In the War Zone: Book One Part 2
This virtual album side contains tracks 6 through 8, which connect into the Red Shift Suite. The sliding cursor is a virtual tonearm. Put on your man-pants.
Tr6- Incident #3: The PreAmble
The Red Shift Suite started out in '81 as a scrawled timeline that mapped out the sequence and proportion of the musical sections. For a handful of outings in '83 and '84, The PreAmble was the band's opening number and The Post Mortem was the closer. A bomb casing wore a Reagan mask but plans for a pantomime submarine never materialized.
Tr7- Chapter 4: Red Shift
Back in the early 1980's, as always, the USSR was working to impose a red shift anywhere they could. A different sort of red shift occurred in 2016.
Lyrics...
Once upon a time…
Jimmy told us not to feed the bear
The grain stays on the farm
he said our oily debt
was a greater threat
a sweater will do less harm
Then we polled the great electorate
and Jim was cast away
next time we chose to zap them with a Reagan (horn dive)
Ronnie promised peace
peace through strength
everybody feared that
we might take a red shift
Hey sailor, did you see the news?
of strutting Ruskie troop reviews
tanks rolled in Gdansk again and
the mountains of Afghanistan
Panic loomed in dangerous days
Agendas advanced in crazy ways
Sending troops and raising flags
and putting boys in body bags
Will you please keep still
while the Titans cruise their nuclear destiny
With your hands tied behind your back
Tinpots for hire are paid by us the rhetoric buyers
did we sign our lives away?
Gorby let the wall fall down
The bombs fell too without a sound
The tanks were rolled across the bridge
and up the road to Ruby Ridge
Then they happened onto Putin Place
Now they're pu'tin' on a happy face
Time for us to
put on our man pants
Are you waiting still?
Then stick around and brace yourself for war
It isn't MAD anymore
locked behind our bunker door
we got the nukes to settle the score
When the time comes to hit the floor
Who left open
the new Windows of vulnerability?
A little man whispered
"Come and dance…
come and dance and clap
those little hands with us
We can set the world aflame
then everyone will scream your name"
Those lads
they danced the Kremlin's way
ta-ra-ra boom-de-ay
they took our pants away
this is not the KGB
this pumpkin has a USB
relax and enjoy the show
When Jesus comes he'll wear the pants
until then we drink and dance this night away
Serf's up
and they are angry
but we are hot stuff
let's set the world on fire
the forgotten folk are on the march
to a promised land for oligarchs
who scream their names
until one mushroom-cloudy day
when the missiles rain…
Tr8- Incident #4: The Post-Mortem
A finale of nuclear bombast.
On to Book Two part 1 or
Back to Sides page
