Randy Newman - A Few Words In Defence Of Our Country

A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country

Begin augustus verschijnt bij Nonesuch Records een nieuwe studioplaat van Randy Newman: Harps And Angels. Dat is groot nieuws, want het was bijna tien jaar geleden dat zoiets nog eens het geval was.

Vooral bij ons zal de plaat zeker wat aandacht krijgen want in 'Piece of the Pie' wordt zowaar even geruzied tussen een Vlaming en een Waal. "The proceedings are briefly interrupted by a pair of bickering Belgians, proving that even the tiniest, prettiest places can be divisive," heet het in de perstekst.

Waarin een klein land, euh… klein kan zijn.

Maar dat is nog niet alles. Ook onze koning Leopold II krijgt er van langs in 'A Few Words in Defense of Our Country'. Wij hebben slechte leiders de laatste tijd, zo houdt hij zijn landgenoten voor, maar wij zijn niet de enigen. Kijk maar eens wat de Romeinen hebben uitgevreten, of de Spaanse inquisitie, Stalin, Hitler, of onze Leopold dus.

De song werd begin vorig jaar al uitgebracht maar was toen enkel beschikbaar als download via iTunes.
Newman gaf als uitleg: "I don't like to write songs about current events. This one, for instance, won't be relevant when this administration is no longer with us. It's such a unique administration, though, that I thought it would be interesting to write something about it. I don't think we'll ever have one like it again."

De song was zo controversieel dat The New York Times het niet aandurfde om de volledige tekst af te drukken. Maar Rolling Stone riep het nummer uit tot de een-na-beste track van het jaar! "Right behind Jay-Z and ahead of Rihanna" merkt Newman tussen neus en lippen even op.


A few words In defense of our country

I’d like to say
A few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren't bad
Nor are they mean
Now, the leaders we have
While they're the worst that we've had
Are hardly the worst
This poor world has seen

Let's turn history's pages, shall we?

Take the Caesars, for example
Why, with the first few of them
They were sleeping with their sister, stashing little boys in swimming pools, and burning down the city
And one of 'em, one of 'em appointed his own horse to be Counsel of the Empire
That's like vice president or something
That's not a very good example right now, is it?
But here's one:
Spanish Inquisition
That's a good one
Put people in a terrible position
I don't even like to think about it
Well, sometimes I like to think about it

Just a few words
In defense of our country
Whose time at the top
Could be coming to an end
Now, we don't want their love
And respect at this point's pretty much out of the question
But in times like these
We sure could use a friend

Hitler
Stalin
Men who need no introduction

King Leopold of Belgium, that's right
Everyone thinks he's so great
Well, he owned the Congo
He tore it up too
Took the diamonds
Took the silver
Took the gold
You know what he left 'em with?

Malaria

You know, a president once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now it seems like we're supposed to be afraid
It's patriotic, in fact
Color-coded
What we supposed to be afraid of?
Why, of being afraid
That's what terror means, doesn't it?
That's what it used to mean

You know, it pisses me off a little that this Supreme Court's gonna outlive me
Couple young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world, to find me two Italians as tightass as the two Italians we got
And as for the brother
Well, Pluto's not a planet anymore either

The end of an empire
Is messy at best
And this empire's ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada
Adrift on the sea
We're adrift in the land of the brave
And the home of the free

Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye

Goodbye