Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
Whipping vs. Grievance
Whipping Don't need a helmet, got a hard, hard head Don't need a raincoat, I'm already wet Don't need a bandage, there's too much...blood... After a while, seems to roll right off...
They're whipping...
Don't need a hand, there's always arms attached Oh, don't get behind, I can't fall back Why must we trust all these rusted rails? They don't want no change we already have
They're whipping...
Don't mean to push, but I'm being shoved! Ohh, I'm just like you, think we've had enough I can't believe a thing they want us to... Oh, we all got scars, they should have 'em too...
They're whipping...
Grievance
Have a drink they're buying Bottom of, bottle of denial Big guy,... big eye,... watching me... Have to wonder what it sees... Progress... laced with... ramifications... Freedom's big plunge
Pull the innocent from a crowd Raise the sticks then bring em down If they fail to obey... oh if they fail to obey,
For every tool they lend us... a loss of independence
I pledge my grievance to the flag Cause you don't give blood... to take it back again Oh we're all deserving something more Progress... taste it... invest-it-all Champagne breakfast for everyone
Break the innocent when they're proud... Raise the stakes... then bring em down... If they fail to obey... if they fail to obey
Pledge your grievance to the flag Cause you don't give blood... then take it back again Oh we're all deserving something more.
I want to breathe Follow the scene I want to taste Everyone I see I want to run when I'm up high I want to run into the sea I only want life.... to be... I just want to be... I will feel alive... as long as I am free...
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
By political call to arms I mean a song that not only tells you about a way the world is unjust, but also inspires you to go out to do something about it. It needs to be a song that has you fired up at the end, ready to go find a rally. REM's Final Straw or Pearl Jam's insignificance are both powerful songs in their own way, but neither one leaves you fired up. Both bear witness to injustice but don't call you to the barricades. Both of these songs try to do that
I love the sense of rolling intensity that whipping begins with. It lets you know right away that the song has something to say without shoving it in your face. It sweeps you up along with it—you are part of the tide, and that matters for these kinds of songs. There has to be a certain feeling of angry solidarity—you are part of a group, and that whole group is pissed
Lyrically the song is a bit too vague. Lots of great individual lines that convey a sense of group defiance, a refusal to accept a world or system that continuously demands sacrifice while giving nothing in return, that makes demands of others without giving of themselves in return. It is outraged by hypocrisy and wants revenge, or at least change. But in the end whipping is a bit too abstract. There is nothing specific to grab on to. While this means you can apply it just about any situation you would like, it lacks substance to make it stick
Grievance is a more interesting, although musically less immediate than whipping, and like Light Years, I think it suffers slightly in that regard. A good political song should be catchy (which is not necessarily the same thing as simple) and infectious, and grievance is a bit too challenging in that regard (some of that might be because of the binaural murk).
Lyrically, however, it is a masterpiece. Probably the best piece of political writing ed has ever done (with the possible exception of WWS). In part because of its inspiration (I believe this was written watching the WTO protests in Seattle) there is a sense of concreteness to the lyrics that whipping lacks. It is abstract, but there is a condemnation of globalization (or the disingenuous promise of freedom given to mask exploitation, which works domestically and internationally), and a celebration of the political act of protest. It spends its time glorifying resistance, rather than attacking hypocrisy. Both are there, but here it is the act, rather than the critique, that is controlling the song. It is a more mature approach than the ‘don’t trust anyone over 30’ attitude of whipping.
Both songs ends on a note of defiance, but there is a sense of martyrdom in whipping “do your worst, I’ll still resist†that isn’t quite as inspiring as the declaration of faith and freedom in the end of Grievance. The cry for revenge isn’t as compelling as the cry for freedom
Grievance takes it.
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:37 pm Posts: 7376 Location: Vlaardingen, Netherlands Gender: Female
I think there's still more power in the chosen cover songs, like Masters of War and Gimme Some Truth, for instance.
groetjes,
Mirella "people have the power"
_________________ 93 Rdm2x 96 D L2x Ber Gro Ams Par Zür 00 L2x D Gla Man Car Par Pin Pra Kat2x Sal Lju Ver Ber Ham Ros L 01 BSB2x Sea2x 06 D Arn Ant Bern Bol Ver Mil Tor Pis Pra Ber Vie Zag 07 L Düs Nij Wer 09 L Rdm Ber Man L 10 D Belf L Ber 12 Am2x EV:Am2x
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:02 am Posts: 2560 Location: Dallas/Atlanta/Savannah
never would have thought of whipping in that context. but it makes sense when you read the lyrics, though it seems like it could maybe be an anti slavery song, kinda pulling that outa my ass, but it seems like whipping alludes to that.
_________________ "is that a fucking pearl jam shirt?" Courtney Love
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
Junco Partner wrote:
never would have thought of whipping in that context. but it makes sense when you read the lyrics, though it seems like it could maybe be an anti slavery song, kinda pulling that outa my ass, but it seems like whipping alludes to that.
I don't think an anti-slavery song would be that compelling in the year 1994, but the metaphor and image of the slave driver, of being driven like chattel or punished for disobedience, still works
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Have a drink they're buying
Bottom of, bottle of denial
Big guy,... big eye,... watching me...
Have to wonder what it sees...
Progress... laced with... ramifications...
Freedom's big plunge
Pull the innocent from a crowd
Raise the sticks then bring em down
If they fail to obey... oh if they fail to obey,
For every tool they lend us... a loss of independence
I pledge my grievance to the flag
Cause you don't give blood... to take it back again
Oh we're all deserving something more
Progress... taste it... invest-it-all
Champagne breakfast for everyone
Break the innocent when they're proud...
Raise the stakes... then bring em down...
If they fail to obey... if they fail to obey
Pledge your grievance to the flag
Cause you don't give blood... then take it back again
Oh we're all deserving something more.
I want to breathe
Follow the scene
I want to taste
Everyone I see
I want to run when I'm up high
I want to run into the sea
I only want life.... to be...
I just want to be...
I will feel alive... as long as I am free...
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:36 pm Posts: 25824 Location: south jersey
both great songs. i'll vote for whippin b/c its not getting much love, plus it kicks my ass harder than grievance does. everyone should listen to whippin from the atlanta radio show in 94. its beautifully intense
"i dont mean to push but im being shoved"
_________________ Feel the path of every day,... Which road you taking?,...
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