Disc 2

Listen

&

Read

Red, White & Blueberry Jam

- Music by Bill Ward 

 

Notes

This musical piece and song from Bill Ward’s 1989 cassette “The Chair is Squeaking” seem to go together perfectly.  The original reel tape recordings were beyond recovery so they were painstakingly reproduced from the ground up with “Something Wrong” getting a few lyrical changes.  They are thematically appropriate for this CD and it was quite challenging but fun to rediscover and reproduce them.  Fortunately, I had written down the original horn parts as I don’t think I could have figured them out from the original cassette.

 

Something Wrong

Words and Music by Bill Ward

 

Lyrics

 

There's Something Wrong with the country

Something gotta change real soon

Something Wrong with the country

On the rise is a dark and troubled moon

 

There's Something Wrong with these people

You can tell them but they do not respond

There's something wrong with these people

Will they listen when all their freedom is gone

 

There's something wrong with your religion

You sing songs safe behind your walls

There's something wrong with your religion

Where you gonna hide when your country falls

 

There's somethingwrong with your dog

He just lays around all day long

There's something wrong with your dog

He don't dance a jig, he don't sing a song

 

There's something wrong and it's all around me

Truth is stumbling through the streets

There's something wrong and it's all around me

Like a drunken fool with two left feet

 

There's Something Wrong with the country
Something gotta change real soon
Something Wrong with the country
On the rise is a dark and troubled moon

Paranoid
- lyrics by Bill Ward to the tune of the same name by Black Sabbath

 

Notes

Wow! sometimes you just nail one -musically and lyrically!..   

Here is a cuttingly satirical song about an embittered, self-centered, radical leftist, perhaps from the occupy movement, who is upset with everyone including himself.  A true disciple
of Judas sadly heading towards a similar fate.

 

Lyrics

 

Finished with Obama 'cause he wouldn't help me with my life

I want a new house, a car, an education and a wife

 

All day long I sit mommy's basement in my underwear

Tweeting about all I hate and how my life is so unfair

 

Can you help me?  I'm am such a drone! oh yeah

 

I'm a Christian Anarchist, a contradiction and a lie

Redistribute wealth to me while I protest and occupy

 

Black is white and up is down, my brain is twisted all around

The reasoning I could possess the chains of bitterness have bound

 

Rebellion is my only game, equality my only claim

I laugh at the things you love and curse the good things from above

 

Can you help me?  A wretched man am I! oh yeah

 

I need someone to show me the things in life I cannot find

Emptiness is everywhere the evil one has kept me blind

 

Eternally of victim of my circumstances and my state

A son of perdition who refuses Christ to change his fate

"Liberty's Last Stand"   - an overview

 

     This CD is a collection of five original pieces, thirteen satirical derivatives from songs that I have typically performed in my one man show for many years.  The derivative songs on this album follow after the long common practice of adding or changing lyrics to give a popular song new meaning or expression.   A great many favorite hymns are derived from popular public (pub) songs as well other well known popular songs.  Our own national anthem was originally a poem which was set to a popular British song entitled "The Anacreontic Song".  The melody was used, altered gradually over the years, and named “The Star Spangled Banner”.   The melody to “America” (commonly known as “My Country ‘tis of Thee”) is identical to the British national anthem “God save the Queen”.  (How satirically ironic is that?!  -”Rock this Boat”!).

     The songs for this work were chosen for aesthetic, alliteration, syllabic, or rhythmical reasons, that lent themselves well to the new lyrical treatment.   All of the songs on this CD have been painstakingly written, or re-written, arranged, and completely recorded anew with no thought of using prior recorded material.  All instrumentation is my own arrangement guided solely by the constraints of the original harmony and rhythm. I think you will find that many are even better than the original.   Nevertheless, purists will be outraged that their own sacred rock song has been abused in such a way as this; merely to make a political or philosophical point.   I hereby state, that anyone may use any of my own songs in anyway that you see fit as long as you make reference to its original authorship as I have done here.

     What this is really about is rather than making corn-ball parodies, for one listen and one chuckle (maybe), I wanted to produce quality music that could endure the test of time with poetic lyrics that are worth quoting.  There is a need for serious music and satire that tells the unabashed truth about the threats we face personally and as a society.  "I ain't gonna work animal farm no more".  The left owns the culture.  It’s time for liberty minded people to take some of it  back.  -”Rock this Boat”!

