List monitors arrive with petition

Iron-fisted philosophy...
Is your life worth a painting?
Is this 'girl vs. boy' with different symbols?
Being born is power
Scout leader nazi tagged as 'big sin'
Your risk chains me hostage
Me, I'm fighting with my head, I'm not ambiguous

I must look like a dork

Me, naked with textbook poems
Spout fountain against the Nazis
With weird kinds of sex symbols
In speeches that are big dance thumps
If we heard mortar shells
We'd cuss more in our songs
And cut down on guitar solos

(guitar solo)

So dig this big crux

Organizing the boy scouts for murder is wrong
Ten years beyond the big sweat point
Man, it was still there ever without you
Coming back around, look!
Coming together, for just a second
A peek, a guess
At the wholeness it's way too big
At the wholeness it's way too big


Lyrics submitted by OwnPersonalDemon

Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    It seems to me that it is about balance and conflict between Mike Watt's desire to make music with a message and his desire to make music with artistic value. The "mortar shells" are the urgency of the political situation, but the "guitar solos" are the fragile artistic aspects.

    TheIronFaceofSteelon February 14, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Cut down on guitars solos.

    SOLO!

    Fucking love the Minutemen.

    ExoM7on March 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I don't think it's a conflict between making music with a message and music with artistic value, because they can be done at the same time. It seems to be more specifically about the fine line between the desire for uncovering socio-political injustices/atrocities, and exploiting the victims of these injustices/atrocities through art. It's also criticizing/mocking artists who don't see the irony in their capitalizing on others' suffering.

    artsluton January 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I read on the Allmusic review of the album that this song is a criticism of leftist punk, which I suppose is supported by lines like "Organizing the boy scouts for murder is wrong".

    EpsilonJSTCon October 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction

    Man, the lyrics are wrong.

    He MUST be saying: "your WRIST chains me hostage" "if we heard MORE OURSELFS"

    it makes more sense

    firuon November 25, 2011   Link
  • -2
    General Comment

    very much like a train of thought. i'm not to sure what to read into it because there's so much going on. it seems like one of those songs where, when you know the theme and the meaning, it all becomes clear.

    super_noodleson June 18, 2006   Link

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