Album: My Finest Work YetAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 2011
Length: 6:19
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Selling blanks down at the DMZ
Banking on the sound and fury
Wonder what it's to do with me
Bloodless for now
I'm keeping mine with the altruists
Putting my weight behind the dancer
I know it's hard to be an optimist
When you trust least the ones who claim to have the answers
And it's an uncivil war
Bloodless for now
And the poets they explode like bombs
While the gentry is drinking Moet Chandon
Turn around and quote a well known psalm:
Don't you worry 'bout the wicked
Don't you envy those who do wrong
And your innocence will be like the dawn
While the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun
The best have lost their convictions
While the worst keep
Sharpening their claws
Peddling in their dark fictions
While what's left of us we just hem and we haw
And it feels like 1936
In Catalonia
Catalonia
And it feels like 1936 in Catalonia.
Bird references "Catalonia in 1936," which I think is one of the most interesting times and places in modern history. The Wikipedia article is excellent, I think.
"In Spain during almost three years, despite a civil war that took a
million lives, despite the opposition of the political parties
(republicans, left and right Catalan separatists, socialists,
Communists, Basque and Valencian regionalists, petty bourgeoisie, etc.),
this idea of libertarian communism was put into effect. Very quickly
more than 60% of the land was collectively cultivated by the peasants
themselves, without landlords, without bosses, and without instituting
capitalist competition to spur production. In almost all the industries,
factories, mills, workshops, transportation services, public services,
and utilities, the rank and file workers, their revolutionary
committees, and their syndicates reorganized and administered
production, distribution, and public services without capitalists, high
salaried managers, or the authority of the state."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The thing is that according to G. Orwell and others who were there, it was working quite well; despite the protests from pundits of various political stripes that such a thing was insanely naive and could never work.
Good song, 7 for now. It probably deserves an 8 just for mentioning Catalonia '36
Good post. Catalonia was a very interesting revolutionary city. Georg Orwell's Homahe to Catalonia is a great first hand account of the time. Another great account is Ken Loach's film Land and Freedom.
Have you even talked to someone on the right with an honest desire to understand their perspective or do you rely only on the people of the left to explain what the right wants so they can inflate your ego? Everything you said is inspired out of blind arrogance and self righteousness and the true definition of bigotry. Whatever... I give up. So many people like you have lost any sense of humility and are being lead around by the nose and you like it because it feeds your ego. I cannot offer you anything that feeds your ego and self righteousness, which is the only thing you are willing to listen to and that's why you are blind to any of the proof that is already available to you. At this point, why should anyone even try.
And the passive remain passive while people like you get affirming thumbs up as you spout out popular nonsense with zero self awareness and pretend you are part of powerless that aren't creating any of the problems.
Instead of getting snotty about what you claim to be an inaccurate representation of the perspective of someone on the right, why don't you actually supply one yourself? Also, accusing someone of losing their sense of humility and being blindly arrogant and then immediately following it with I cannot offer you anything that feeds your ego and self righteousness, which is the only thing you are willing to listen to and that's why you are blind to any of the proof that is already available to you. At this point, why should anyone even try is almost laugh-out-loud funny.
Have you even talked to someone on the right with an honest desire to understand their perspective or do you rely only on the people of the left to explain what the right wants so they can inflate your ego? Everything you said is inspired out of blind arrogance and self righteousness and the true definition of bigotry. Whatever... I give up. So many people like you have lost any sense of humility and are being lead around by the nose and you like it because it feeds your ego. I cannot offer you anything that feeds your ego and self righteousness, which is the only thing you are willing to listen to and that's why you are blind to any of the proof that is already available to you. At this point, why should anyone even try.
And the passive remain passive while people like you get affirming thumbs up as you spout out popular nonsense with zero self awareness and pretend you are part of powerless that aren't creating any of the problems.
So... please tell us what someone on the Right stands for? All someone of your ilk is capable of is complaining how diverse viewpoints are being squelched without actually spelling out what you stand for.
