At the end of the day Chuck D is an expert in soundbites and metaphors. The soundbite is attention grabbing and makes the listener sit up and take notice (early Manic Street Preachers lyrics also featured this a lot). Once you're attention has been grabed it's then up to you to figure out what he means and what he's saying.
If the lyrics were doing nothing more than attacking two people (Elvis and John Wayne) they'd be pretty weak. When you think of Elvis, John Wayne, even Johnny Cash, I could go on, you're seeing symbols, what tv, magazines, advertisments, corporations, film, MTV have fed to you, what you've been fed by these systems of power. All this stuff is what Chuck D is all about, (eg: he warned once about 'weapons of mass distraction'. MTV, mindless video games all occupy your time and mind and stop you from thinking)
'Mother fuck him and John Wayne' is completely damning these systems of power, its also a statement of intent of wiping the cultural state clean, not only for black people, but everyone who realises that the continuation and nostalgia for these icons is utter nonsense. (It suits white authority to keep propogating such symbols: As long as those symbols stand strong then there is no space for others. Eg: Martin Luther King, with Arizona refusing to grant a national holiday for him. You can argue all you want, but White America is not going to give up its stronghold willingly). Starting afresh like this is what punk and post punk was trying to do in the late seventies and early eighties. (Terminator X's name holds a similar meaning, the eradication of all that has come before).
Its all imagery and metaphor at the end of the day. Kurt Cobain had a sticker on his guitar that said 'Vandalism: as beautiful as a rock in a cops face'. Now you can be all sensitive and tiptoe around the subject "oh what if the cop has a family", "but that would hurt" "Elvis was really talented and sensitvie and wrote lovely songs". But thats not what making a statement is all about, statements have different levels. If someone you knew was a cop and got hit in the face by a rock, sure you'd be concerned; but as an image, a statement of dissention in the face of authority, its perfect.
At the end of the day Chuck D is an expert in soundbites and metaphors. The soundbite is attention grabbing and makes the listener sit up and take notice (early Manic Street Preachers lyrics also featured this a lot). Once you're attention has been grabed it's then up to you to figure out what he means and what he's saying.
If the lyrics were doing nothing more than attacking two people (Elvis and John Wayne) they'd be pretty weak. When you think of Elvis, John Wayne, even Johnny Cash, I could go on, you're seeing symbols, what tv, magazines, advertisments, corporations, film, MTV have fed to you, what you've been fed by these systems of power. All this stuff is what Chuck D is all about, (eg: he warned once about 'weapons of mass distraction'. MTV, mindless video games all occupy your time and mind and stop you from thinking)
'Mother fuck him and John Wayne' is completely damning these systems of power, its also a statement of intent of wiping the cultural state clean, not only for black people, but everyone who realises that the continuation and nostalgia for these icons is utter nonsense. (It suits white authority to keep propogating such symbols: As long as those symbols stand strong then there is no space for others. Eg: Martin Luther King, with Arizona refusing to grant a national holiday for him. You can argue all you want, but White America is not going to give up its stronghold willingly). Starting afresh like this is what punk and post punk was trying to do in the late seventies and early eighties. (Terminator X's name holds a similar meaning, the eradication of all that has come before).
Its all imagery and metaphor at the end of the day. Kurt Cobain had a sticker on his guitar that said 'Vandalism: as beautiful as a rock in a cops face'. Now you can be all sensitive and tiptoe around the subject "oh what if the cop has a family", "but that would hurt" "Elvis was really talented and sensitvie and wrote lovely songs". But thats not what making a statement is all about, statements have different levels. If someone you knew was a cop and got hit in the face by a rock, sure you'd be concerned; but as an image, a statement of dissention in the face of authority, its perfect.