Say Anything – Slumming It with Johnny
As I said before when discussing Anarchism in Music it’s important to shed light on Say Anything and their ideals. While they don’t directly associate themselves with Anarchists they do share the same views – especially the hate towards Capitalism. In a song entitled Slumming It with Johnny Max, the lead singer and songwriter, really takes a shot at Capitalism and the ideals associated with it. A few lines into the song are the probably most obviously correlated with anarchist views :
But when we got there all we saw were more malls and marble mansions
In emerald parks the singing larks proclaimed the great expansion
There is no beautiful garbage…they cleared it up already
Tears roll out the eyes and though I cry I hold the wheel steady.
In emerald parks the singing larks proclaimed the great expansion
There is no beautiful garbage…they cleared it up already
Tears roll out the eyes and though I cry I hold the wheel steady.
Anarchists don’t hate “malls or marble mansions” themselves but the corruption and wrongful business that inevitably comes with it. Anarchists also wouldn’t say that “garbage” in the literal sense is “beautiful” but Max is using garbage as an allegory for the way things used to be. At the end of the song there are more lyrics that go along with the continual Capitalist dogma:
Look at the earth it's just so green
Perhaps it's envious of all the galaxies it's seen
Where forces swirl in symbiotic harmony
Free of the taint, the gas, and paint of parasites like me
Keep using love as the excuse for why we're fat and lazy
Wait to grow old, like we've been told go bald, go west and crazy
This is so pointless it actually holds up out evolution
Sing it to the bastards and free yourself from mental prostitution
Perhaps it's envious of all the galaxies it's seen
Where forces swirl in symbiotic harmony
Free of the taint, the gas, and paint of parasites like me
Keep using love as the excuse for why we're fat and lazy
Wait to grow old, like we've been told go bald, go west and crazy
This is so pointless it actually holds up out evolution
Sing it to the bastards and free yourself from mental prostitution
Here Max is talking about the lifestyle that Capitalism brings. A lazy lifestyle with no real drive to succeed because of the hierarchical systems we all fall into. He also talks about the harm that people are doing to the planet and even admits that he himself is part of this destruction that derives from capitalism – everyone being able to freely consume gasoline, etc. Max Bemis is a smart, smart man and brilliant lyricist and I will continue to break down his lyrics in other posts.
- Randy Depfer
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