I suspect it's because once you say it out loud you'd be embarrassed.
A thousand magicians arise in the land...
Most other states stayed away but some individual "dreamers" fought and died for the State´s Republican forces. These forces were made up of liberal Democrats on the right to anti democratic Anarchist and Communist on the left broken up into extremely partisan "gangs". They ignored the reason why so many people backed the revolt, which was made up of Fascists (the union based Falange party), Conservatives, old world Liberals, Catholic "extremists", industrialists and anybody who owned his own bicycle! For many of the "Republicans" of the time property was theft and many had no intention of maintaining Spain democratic. Both forces had within their ranks ranks murderous savages using the excuse of "Revenge" to elimínate the "Enemy" (Republicans, Communist/Anarchists or everyone that was not Proletariat, including priests, Nuns, teachers and doctors). The Republic Government forces lost and the revolt won with Dictator General Franco at its head. He was not a Fascist (capital F) in the true sense of the word, but a Authoritarian military dictator nonetheless,with strong conservative Catholic values and sank Spain into an extremely conservative, catholic Authoritarian regime for decades. The regime was defended and attacked by many ( the war and its aftermath did not eliminate the entire losing team which normally goes "home" in a "regular" war) while the majority got on with lives the best they could. All war is complicated although occasionally necessary, civil war is always evil.
Thank you, unclehud. Too good to be hidden behind a URL:
Thanks, Justin! I knew how to post pics in the old website, but haven't been able to figure it out under the new scheme.
[I will learn from your method ...]
Andrew Bird in 2023.
Except that both sides are NOT wrong. The right is wrong. Period.
The "Left" is striving for:
Equal and fair treatment of all people
Minimizing greenhouse gases to avert the worst of climate change
Protection of the biosphere
Equality to women in all aspects
The "Right" want:
A White Christian Theocracy - authoritarian rule in this country = death of democracy.
White Supremacy/Patriarchy to be cultural norm.
To screw the environmental for maximum profit regardless of what destruction may come from it.
Maximum penalties for being not-white in all aspects of life.
Prove me wrong.
Have you even talked to someone on the right with an honest desire to understand their perspective or do you rely only on the people of the left to explain what the right wants so they can inflate your ego? Everything you said is inspired out of blind arrogance and self righteousness and the true definition of bigotry. Whatever... I give up. So many people like you have lost any sense of humility and are being lead around by the nose and you like it because it feeds your ego. I cannot offer you anything that feeds your ego and self righteousness, which is the only thing you are willing to listen to and that's why you are blind to any of the proof that is already available to you. At this point, why should anyone even try.
And the passive remain passive while people like you get affirming thumbs up as you spout out popular nonsense with zero self awareness and pretend you are part of powerless that aren't creating any of the problems.
"The best have lost their convictions
While the worst keep
Sharpening their claws
Peddling in their dark fictions
While what's left of us we just hem and we haw"
Bird is commenting on 2021, not 1936, and the song is a call for action on the part of us passive folks who aren't lying about free and fair elections.
Haha, passive. You really think you are amongst the passive folks? Nah. You are amongst the very active establishment sharpening its claws peddling dark fiction over and over again during primetime until you believe it is true just because you have a shallow view of others that don't agree with you.
Bird references "Catalonia in 1936," which I think is one of the most interesting times and places in modern history. The Wikipedia article is excellent, I think.
"In Spain during almost three years, despite a civil war that took a
million lives, despite the opposition of the political parties
(republicans, left and right Catalan separatists, socialists,
Communists, Basque and Valencian regionalists, petty bourgeoisie, etc.),
this idea of libertarian communism was put into effect. Very quickly
more than 60% of the land was collectively cultivated by the peasants
themselves, without landlords, without bosses, and without instituting
capitalist competition to spur production. In almost all the industries,
factories, mills, workshops, transportation services, public services,
and utilities, the rank and file workers, their revolutionary
committees, and their syndicates reorganized and administered
production, distribution, and public services without capitalists, high
salaried managers, or the authority of the state."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The thing is that according to G. Orwell and others who were there, it was working quite well; despite the protests from pundits of various political stripes that such a thing was insanely naive and could never work.