Ninny Nanny Land
- lyrics by Bill Ward to the tune of "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles

 

Notes

This is the song that started my current outpouring of satirical parodies which five years later led to this 2 disc set.  “We all live in Ninny Nanny Land” just flowed out of me one day to this tune.  It musically worked so well and so cleverly exposed the all-consuming nanny state that aims to control “every aspect of our lives”.   The left is made up of two types of people, those who wish to be mothered and those happy to do the mothering.  But whether it be the paternal boot on the neck, or the hug you cannot escape from, it is tyranny none the less.   “Maternalism, ain’t it great!”

 

Lyrics

 

In the land where I was born stretching sea to shining sea

Rugged patriots have died defending life and liberty

But there are those who came to run every aspect of our lives

Dependency is the Declaration, a nanny state that will advise

 

You when to live and how to die,

what to laugh at, how not to cry

A million labels a million laws

They must control you and just because...

 

We all live in ninny nanny land....

 

To keep us safe and secure, big mother is always near

With a kiss upon your cheek, the soft tyranny is finally here

'Cause there are dangers everywhere, radiating through the air

Safety first and safety last....

 

Wear your hat when it is cold,

Stay inside when you are old

Do not smoke and do not drink

Must be careful what you think

Whether you stand or whether you sit

Whether you eat or whether you...

 

We all live in ninny nanny land...

 

The propaganda's everywhere, nutrition Nazis in your face

For healthy children and polar bears,

to save the planet and perfect the race

 

Buckle up so you can read helpful signs that will remind

You how to cough and how to sneeze,

to disinfect and scrub your mind

 

Cameras watch your every move,

every red light a chance to prove

Your loyalty to the state, maternalism ain't it great?

 

Wear a helmet everywhere

Pad your children or beware

Stay in line, do not stare

The emperor's in his underwear

Bureaucrats are everywhere

Lawyers waiting to ensnare

Anyone who's unaware

that....

 

We all live in ninny nanny land...

Tighten Up Your Wig
- lyrics by Bill Ward derived from Steppenwolf's tune of the same name by John Kay

 

Notes


This was a brand new song for me that I had not
previously performed in my live show.  It was interesting
to see the direction it took as the lyrics unfolded and
the recording took shape.  The organ solo section
is quite unique.  It’s became one of my favorites.
The song encourages one to face reality rather
than believe the lie of a non-existent utopia.

 

Lyrics

-John Kay's original lyrics are italicized

 

What you perceive as truth here on the ground

Try to look up at your feet and take a look around

Let me see your eyes, you've got to make them big

And when the truth is in disguise, time to tighten up your wig

 

Your mind is narrow and it's no surprise

That you get all your news from a network of lies

Open up your head, you've got to make it big

But when the truth is never said, best to tighten up your wig

 

Can you hear the guitar playing?  can you hear that drum?

Can you hear the words I sing or are you just to numb

Open up your ears, you've got to make them big

But when the justify your fears, better tighten up your wig

 

What you perceive as truth here on the ground
Try to look up at your feet and take a look around
Let me see your head, you've got to make it big
Until your ears come apart and you tighten up your wig

 

When the road is to narrow and the way is to long

When freedom is in peril and temptation to strong

Don't deceive your heart, you've got to make it big

And when the world falls apart, time to tighten up your wig

 

Just before I go and shuffle out across the floor

Can't make you take a drink or walk on through the door

Your head is getting big

And when your world falls apart, got to tighten up your wig

Mercury Blues
- written by K. C. Douglas and Robert Geddins

 

Notes


One of the best blues licks of all time.  Done my way,
which takes its cue from the Steve Miller version of the song.

 

Lyrics

 

Had my money I tell you what I'd do

I would go down town and buy a Mercury or two

'Cause I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury, cruise up and down this road

I'm gonna buy me a Mercury, cruise up and down this road

 

You know the gal I loved I stole her from a friend

Fool got lucky stole her back again

Because she know'd he had a Mercury, cruise up and down this road

I'm gonna buy me a Mercury, cruise up and down this road

 

Hey now momma where you stay last night?

Your hairs all down your clothes don't fit too right

 

Buy me a Mercury...   Cruise up and down this road

Suicide in the Free World
-lyrics identical to the Bill Ward original song
set here to the tune “Rockin’ in the Free World” by Neil Young

 

Notes


This version was turned into a must see video.  Go to the Video page to watch.
Best summed up in the words of Abraham Lincoln:
If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be its author and finisher.  As a nation of free men, we must live through all time or die by suicide.
 

Lyrics

 

The mob is in the Street / They're screaming for their bread

There's nothing left to steal / The utopia is dead

And there's a cold gray building in the center of town

Where the bureaucrats sit and push papers around

Deciding who will get the benefits and who will get the crumbs

Who will be the kings and who will be the bums

 

The Suicide of the free world...

