September 25, 2007
Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho!
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There's been a bit of talk around Blogovia of late about protest songs (here fr'instance). Not being one to pass up the opportunity for some righteous indignation, here's one of my favorites from a quintessential American folk hero. About three minutes into this video John Prine explains his take on the current relevance of this decades-old classic. I saw him this same year (2004) and when he played it for us his comment was a bit less tongue-in-cheek. "I wish George Bush would quit making all these old anti-war songs of mine make sense again," Prine said.
There's no bouncing ball to follow but I've posted the lyrics below (courtesy of JPShrine.org) if'n yer in the mood fer a sing-along.
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
© John Prine
While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store
A plastic flag with gum on the back
Fell out on the floor
Well I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel
Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more
Well I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free"
Well I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead
(Repeat Chorus)
Well I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see
So I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...
"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."
.
There's been a bit of talk around Blogovia of late about protest songs (here fr'instance). Not being one to pass up the opportunity for some righteous indignation, here's one of my favorites from a quintessential American folk hero. About three minutes into this video John Prine explains his take on the current relevance of this decades-old classic. I saw him this same year (2004) and when he played it for us his comment was a bit less tongue-in-cheek. "I wish George Bush would quit making all these old anti-war songs of mine make sense again," Prine said.
There's no bouncing ball to follow but I've posted the lyrics below (courtesy of JPShrine.org) if'n yer in the mood fer a sing-along.
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
© John Prine
While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store
A plastic flag with gum on the back
Fell out on the floor
Well I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel
Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more
Well I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free"
Well I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead
(Repeat Chorus)
Well I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see
So I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...
"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."
.
Labels: dead bodies, music, protest, religion, war
Comments:
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Great choice, O'Tim! I hadn't even thought of it. COme to think of it, Prine is a hole in my boot collection.... hmmmmmmmmmmm.
# posted by 
: September 26, 2007 9:08 AM
: September 26, 2007 9:08 AM
But ... but ... those yellow "Support the Troops" ribbon stickers still work, right? Right? Or the "These Colors Don't Run" bumper sticker? Or any asinine, moronic decal that proves I'm patrioticer than you. Cuz, God is an American, after all.
Ook ook
Ook ook
Ain't Prine grand??? If you were at the same show I was in 2004, I loved when Prine said that he "hated that Bush was making all these old songs seem new again."
# posted by : September 26, 2007 10:53 PM
: September 26, 2007 10:53 PM
Miz UV - wow, a VIDEO even ;) !
Joe - hole in mine too. Get to work!
Fez - I heard of a good one the other day: "I support the war, but not the troops"
Tams - yes, at the Tivoli. I guess one of us is quoting him wrong, then. No matter, he meant it both ways I'm sure.
Joe - hole in mine too. Get to work!
Fez - I heard of a good one the other day: "I support the war, but not the troops"
Tams - yes, at the Tivoli. I guess one of us is quoting him wrong, then. No matter, he meant it both ways I'm sure.
OMG Flag Decal! Thanks for the blast from the past. I haven't heard/thought about that song in years (oddly enough). John Prine was a pretty big part of the soundtrack of my childhood.
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