Rich Men north of Richmond
- Thread starter msugrad2003
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I agree. Taxes shouldn’t pay for a 5’3” 300 lb person’s bags of fudge rounds.
He sounds like he's trying to push one out, & is struggling with it. Needs more fiber.
That would eliminate most of REM and U2 music. Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the greatest songs ever, but it is a metaphor for him coming out of the closet and telling his mom he is gay.
You say that like it's a bad thing?
That was great music in the 80's. My taste has changed over the years. However, if you took politics out of all music most record companies would lose millions.
I was in a similar pattern, but I stopped drinking two nights a week, saved money, and upgraded my skill set to get a better job
BJ Barham of American Aquarium pretty much says it for me in this fairly lengthy twitter thread...
Politics in music (and any art) is fine. It's just when the art becomes secondary that it becomes tiresome. I actually think some of the lyrics are kind of cringy; can't really put my finger on what it is. I think it's that the line about the fatass with fudge rounds is funny, but to me takes away from the song if you want to treat its message seriously (although I try not to take any "messages" in music or movies/tv seriously). Not that it's not a fair point but SNAP is just way down the list of problems we have. Doesn't even register as a problem to me although I do wish they would not allow them to be used for soda and the worst of the sugary processed foods.
^^This^^
I'm not speaking to this particular song, but politics and sex have always been integral to music of any genre. These days there's just a lack of creative subtlety, either out of laziness or ineptitude.
Then: Etta James - You Can Leave Your Hat On
Now: Cardi B? (I really don't know who it is) - WAP
Then: CCR - Fortunate Son
Now: Greenday - American Idiot. Ok that was 20 years ago. Obviously, I don't listen to much current music.
I left off my sarcastericks. Some of the best music and art is political. I'm just picking at past posting history here.
I like the spirit of the song but the welfare verse was straight cheese. Didn't really fit in well with the rest of the song.
Puttin' People on the Moon...great tune. That entire album is solid - one of my favorites.
Ford Focus with no driverside mirror and a bungee cord holding the hatch down as the background?
Interesting. Genuinely wonder what its meant to say.
You think American Idiot is unsubtle because of laziness or ineptitude?
GT17O with that ignorant take. Its unsubtle because it is meant to be direct.
The song and album were incredibly creative and influential during a specific point in time while also managing to be timeless(since its held strong for almost 20 years).
That album went 6x platinum in the US, has sold over 16mm globally, and is a RollingStone top 250 album of all time, and much of that is due to the title track's massive success as the lead single. It was a protest song and was the first that I know of that directly criticized something society is still dealing with to this day- media manipulating viewers and frothing them up which generates more viewership and higher ratings.
That song laid the carpet down so Holiday, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and more could all be treated with mass acclaim when it was their times to shine.
"Oh, but Green Day was critical of a war that we entered into because of lies and ulterior motivations, so their song is lazy and they are inept!"
17ing joke.
Agree that SNAP is way down the list of problems.....but it's the vast bulk of "welfare" spending. If you want to reform welfare, SNAP is where it's at. Not that many people understand that....
My take is ignorant, I should GT17O, and I'm a 17ing joke because I don't share the same opinion of a band or song as you do?
That's mighty intolerant and way over the top in a message that proved my point on subtlety. I get it, you're a fan of Greenday. I don't happen to be. That's okay. We can like different things.
I would say the bulk of welfare spending is social security and medicare, both because it's true and because it gets people really agitated for some reason. But ignoring that, I'm pretty sure medicaid spending blows SNAP spending away. Section 8 is much smaller than SNAP but isn't nothing; I think $27B in 2022.
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"I know of that directly criticized something society is still dealing with to this day- media manipulating viewers and frothing them up which generates more viewership and higher ratings." -Glfr
He loves the song, never heeded the message.
Come on man, dont cry about me being too harsh when you included American Idiot with WAP to show how 'current' music about sex and politics is lazy.
Anyways, you dont need to be a fan or a band or a song to understand influence and importance.
Also, I didnt call you a 17ing joke, I called the hypothetical sentence that I created to be a 17ing joke. The view I made up is related to what you and I were posting about, but not directly the same. If you in fact do agree with that made up quote I posted, then yeah you are a 17ing joke. I wasnt calling you that in the post, but if after the fact the shoe fits...
I am genuinely unsure why you would want to take the position that any band or person who was critical of a war that was waged due to lies, is something to criticize. I would think that would be something to value since otherwise you are supporting a war that was waged due to lies. Who wants that, right?
Yes, ignoring SS and medical spending. I agree that those are welfare, but most people don't. Though I would argue Medicare and Medicaid is really intended to prop up a for-profit medical system and avoid "socialized" medicine. When people argue to "reform welfare" or "cut welfare", they don't mean SS, Medicare, or Medicaid.
SNAP blows away TANF is the point I was trying to make.
You really think I never heeded the message that media manipulates viewers and froths them up in order to generate more viewership and higher ratings?
How did you come to that conclusion?
I have a feeling that this is going to be some sort of meta analysis on your end where the joke is the joke or something like that.
Tyler Childers spawned some of this but he's now on to writing about gay love in the coal mines. This is just standard populist right-wing twitter talking points about what's wrong with America. It's o.k., but it's too heavy handed for me ("minors on an island" at least isn't minors in a pizza parlor). Change a few lines and it could be a left-wing protest song complaining about stuff in America. Dude's suddenly a star, though, so good for him. He'll cash in with dollars that are worth something and likely put him in a higher tax bracket. Anyway, do poor people really think a major problem in America is that poor people are overtaxed and pay for lazy, obese welfare queens to eat junk food all day and for politicians to protect pedos? BTW, am I not supposed to know who these obese welfare queens are? Private equity peeps paying a tax rate of 18% must love that poor Americans think this way about what's wrong with America.
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pretty sure all people think they are overtaxed.
poor people that work are aware they pay higher tax rates than the obscenely wealthy. (Much variation in this cohort though. Mostly CTC. Though even those with zero federal income tax are still paying ~30% taxes.)
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