Good song, 7 for now. It probably deserves an 8 just for mentioning Catalonia '36
You're listening to RadioParadise for heaven's sake. What more proof do you need to know that what you are romanticizing and pontificating about in the past is possible now inside of a capitalist system, contrary to the beliefs of a socialist libertarian. Nobody is standing in the way of groups of people, like yourself, from sacrificing their private wealth to put some of the philosophies you are dreaming about into practice in a company or in a region inside of a free market, anti-monopoly, capitalist system. All it takes is inspiration, which is the only thing that made the people in 1936 Catalonia voluntarily work the way they did for the brief period. Or do you think it requires a forceful revolution to make everyone comply with a new system of not owning property, which would make a socialist libertarian the oxymoron it sounds like, despite any intellectual gymnastics?
Hopefully you voluntarily donate to RP. As a capitalist that doesn't want my freedoms taken away, I make a point of VOLUNTARILY donating and paying for all of the things that bring value to my life in one form or another. I don't need my neighbor forced into giving up his plot of land because he hasn't been able to convince the community committees that he isn't doing enough with it in order for me to continue to voluntarily contribute and be an example of what I humbly think is fair and ideal and what others should do only voluntarily.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming
Ok, I'll mention it. One's moronic, the other inspired.
Notes from the music video:
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
I'm enjoying Andrew Bird as a musician thanks to RP. But he needs to brush up on history, or read Animal Farm and 1984 again. Written by Eric Arthur Blair, aka George Orwell, after his experience fighting in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists, and dealing with the anarchists, socialists, communists and propagandists in that conflict. All sides have individuals and principles, all sides cater to the masses to amass power, and a totalitarian left is no better than a totalitarian right
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming
Notes from the music video:
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
very relevant at this time
Nice when art begets art.
Death of Marat, painted by Jacques-Louis David:
https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/death-of-marat-1.jpg
Thank you, unclehud. Too good to be hidden behind a URL:
Bird references "Catalonia in 1936," which I think is one of the most interesting times and places in modern history. The Wikipedia article is excellent, I think.
"In Spain during almost three years, despite a civil war that took a
million lives, despite the opposition of the political parties
(republicans, left and right Catalan separatists, socialists,
Communists, Basque and Valencian regionalists, petty bourgeoisie, etc.),
this idea of libertarian communism was put into effect. Very quickly
more than 60% of the land was collectively cultivated by the peasants
themselves, without landlords, without bosses, and without instituting
capitalist competition to spur production. In almost all the industries,
factories, mills, workshops, transportation services, public services,
and utilities, the rank and file workers, their revolutionary
committees, and their syndicates reorganized and administered
production, distribution, and public services without capitalists, high
salaried managers, or the authority of the state."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The thing is that according to G. Orwell and others who were there, it was working quite well; despite the protests from pundits of various political stripes that such a thing was insanely naive and could never work.
Good song, 7 for now. It probably deserves an 8 just for mentioning Catalonia '36
Thank you for this very educational, informative and timely comment. It did work. I wish to know what happened next. WWII I presume. Maybe one day humans will learn to live together peacefully where no one is in want and capitalists dont't run governments and populists become humanitarians and motivated by love rather than fear and anger. Such hope...
Bird references "Catalonia in 1936," which I think is one of the most interesting times and places in modern history. The Wikipedia article is excellent, I think.
