I've heard from so many people asking for my response to this song that I had to listen to it, learn it, make a couple minor edits to it, cover it, and write an essay about it.
I think you are nailing it in your analysis David. And I love the idea of the folk tradition of appropriative alterations to it. Perhaps I am being too generous, but I see the “punching down” bits slightly differently, from a leftist critique perspective. What I project onto its meaning is that an entirely corrupt system creates food and other addicts, and people so depressed and full of despair that the only way to survive is to reach for what measly handouts that same cruel and crushing system will afford them. We see it everywhere, in the big box stores and the supermarkets. Obese people with blank faces, filling their carts with corn syrup sodas, processed salted foods, and sugar fats. They know it’s not good for them, while they are slowly killing themselves. They don’t have sufficient spirit to care anymore. From his written response to the song going viral (I hope you’ve seen it), Anthony describes the thousands of people he has met through his shitty pay job over the last several years, and it’s filled with those with these addiction and mental health problems, just as he describes his own drinking to drown his mental illness. Respect to you from Denman Island, B.C.
yeah, i love what anthony wrote about the song going viral, and his travels around virginia and north carolina for his job, meeting all those people. great way to become a great songwriter, a job like that... and yeah, i certainly see what you mean about those lines and how they can be interpreted differently from the "punching down" critique. but i still like my changes to the song...
Thanks David. I like your version too. And it may help some leftists get past their most parsed interpretations to what I see as a working class epic. Something is going on out there. Some people describe it as a populist uprising. I am hoping we can put aside some of the divisiveness between the small c conservative working class and the Left. The Shitlibs are those that are doing the punching down, always defending established power, supporting wars, supporting the performative virtue signals of the Democrats. It's a one party state, with Coke and Pepsi as your choice, where we are certain to drink crappy cola regardless. respect to you.
i so deeply agree with everything you're saying, keith. and for the record, i have been attacked in completely unprincipled ways online overwhelmingly by people who would probably consider themselves to be liberals, leftists, or anarchists. when conservatives or even members of the far right leave negative comments about my songs, as they sometimes do, they're usually short comments which, while insulting, also attempt to be funny, and stick to insulting the theme of the song, rather than me. which is interesting. anti-social media's algorithms are bringing a lot of things to the fore, helping me understand what's going on, in some strange ways...
have been having this conversation with my anarchist friends here. I don't like this maximalism when it comes to personal litmus tests. I find some libertarians are more generous and flexible than left academics, or performative liberals.
Social justice matters, and so does the right to free expression, where the 2 go hand in hand. I see that most center left-liberals support censorship and war, while trumpeting their concerns for climate justice.
The US military is the single largest carbon polluter in the world by far, and it's a wrong assumption that censorship will only deplatform right wing talking points, as you've witnessed with your own shadowbanning by band camp. It's insidious. Wikipedia is now run by the intelligence service.
People in closed societies know to keep their mouths shut publicly. In our "open society" we are the most propagandized people in history, by far. Intelligent and educated people buy this shit, wrap themselves in the flags of virtue, and ignore the obvious class war that is unfolding. Democratic liberalism is bankrupt, even abandoning its own core principles.
Great analysis David, especially 'alternative' pseudo analyses. One reading I made myself that hasn't been mentioned is of the 'fat' people. Whenever I watch US news (not often) I am gobsmacked at the number of overweight police there seem to be - who of course are taxpayer funded. (Many US police would not pass the health requirements here).
The gentry here commonly pay $20 or more. I would like to keep the ticket lower, and work to get you the $700 or as close to it as possible, while accommodating you, and feeding you.
Do you travel alone? tech requirements? You can send all of this to my email, where we can continue to discuss details. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my comrades, and see what they may wish to contribute. respect to you, my new crossroads friend. Keith
I’d do it in a heartbeat. where are you located? I am guessing we may have some friends in common here. I am a lifelong musician, and a recovering music biz guy. I have a guest cabin on my privileged waterfront property. You know Ron and Sheila?
i think the last time i played at denman was at least a decade ago, so whoever organized it, i've forgotten... but doing a gig there somewhere and staying in your guest cabin sounds marvelous. there are folks who would likely organize a gig for me in victoria to coincide with a gig in denman, so if we plan ahead by a couple months and there would somehow or other be a guarantee of $700 cad involved with the gig on denman, it all can work fine. i live in portland, oregon, so it's not that far to go for a paying gig.
I got turned on to your substack by friends who identify as being in the anarchist surrealism community. They have become friends and comrades, and a tremendous source for my learning and inspirations. We created a Dadaist/satire full colour print art zine, and I have a mobile art gallery bus that is nearly ready to roll. I am a regular contributor to our local weekly community newspaper, where I am an associate editor. There are a couple of small venues we could use here, where expenses are low, so as to keep ticket prices low, or by donation. $10, sliding scale suggested donation. I never turn anyone away over ability to pay. We might only need 75-100 people to cover your fee. But I am an experienced promoter. I won’t take a nickel, but I might ask my collaborators to cover any loss.
i would happily come play in denman then. no need for a guarantee, you definitely sound like you know what you're doing, and i deeply appreciate your offer to organize something. i'd suggest sliding scale $10-20 with no one turned away for lack of funds tho. people across canada are used to paying $20 to hear house concerts these days, as they are across the usa, from my experience in recent years.
