It's not the fact you don't hear me or that we don't get along
Maybe we don't speak that clearly maybe our conscience is gone
Maybe this voice sounds familiar
Cuz it's been with us since the day we were born
Did all that sense in your head find a new place to go?
It should be common knowledge but I'm not sure what we know
We need some sense in our heads to tell you what's right from wrong
We're gonna need it when this modern convenience is gone
You've got a brand new opinion that you have found on the screen
You can't control your suspicion you don't know what to believe
And if this voice sounds familiar
Then you might understand exactly what I mean
Did all that sense in your head find a new place to go?
It should be common knowledge but I'm not sure what we know
We need some sense in our heads to tell you what's right from wrong
We're gonna need it when this modern convenience is gone
We've got so many distractions we might need blinders to see
We synchronize our reactions with all this technology
And if this voice sounds familiar
Then you might understand exactly what I mean
Did all that sense in your head find a new place to go?
It should be common knowledge but I'm not sure what we know
We need some sense in our heads to tell you what's right from wrong
We're gonna need it when this modern convenience is gone
Riots or Revolution? What seems to be the difference between the two? The London riots caught our attention fast and the response was a split decision, as I recall. So let's try and find the instruction manual for Riots and Revolutions. Don't worry, I'll wait...
While we are waiting for the rule book...
I will mention that what happened in Egypt was called a revolution. Why? Well...because after years and years of tyranny and oppression, the people finally said, "ENOUGH" and went down to the town square and stood there in protest with demands. They were unified and seemed organized. They were not violent about it, really. Although there was much violence reported. Things were smashed and blown up, some people died...but they were persistent enough to get the change they were asking for: Revolution.
In 1789 The French did the same thing. We have Bastille day to remember it by. The epic march to Versailles that forced the Royal Court back to Paris. Economic factors included rising bread prices after years of poor grain harvest. Another cause was the state's effective bankruptcy due to the enormous cost of previous wars, particularly the financial strain caused by the French participation in the American Revolutionary War. So, the French people decided it was time for a revolution. Things were smashed and blown up, a lot of people died...but they were persistent enough to get the change they were asking for: Revolution.
And that reminds me of one of our own American Revolutions. Not the first one that kicked out the British. But the Civil War that happened later. The one about Slavery and the succession of states from the union. I mean, it took a few hundred years to boil the pot, but when it did, we ended up having the bloodiest revolutionary war in America's history. The whole country was like an out of control riot for years. HELLA shit was smashed and blown up, HELLA people died...but they were persistent enough to get the change they were asking for: Revolution.
And so now this London thing. It's had the ingredients of a revolution. But for some reason it was not given the right amount of ingredients that a revolution requires. And many condemned the "blacks" for going as crazy as they did. Looting and pillaging without proper organization makes the military grunt with disgust. Perhaps if they had just waited for a few hundred more years, all the people would have all joined in and declared a revolution. However...Things were smashed and blown up, some died...but they were NOT persistent enough to get the change they were asking for. In fact, now their own people hate them and want to blame them for what the elite and wealthy are creating from their high ranks above.
Every generation has their version of "The Man" and it only takes a few people to damn him into submission. If they are organized. I hope the Londoners regroup and really think about what just happened. Compared to their previous civil war in 1642, there are definitely some notes worth jotting down.
It would be nice to NOT have that happen again...without proper organization and support from all who need to be involved...considering the poor and middle class out number the rich and wealthy by a huge amount.
Anyway...
And here is a song that was inspired by the London Riots. Damn the man...
The world has indeed gone sideways. I am reminded every day by the headlines I see via computer, TV, Radio, phone, newspaper, magazines... it is unavoidable. And we the people of the world are overwhelmed with this abundance of negativity.
The Musashi Trio is supporting the ranks of people who want to do something about it. They say the pen is mightier than the sword, I say the music penetrates the soul faster than either of them. With this understanding, it is inevitable, the path in which I must follow.