"In Spain during almost three years, despite a civil war that took a
million lives, despite the opposition of the political parties
(republicans, left and right Catalan separatists, socialists,
Communists, Basque and Valencian regionalists, petty bourgeoisie, etc.),
this idea of libertarian communism was put into effect. Very quickly
more than 60% of the land was collectively cultivated by the peasants
themselves, without landlords, without bosses, and without instituting
capitalist competition to spur production. In almost all the industries,
factories, mills, workshops, transportation services, public services,
and utilities, the rank and file workers, their revolutionary
committees, and their syndicates reorganized and administered
production, distribution, and public services without capitalists, high
salaried managers, or the authority of the state."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The thing is that according to G. Orwell and others who were there, it was working quite well; despite the protests from pundits of various political stripes that such a thing was insanely naive and could never work.
Good song, 7 for now. It probably deserves an 8 just for mentioning Catalonia '36
Thanks for this Haretic :)
If you've not seen it, check out "Land and Freedom", by Ken Loach, you won't be disappointed I think. I love this film.
an honor the be the first one on this. Wonderful flow. Great talent this guy!
The whole album is quite good; Mr. Bird has achieved a very thoughtful & melodic space with this one. I find myself revisiting it on a fairly regular basis.
"The best have lost their convictions
While the worst keep
Sharpening their claws
Peddling in their dark fictions
While what's left of us we just hem and we haw"
Bird is commenting on 2021, not 1936, and the song is a call for action on the part of us passive folks who aren't lying about free and fair elections.
I mean, you can comment on more than one thing at once, yes? The Crucible, e.g.?
While the worst keep
Sharpening their claws
Peddling in their dark fictions
While what's left of us we just hem and we haw"
Bird is commenting on 2021, not 1936, and the song is a call for action on the part of us passive folks who aren't lying about free and fair elections.
Nice when art begets art.
Death of Marat, painted by Jacques-Louis David:
https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/death-of-marat-1.jpg
Uncle:
Your post inspired me to take a closer look. I just realized that's not Marat -- that's Andrew Bird mimicking the great piece. DUH!
Thanks for pointing it out.
Except that both sides are NOT wrong. The right is wrong. Period.
The "Left" is striving for:
Equal and fair treatment of all people
Minimizing greenhouse gases to avert the worst of climate change
Protection of the biosphere
Equality to women in all aspects
The "Right" want:
A White Christian Theocracy - authoritarian rule in this country = death of democracy.
White Supremacy/Patriarchy to be cultural norm.
To screw the environmental for maximum profit regardless of what destruction may come from it.
Maximum penalties for being not-white in all aspects of life.
Prove me wrong.
And you are completely blind if you believe that.
... and if both sides are in the wrong, as is now the case, it is a time for humility and serious reflection on both sides.
Except that both sides are NOT wrong. The right is wrong. Period.
The "Left" is striving for:
Equal and fair treatment of all people
Minimizing greenhouse gases to avert the worst of climate change
Protection of the biosphere
Equality to women in all aspects
The "Right" want:
A White Christian Theocracy - authoritarian rule in this country = death of democracy.
White Supremacy/Patriarchy to be cultural norm.
To screw the environmental for maximum profit regardless of what destruction may come from it.
Maximum penalties for being not-white in all aspects of life.
Prove me wrong.
woodchuk wrote:
Perhaps an 8 for paraphrasing W. B. Yeats as well:
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
tonyinnj wrote:
A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
signifying nothing...
-W Shakespeare
Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
Oh geez this is a smart crowd, I was going to give Faulkner credit for the Sound and the Fury quote. ...
Perhaps an 8 for paraphrasing W. B. Yeats as well:
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
signifying nothing...
-W Shakespeare
Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
Notes from the music video:
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
... and if both sides are in the wrong, as is now the case, it is a time for humility and serious reflection on both sides.
I kinda wish it was but this is pretty good, too.
Nice when art begets art.
Death of Marat, painted by Jacques-Louis David:
https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/death-of-marat-1.jpg
Poor old Marat, they hunt you down
The bloodhounds are searching all over the town
Just yesterday they smashed your press
And now they're asking your home address
- The Persecution and Assassination of Jean Paul Marat
as Performed by the Inmates of Charenton Under the
Direction of the Marquis De Sade
Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
Sadly, no one heeded your advice and it's no longer bloodless. The struggle is real.