Social justice in the real world

 

A peace sign on your jeep / An iron cross on your chest

You're a rebel sheep / You're a real Marxist

I see a Darwin fish on a Subaru

Now dead in a junkyard rusted through

The dreams of the commune never die

They just recycle the same old lie

 

Who is John Galt / Did he let you down

It's always his fault / Why did he leave town

Now the voice on the megaphone is talking again

It's not safe out here please return to the pen

The people have rejected history

That was a brief shining moment in history

Tightrope
- lyrics by Bill Ward derived from the song of the same name
by Doyle Bramhall and Stevie Ray Vaughan

 

Notes


This was a tune I performed frequently in my live show, and here it’s reworked with a tea party theme of Constitutional adherence in the face of the ever rising threat of lies, special interests, and tyrannical government.  America is balancing on the tightrope between liberty and tyranny.

 

Lyrics

- original lyrics are italicized

 

Caught up in a whirlwind, can't catch my breath

Knee deep in hot water, we're drowning in the debt

Can't catch the turtle, in this rat race

Feels like we're losing time, at a break neck pace

 

Afraid of my own shadow, under this regime

Unionization, dirty deals and schemes

There's truth all around us, but if we don't defend

The Constitution, it'll surely be the end

 

Now we're walking the tightrope, between the truth and lies

Walking the tightrope, between the earth and sky

Walking the tightrope, it's raining all around

Walking the tightrope, are we lost or found?

 

Looking back in front of me, I see the way it was

I see the way it could be, I see what liberalism does

With all of our problems, the answer is clear

It's liberty or death, happiness or fear

 

Now we're walking the tightrope, between the truth and lies
Walking the tightrope, between the earth and sky
Walking the tightrope, it's raining all around
Walking the tightrope, are we lost or found?

 

Now we're walking the tightrope, trying to make things right
Walking the tightrope, everyday and every night
Walking the tightrope, spread it 'round the world
Walking the tightrope, to every boy and every girl

 

Now we're walking the tightrope, we're gonna make things right
Walking the tightrope, we're gonna put up a fight
Walking the tightrope, and when November comes
Walking the tightrope, we're kick out the bums....

Slow Train Coming
-lyrics by Bill Ward are derived from

the original song of the same name by Bob Dylan

 

Notes


A great minor blues tune.  I love the way the two guitars intertwine and compliment each other in my version of this foreboding Dylan song from his Slow Train Coming album.   My version rides the “train” deeper.  It speaks of moral decay as well as the rise of political apathy.  “We’ve gone 100 years down this road. Our foundations slowly corrode.  Ameritopia lives in her luxury and dirty laundry”.  Maternalistic tyranny is a slow creeping thing that most people fail to notice it until it is too late.

 

Lyrics 

-Dylan's original lyrics are italicized

 

Sometimes I get so low down and disgusted

Can't help but wonder, what's happening to my country?

We've gone a hundred years down this road

Our Foundations slowly corrode

Ameritopia lives in her luxury and dirty laundry

And there's a slow, a slow train coming, up around the bend

 

I had a woman, down in Alabama

She was a backward girl but she sure was realistic

She said boy without a doubt

Have to quit your messing and straighten out

You could die down here, be just another accident statistic

And there's a slow, a slow train coming, up around the bend

 

So many lies, spoken by pretty eyes

Look all around you, their coming at you from every angle

Every billboard and every sign

Is just begging you to tote the line

You better watch your words or your freedom they will strangle

And there's a slow, a slow train coming, up around the bend

 

Pink ribbons for ladies, welfare queens for babies

We ain't got the money but we always got some new way to spend it

In the home of the brave

Jefferson's up turning over in his grave

Thieves glorify themselves as they righteously defend it

 

Big time politicians, false messiahs and spin magicians

Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition

But the enemy I see

Wears a cloak of decency

All non-believers and men stealers talking in the name of religion

And there's a slow, a slow train coming, up around the bend

 

People lost in delusion, leftist lies and confusion

Our little dictator preaches peace and the pacifists believe it

As you lose your inhibition,

They take a way your ambition

They talk about a life of brotherly love,

show me someone who knows how the live it

And there's a slow, a slow train coming, up around the bend

 

Well my baby went to Illinois, with some peace talkin' hippy she could destroy

A real occupy type but there was nothing I could do to stop it

I don't care about your legacy,

I don't care about your ancestry

But it sure bothers me to see the people turning into puppets

And there's a slow, a slow train coming, up around the bend