The newer generations are faced with more information than any generation before us. I find it necessary to pass on the knowledge that my parents and grandparents have passed on to me. The attention span of most people in this technological era can be compared to a brick tossed in the pacific. Before all hope sinks to the bottom I intend to offer what strength and wisdom I have. And though you may be grown and educated, take a look at the younger generation
behind us who may be looking for a way to make some sense of this world. It is difficult to not sound pedantic...so I turn to the music.
If this is something that makes sense to you, then you will understand why I write the songs I do. My cause is as common as any good persons cause. And we are putting our songs out there for an effect.
Darlin' your love keeps callin'
And that's how I know
Your heart beats inside my soul
So let the truth be told
Your heart beats inside my soul
Baby this love's so crazy
But it let's me know
Your heart beats inside my soul
So let the truth be told
Your heart beats inside my soul
Honey let's find some money
Until then I know
Your heart beats inside my soul
So let the truth be told
Your heart beats inside my soul
If there's one thing I know
Your heart beats inside my soul
I watched the London riots from the comfort of my own home last week, here in Northern California. Which is its own perspective, I know. Every where on earth there is a class division of wealthy, rich, middle class and poor. How the wealthy and rich keep playing the sidelines on issues like this is beyond my comprehension. Every time. They just let the poor suffer until they snap. And the middle class seems to always take the brunt of this reaction. Then the rich step in afterwards and narrate the story with control of the press. Then it starts all over again.
All over the globe there is revolution. Now London. But for some strange reason this particular chain of events got lumped into another category. Wrong. It's the same thing. The only difference is that it is happening to YOU now and you are not as united as the Egyptians were. And because of this subdivision among the classes, it makes it easier to reprimand the poor for being revolutionary. I really don't see the difference between the collateral damage in London and Afghanistan. Both are being looted, bombed and pillaged by a bunch of 18 year olds for reasons that inevitably benefit some upper class regime; the wealthy corporations.
So in this song, I wanted to capture the moment where the middle class (portrayed by me) is reacting to the rioting poor in the street. Except I want to point out that we are both being played against each other by the corporations, the media and the wealthy by addressing the tactic in which they use to control us like puppets. And my question is how do they do that if there are no strings attached to anybody? Then in a moment of clarity, as I am watching footage of rioters walking down the street with televisions...it all makes sense. I look up at the satellites in orbit. I can't see them. But I know they are there.
So now I am wondering if this even matters to a group of people who are so desperate enough to loot. How can we read Robin Hood to the kids, if we are all dangling like Pinnochio? How do we change something that we cannot see? Where is the key that unlocks invisible chains? How do you ask this question without people laughing in your face(book)?
The fuck if I know either...but that's why I write songs, sometimes...so that I don't forget these questions.
Your friendly cyberhood
Uncle Samurai
No Strings by mooselethridge Hey what the hell are you doing there?
Are you trying to manifest destiny?
Like a pawn on a chessboard now
In the hands of your so -called queen
But it has caught our attention now
We see you walkin' with that TV screen
Aint no time for intervention now
But there is something that you need to see
The rich are gettin' richer
And the poor keep on suffering
It's a theater of politics
Controlled like a puppet, but the puppet aint got no strings
I know they'd still be ignoring y'all
If it weren't for this emergency
But them guards that they're deploying now
They aint payed to think of what it means
They got a rope made of blood-red tape
And they love to just let it swing
They got you hangin' like Pinnochio
So they can blame you for falling in the streets
That's how the rich keep dividing up
All the poor for the conquering
In this theater of politics
That's controlled like a puppet, but the puppet aint got no strings
They got me gazing at the satellites
That they hook to your TV screen
And when you turn it on and watch tonight
You can see for yourself what I mean
But you still loot and run around
But it don't change a god damn thing
If you really want to hit 'em hard
We got to stand up in unity
Because the rich keep dividing up
All the poor for the conquering
It's just a theater of politics
That's controlled like a puppet, but the puppet aint got no strings