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
Mmm, yes. Certainly very meaningful lyrics.
But If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next might be a better anthem for this age if things continue in the direction they are going.
Damn the cyclical nature of history!
"In Spain during almost three years, despite a civil war that took a
million lives, despite the opposition of the political parties
(republicans, left and right Catalan separatists, socialists,
Communists, Basque and Valencian regionalists, petty bourgeoisie, etc.),
this idea of libertarian communism was put into effect. Very quickly
more than 60% of the land was collectively cultivated by the peasants
themselves, without landlords, without bosses, and without instituting
capitalist competition to spur production. In almost all the industries,
factories, mills, workshops, transportation services, public services,
and utilities, the rank and file workers, their revolutionary
committees, and their syndicates reorganized and administered
production, distribution, and public services without capitalists, high
salaried managers, or the authority of the state."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The thing is that according to G. Orwell and others who were there, it was working quite well; despite the protests from pundits of various political stripes that such a thing was insanely naive and could never work.
Good song, 7 for now. It probably deserves an 8 just for mentioning Catalonia '36
Perhaps an 8 for paraphrasing W. B. Yeats as well:
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
This guy puts the low in mellow.
Hence "Bloodless", eh?
I wouldn't say finest, but it's okay.
Damn you had to duck to miss that one.
It's a fantastic piece of work, matter of fact, one might say, if so inclined, that it is his finest work yet.
I wouldn't say finest, but it's okay.
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
To better understand what divides us, this will enlighten. Are political leanings are hardwired. There is no changing it. Trump (and the GOP over the years have motivated their base with fear because it works biologically). Dems use logic and empathy to manage risk.
Brain Structure Determines Political Leanings
Guess four people don't like the truth
OK folks is this a good album to make my first Andrew Bird purchase?
It's a fantastic piece of work, matter of fact, one might say, if so inclined, that it is his finest work yet.
"In Spain during almost three years, despite a civil war that took a
million lives, despite the opposition of the political parties
(republicans, left and right Catalan separatists, socialists,
Communists, Basque and Valencian regionalists, petty bourgeoisie, etc.),
this idea of libertarian communism was put into effect. Very quickly
more than 60% of the land was collectively cultivated by the peasants
themselves, without landlords, without bosses, and without instituting
capitalist competition to spur production. In almost all the industries,
factories, mills, workshops, transportation services, public services,
and utilities, the rank and file workers, their revolutionary
committees, and their syndicates reorganized and administered
production, distribution, and public services without capitalists, high
salaried managers, or the authority of the state."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The thing is that according to G. Orwell and others who were there, it was working quite well; despite the protests from pundits of various political stripes that such a thing was insanely naive and could never work.
Good song, 7 for now. It probably deserves an 8 just for mentioning Catalonia '36
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
What a fantastically uninformed view on the spanish civil war.
OK folks is this a good album to make my first Andrew Bird purchase?
I listened to the whole thing a few times yesterday - there are a few as good or better than this one.
I've been listening to several albums of his and haven't heard a bad song yet.
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
To better understand what divides us, this will enlighten. Are political leanings are hardwired. There is no changing it. Trump (and the GOP over the years have motivated their base with fear because it works biologically). Dems use logic and empathy to manage risk.
Brain Structure Determines Political Leanings
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part
too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness.
Echoes of the Spanish civil war when fascists and clergy win because
they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled
(yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back
and be honest with ourselves about what’s happening while it’s still
relatively bloodless.
Death of Marat, painted by Jacques-Louis David:
https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/death-of-marat-1.jpg
Eyes closed, tiny waves of pleasure from the "togetherness" of all the sounds. And, there's even some whistling :-) He's brought it all in a whole.
Thank you Mr Bird, thank you Mr G, you're making my late night working much nicer :-)
And there's even the album art. Marat-bird :-) and the lyrics. Yes, yes, yes.
Am liking this mellow sound
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?