FAWM: "Political Rabies"

Political Rabies

Liner Notes

About half my life ago I spent a lot of time hanging out with hard-left/anarchist types. Though I appreciate their enthusiasm (and the fact they were/are right about a lot of things), they really did put a lot of people off the very politics they were trying to progress.

This song is about them I guess. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek, really. And I once did in get into trouble with one of them because I drank her Stalin-branded vodka/lemonade mix, absolutely true story.

This recording began a few months back with that verse riff - I just had it on a loop while I was testing some mix template ideas, but had no intention of turning it into a song until the other day I hit upon that fast-paced melody which is about as close to rapping as I think I'm ever gonna get. Then I just needed to add some synths, a bit of variation, and voila. ANOTHER SONG.

Now it's time to play Civilization VII which has released early and thrown a complete spanner into my FAWM efforts.

Drums: Just Add Drums (shells) + SD3 (cymbals)
Guitar: Les Paul knockoff through Big Muff Pi, Orange Crush
Synth: Vox Humana, polymoog style; Minimonsta
Bass: Punkbass Kontakt
#political #rock #grunge #synth #heavy #guitar

Lyrics

we are the radicals
we move diagonal
like animals
we have political rabies
we banned the word 'maybe'
the world's in black and white
shades of grey are our kryptonite
i want to start a fight
'cause you're wrong and i am right

we are the cannibals
of all free radicals
infallible
turn non-political babies
into lords and ladies
putting the public off
good ideas like giving a toss
i want to start a fight
'cause you're wrong and i am right

don't be so reasonable
it's not compatible
with capital
my favourite alcohol had a picture of stalin
no longer relevant
to the donkeys and elephants
aside from getting votes that no one counts
unless they win

you cannot win
you cannot win, my god
you cannot win

i want to start a fight
'cause you're wrong and i am right

you cannot win
you cannot win, my god
you cannot win

Comments

@balancelost 1w

Haha, definitely get where the lyrics are coming from in this one. Many people approach politics like it is art, when it in fact it is politics (i.e. the art of compromise). Obvs you have synths in a lot of your stuff but this one more than ever reminds me of Gary Numan, and I love that punchy and spacey power that it has

@shakedown_jesus 1w

Those are some killer tones. Love that synth in there as well! Gotta watch out for those Civ games. "You're not sleeping well at night because you're so focused on world domination right before bed" is what my wife told me last night as I played Civ6...

@mikeskliar 1w

wow, this is great! fantastic idea and yeah that whole 'the world is totally black and white and everyone else is wrong' thing is definitely too much of a thing for some people for sure- this is a great and effective portrait of all that--- the music fits the lyric so well, and the performance is suitable energetic. great work!

@raspberry33 1w

Great punk energy! Love the lyrics, especially the opening stanza ("we are the radicals/we move diagonal/like animals/we have political rabies") and "no longer relevant to the donkeys and the elephants". and "shades of grey are our kryptonite" True lyrical craftsmanship. What a superb production. (And I miss my Big Muff Pi - lent it to a friend and it came back broken)