it?

Amazing how much time you suddenly have! ;) And how often people look at me like I've got my head on sideways when I tell them we don't have cable. I mean, I'm a little strange to start with, but that's the one that people give me looks for... :rofl:

I didn't realize this was Michael Franti... Yell Fire is the first album of his that we own, and I love it!

[DarkTirade]

16. What's even more fun is signing up for cable internet when you don't have cable TV.

Most of the employees don't realize that they can actually do they and they have to go ask a supervisor about it. :P

[LynzM]

19. Hehe...

Oh yeah :) We did the opposite, canceled just the TV portion. Of course they turned off the internet, too, and we had to fight them to not charge us $39 to turn it back on! The lady on the phone was like "Not even basic?! But it's $6!" :rofl:

[Forkboy]

17. Get all his stuff.

It's all fantastic. He is so positive and upbeat I almost can't listen, being the crusty cynic I am. I normally listen to a lot of pretty messed up stuff, black metal, drone noise, punk...so his stuff is one of the few "normal" things I listen to. For me, he represents that last little spark of optimism buried deep inside me...and I thank him eternally for it.

Yell Fire is so friggin' cool. Hello hello, bonjour bonjour, konichiwa konichiwa wa!

The time I save by not watching tv I spend posting here...for good or ill. :evilgrin: