Thursday, September 07, 2006

Protest songs



On November 4th 2005,The Guardian's Culture Vulture blog asked readers about their favourite protest songs.An entry read:

"Circle Of Shit by Cindytalk,a song from 1988 that suggests that the US's disrespectful foreign policies and frightening world policing might bring retaliatory attacks to america.Prophetic."


CIRCLE OF SHIT (From In This World)
ecstasy is...original sin
ecstasy is...original sin
and no favours and no faith
still born into a world filled with fruit and delight

ecstasy is...original sin
ecstasy is...original sin

into a world not safe, a world is crying
eyes red with tears, red-stained blood-shit smears
a world is crying...

'we welcome you america - we are seeking martyrdom'
'generation of anger - generation of anger...may fire pour on america'

...insincere at the very least and beneath the shit he smiles
while he fucks, scaled down to size mr. terrorist himself
shouts and fails to see his own puppet-shit

and the mouth of man is breathing fire down on our heads
and beneath the marble floor, there lies a question
why does my body shudder, why does my body shudder so

ecstasy is...original sin

and escape from death into life can be the greatest mistake
the child sees only the birds, hears only the sound of water
kissing land, the sound of the wind shifting through time
and now it appears with the joy of life...
from the past, covered in the blood of ignorance
from the past, covered in the blood of ignorance


(This song was also covered by Black Rose in The Room Inside,
featuring Gordon Sharp on vocals.)

5 comments:

Spaewaif said...

Lest we forget...
(Thanks for the mp3,Andy!)

Anonymous said...

uh huh,chris roberts in melody maker.he said...

"But still and still and still -- moments of spooky beauty steam from the ashes of Sharp's lust for life. If we ignore the whining pseudo-philosophy and quasi-sociology of the hog-faced "Circle Of Shit", there's enough elegy in "Touched" to melt an invading army. "My Sun" again taps this melancholy font (which is what we wanted from Cindytalk, and which is probably why they don't do it more), and "The Beginning Of Wisdom" sagely gilds the by-now familiar battering-ram with something more fragrant, proving if you like that the dead can dance."Ecstasy is the original sin," he's still grizzling. Gordon Sharp is probably a young man who thinks he's very old inside, but the indulgences of "In This World" suggest he's still naive enough to equate acting like a skunk with heartfelt integrity. He takes it a bit too far, this flawed fatalism. It's well weird and weirdly unhealthy. This said, the flotilla of ideas cavorting around Cindytalk's cerebellum should see them snogging with greatness before the decade expires. Though somehow I can't see them grinning along with such optimism.Yet."


hog-faced?absolutely!!! i was angry then and it's hard not to be even angrier today.in
1986/87 passing comment that US foreign policy helped feed the growth of islamic fundamentalism was ignored as irrelevent,saying it today will have you condemned
as a supporter of global terrorism.

oh and...
"snogging with greatness",what hack journalism that is!!!chris roberts was one of those music journalists that was disappointed i didn't sing exactly as he expected me to.just like kangaroo.i'm sure if i had adopted a spectacular media presence they'd have found it all as so fabulous and forgiven my anger,passed it off as a drunken flourish or somesuch.

Spaewaif said...

Medium Asleep,thanks for the interesting link!

Anonymous said...

You're welcome, I fell over it earlier in the week. The Volcanic Tongue site may also be of interest.

Mr Roberts is the unforgiven for that review: using another's art as the spring board for smart arse statements is as easy as it is stupid.

I hope the new material is progressing towards release - it's too beautiful to remain hidden! All in good time.

Anonymous said...

According to my Media Center stats my most played tracks are:-

1. Circle Of Shit
2. Needles In The Camel's Eye
3. 1812 Overture
4. Third Uncle (Bauhaus - so sorry cinder)
5. Carbona Not Glue

My trick cyclist has the full list. Anyway, as I've said once or twice it's my favourite track ever.