Tuesday, November 16, 2004

New Leftie Barney Song

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above, Entire and whole and
perfect, the service of my love:the love that asks no questions, the love that
stands the test,That lays upon the altar, the dearest and the best;the love that
never falters, the love that pays the price,the love that makes undaunted the
final sacrifice. . .

Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, “I Vow to Thee My Country” (1918) (melody from the “Jupiter” theme in Gustav Holst’s The Planets).

The Spirit of McWorld gets around to everything, it seems, imposing dumbing-down, sameness, boredom and de-culturalization wherever it goes. I suppose it was inevitable that McWorld would get around to Sir Cecil Spring-Rice’s “I Vow to Thee My Country,” a poem written to honor the dead of the First World War, and, sung to a melody by Gustav Holtz, a staple of British Remembrance Day ceremonies, (see my “11/11/1918” post).

According to today’s Daily Telegraph (UK), the left wing songwriter Billy Bragg has written some new lyrics for Holst’s melody, dropping the retro-patriotism and the un-PC religious imagery. Mr. Bragg’s creation is called “The Many Not the Few.” (Hey, John Edwards – here’s your 2008 campaign song !).

The Telegraph piece quotes the first line: “We vow to build a country/Where all can live in health/Where no child need live in poverty/ Where we will all share our wealth.” Right, and a chicken in every pot, and two cars (hybrids of course) in every garage. Say, did Huey Long write this ?

Really original, but it gets better: “As democrats and socialists/ We hold this to be true / From each by their ability/ To everyone their due.” Paging Mr. Marx…Mr. Karl Marx. Please answer the Red Paging Telephone in the Red Concourse….

Finally the Telegraph tells us “[i]t ends with the optimism [???] of John Lennon’s 'Imagine.'” Actually, sounds more like banality: “For there is a simple principle/That no one shall displace/ We are all alike in humankind/ We are the human race.” This is optimism ? Sounds like valium in the water supply to me. Either that or the Aliens landed and turned us into Pod People. Yawneroos, wake me when it’s over, please.

All leftist music and thought sounds the same. Same old drivel, all the way back to the Internationale. Everyone is equal, everyone is alike, everybody's PC, nobody’s different, united in total boringness. Wait, I get it ! "Imagine all the people...." Nah.
Mind you, in the McWorld the Left is busily building, PC drone-dom is obligatory, if you aren’t one of the Pod People, you’re obviously guilty of one of the somethings ending in “ism.” Welcome to Chickenhearted Leftie Planet: wait your turn with the bored social worker, and fill out the forms in triplicate please. McWorld is such a snoozer, and so is "The Many Not the Few." El Jefe would rather sing the Barney song. Says the same thing, on about the same intellectual level, but is so much simpler to learn.

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