I think you are nailing it in your analysis David. And I love the idea of the folk tradition of appropriative alterations to it. Perhaps I am being too generous, but I see the “punching down” bits slightly differently, from a leftist critique perspective. What I project onto its meaning is that an entirely corrupt system creates food and other addicts, and people so depressed and full of despair that the only way to survive is to reach for what measly handouts that same cruel and crushing system will afford them. We see it everywhere, in the big box stores and the supermarkets. Obese people with blank faces, filling their carts with corn syrup sodas, processed salted foods, and sugar fats. They know it’s not good for them, while they are slowly killing themselves. They don’t have sufficient spirit to care anymore. From his written response to the song going viral (I hope you’ve seen it), Anthony describes the thousands of people he has met through his shitty pay job over the last several years, and it’s filled with those with these addiction and mental health problems, just as he describes his own drinking to drown his mental illness. Respect to you from Denman Island, B.C.
yeah, i love what anthony wrote about the song going viral, and his travels around virginia and north carolina for his job, meeting all those people. great way to become a great songwriter, a job like that... and yeah, i certainly see what you mean about those lines and how they can be interpreted differently from the "punching down" critique. but i still like my changes to the song...
Thanks David. I like your version too. And it may help some leftists get past their most parsed interpretations to what I see as a working class epic. Something is going on out there. Some people describe it as a populist uprising. I am hoping we can put aside some of the divisiveness between the small c conservative working class and the Left. The Shitlibs are those that are doing the punching down, always defending established power, supporting wars, supporting the performative virtue signals of the Democrats. It's a one party state, with Coke and Pepsi as your choice, where we are certain to drink crappy cola regardless. respect to you.
i so deeply agree with everything you're saying, keith. and for the record, i have been attacked in completely unprincipled ways online overwhelmingly by people who would probably consider themselves to be liberals, leftists, or anarchists. when conservatives or even members of the far right leave negative comments about my songs, as they sometimes do, they're usually short comments which, while insulting, also attempt to be funny, and stick to insulting the theme of the song, rather than me. which is interesting. anti-social media's algorithms are bringing a lot of things to the fore, helping me understand what's going on, in some strange ways...
have been having this conversation with my anarchist friends here. I don't like this maximalism when it comes to personal litmus tests. I find some libertarians are more generous and flexible than left academics, or performative liberals.
Social justice matters, and so does the right to free expression, where the 2 go hand in hand. I see that most center left-liberals support censorship and war, while trumpeting their concerns for climate justice.
The US military is the single largest carbon polluter in the world by far, and it's a wrong assumption that censorship will only deplatform right wing talking points, as you've witnessed with your own shadowbanning by band camp. It's insidious. Wikipedia is now run by the intelligence service.
People in closed societies know to keep their mouths shut publicly. In our "open society" we are the most propagandized people in history, by far. Intelligent and educated people buy this shit, wrap themselves in the flags of virtue, and ignore the obvious class war that is unfolding. Democratic liberalism is bankrupt, even abandoning its own core principles.
i agree with every word.
Amen! What a refreshing truly Left take!
Nope, Dave, nope!
https://paulokirk.substack.com/p/black-august-but-the-freaks-those
Great analysis David, especially 'alternative' pseudo analyses. One reading I made myself that hasn't been mentioned is of the 'fat' people. Whenever I watch US news (not often) I am gobsmacked at the number of overweight police there seem to be - who of course are taxpayer funded. (Many US police would not pass the health requirements here).
my email is otterpointstudio@gmail.com
The gentry here commonly pay $20 or more. I would like to keep the ticket lower, and work to get you the $700 or as close to it as possible, while accommodating you, and feeding you.
Do you travel alone? tech requirements? You can send all of this to my email, where we can continue to discuss details. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my comrades, and see what they may wish to contribute. respect to you, my new crossroads friend. Keith
I’d do it in a heartbeat. where are you located? I am guessing we may have some friends in common here. I am a lifelong musician, and a recovering music biz guy. I have a guest cabin on my privileged waterfront property. You know Ron and Sheila?
i think the last time i played at denman was at least a decade ago, so whoever organized it, i've forgotten... but doing a gig there somewhere and staying in your guest cabin sounds marvelous. there are folks who would likely organize a gig for me in victoria to coincide with a gig in denman, so if we plan ahead by a couple months and there would somehow or other be a guarantee of $700 cad involved with the gig on denman, it all can work fine. i live in portland, oregon, so it's not that far to go for a paying gig.
I got turned on to your substack by friends who identify as being in the anarchist surrealism community. They have become friends and comrades, and a tremendous source for my learning and inspirations. We created a Dadaist/satire full colour print art zine, and I have a mobile art gallery bus that is nearly ready to roll. I am a regular contributor to our local weekly community newspaper, where I am an associate editor. There are a couple of small venues we could use here, where expenses are low, so as to keep ticket prices low, or by donation. $10, sliding scale suggested donation. I never turn anyone away over ability to pay. We might only need 75-100 people to cover your fee. But I am an experienced promoter. I won’t take a nickel, but I might ask my collaborators to cover any loss.
i would happily come play in denman then. no need for a guarantee, you definitely sound like you know what you're doing, and i deeply appreciate your offer to organize something. i'd suggest sliding scale $10-20 with no one turned away for lack of funds tho. people across canada are used to paying $20 to hear house concerts these days, as they are across the usa, from my experience in recent years.
you should come to Denman Island to perform!
if someone wants to organize a gig for me there again, i'd love to come back! it's been way too long.