Sunday, September 4, 2011

Bein' all that they can be

Angel Corpus Christi and Rich Stim's X-tal covers project marches on. Nice one.

Happy Americans by mxrich

It's actually been quite a long time since I've sung this song. It seemed so tied to the patriotic rah-rah zeitgeist of the Reagan era (with a goodly dose of snark at cheesy 80s rock anthems thrown in) that it doesn't really seem to suit an age of angry birthers and teabaggers. The ignorance lives on, but that giddy euphoria has been replaced by an ocean of butthurt. On the other hand, since the lonesome death of St. Ronnie, there's been no shortage of talking heads invoking those wonderful years when Americans were oh so happy. So the time has never been better for Angel to bring this one back.

(Ironic note: back when this was written, Daniel Ortega was one of America's Top Scapegoats, along with Noriega and Qaddafi---hey, how about that?---who were name-dropped in the song in various alternate versions. When the Sandinistas regained power in Nicaragua recently, Ortega distinguished himself by allying himself with the Catholic Church and the right wing and passing one of the cruelest, most Draconian anti-abortion laws in the hemisphere. While the average American has forgotten his name, I'm just about ready to pick up that water gun myself. I won't say what I'd like to fill it up with.)

UPDATE: No, this song is not the least bit dated. The spirit of all we were making fun of back then is all too alive. Pass the fried, genetically modified chicken!

1 comment:

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

No, this song is not the least bit dated. The spirit of all we were making fun of back then is all too alive.

The same players also tend to come back to haunt us- Cheney, Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi... they're recurring nightmares from the 80's.