A lyrical commentary by Iris Dement.
There is an interesting side story to this.
In 1997 then Replublican state Senator John Grant was able to engineer the cut of a $104,000 state grant that WMNF had. He did this because he had gotten ticked off about the lyrics of this song. After WMNF told its listeners about the political knifing by Grant, in one day they raised $120,000 to make up for the cut in funding.
Other commentary about the incident.
WASTELAND OF THE FREE (Iris DeMent)
(c) 1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP
Living in the wasteland of the free...
We got preachers dealing in politics and diamond mines
and their speech is growing increasingly unkind
They say they are Christ's disciples
but they don't look like Jesus to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
We got politicians running races on corporate cash
Now don't tell me they don't turn around and kiss them peoples' ass
You may call me old-fashioned
but that don't fit my picture of a true democracy
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
We got CEO's making two hundred times the workers' pay
but they'll fight like hell against raising the minimum wage
and If you don't like it, mister, they'll ship your job
to some third-world country 'cross the sea
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free
where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free
We got little kids with guns fighting inner city wars
So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors
and we call ourselves the advanced civilization
that sounds like crap to me
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
We got high-school kids running 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess
who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test
but if you ask them, they can tell you
the name of every crotch on mTV
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free
We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we win
Some guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sin
but he's standing up for what he%2
This could not have been said better. They'll call us leftist liberals, but this is REALITY!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to both Mr. Grant and to WMNF. Giving taxpayers money to WMNF is just plain wrong. MNF did the right thing in obtaining the needed money from its supporters rather than from the state.
ReplyDelete