KMFDM -- "Stars and Stripes"

[Marxist in Nebraska]

I have listened to several songs from KMFDM's latest album, WWIII, and I have really liked the lyrics in particular. My favorite track off the album is called "Stars and Stripes", which by the way seems to be a popular song title choice for leftist bands (Offhand, I know Anti-Flag has a song called "Stars and Stripes" and Dead Kennedys have one called "Stars and Stripes of Corruption").

Here are the lyrics for anyone else interested:

A tyrant is a man who allows his people no freedom
Who is puffed-up by pride
Driven by the lust of power
Impelled by greed
Provoked by thirst for fame

Divided and conquered
Gripped by fear
Wishful thinking that it can't happen hear
It's well underways but nobody knows
A repeat of history
That's how it goes

Tell the people that they're under attack
By man-eating foes from mars or iraq
Mobilize outrage
Muzzle dissent
Send in the troops
Strike the pre-empt

Stars & stripes
Learn how to fight
We come together by the dawn of the light
Oh so proudly we hail as the rockets red glare
Stars & stripes

Control the airwaves
Fuel the reaction
Use every weapon of mass-distraction
Turn active people into passive consumers
Feed 'em bogus polls and harebrained rumours

Cut back civil rights
Make no mistake
Tell 'em homeland security is now at stake
Whip up a frenzy keep 'em suspended
Don't let 'em know that their liberty's ended

Everything goes in the desperate states
The veneer of democracy rapidly fades
Wreak total havoc on all opposition
In any event fulfill your mission

Totalitarian media sensation
You will give 'em domination
Never mind they call you a liar and thief
By now you're undisputed commander-in-chief

[FatFreeMilk]

I don't know who KMFDM is but I DO like the anti flag stars and stripes, but of course you know that already :D

[struct]

The opening track, entitled "WWIII," is definitely my favorite.


WWIII

I declare war on the world
War in outer space
I declare war in a nutshell
War all over the place

I declare war on every government
War against all odds
I declare war on your inner sanctum
On your bloodthirsty gods

I declare war on the axis of morons
All out war on complacent consent
I declare war on the war against drugs
Rape and slaughter of the innocent

War on big brother
Warmongers and profiteers
War on your dogma Dubya
Armageddon's engineers

War in a heartbeat
I declare war on so-called civilization
World trade globalization
Organized disinformation

War on ambassadors of pretense
War on MTV and CNN
McDonald's, Walt Disney, and Bethlehem
On Christina, Britney, and Eminem

I declare war on the world of anti-choice
On violent unilaterality
On the amassment of murderous, high-tech toys
And all crimes against humanity

War on the moral majority
On corporate.com imperialism
On mindlessly bumbling stupidity
And police-state terrorism

World war three - Be all that you can be!


Another favorite of mine is "Moron."


Moron

Don't give a damn what I say
Coz' I'm out of my mind
Punkass motherfucker son of a gun
Just one of a kind

Ripped the system and burnt the shreds
No pity for the masses
Sympathizer I am
A communist
A prick up some asses

What goes around will come around
What goes up must come down

U.S. underground
Putschists on the rise
Junta of buccaneers
Take power by surprise
Vigilante style
World of the free
Fulfilling prophecies
Liability

Ignoramus
Dimwit idiot
Asinine
Moron

Money talks and
Bullshit walks
And what is right ain't ever righter
Things in life and life in things
Fire calls the fighter
Sold my rights to tinseltown
Trading arms for battle
By the way this is Kaptn K.
Calling from Seattle

Ignoramus
Dimwit idiot
Asinine
M-O-R-O- Moron

Ignoramus
Stupid fuckhead
Bunnybrains
Moron

[truthaddict11]

geeze KMFDM still making albums? I havent listen to them in 2 years

[Marxist in Nebraska]

Yup, KMFDM is still at it. The WWIII album came out in September 2003.

struct,

Yeah, the title track of the album is great, too. Thanks for posting those lyrics.

FFM,

Yeah, we share a love for Anti-Flag. Just for you, and I guess for anyone else reading this thread, here are the lyrics for Anti-Flag's "Stars and Stripes."

welcoming with open arms and, with open hearts
in the end they found their arms in shackles and their hearts torn out
this country named "America", is built on graves
of the natives who lived here before, genocide took place
the word "america" means "freedom" - as in, "free to kill the free..."

don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me... For me!

it's the same today as then, as U.S. (tax) dollars are spent
to rid the native insurgence in Mexico, and any other U.S. (corporate) "interests"
the 3rd world is a modern day playground, for multinational companies
and the tax dollars we're forced to pay, fund these heartless U.S. policies
their explanation... "it's national interest, national security..."

don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me
they Stand for greed, they stand for hate, for nothing i believe
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me

at little big horn national cemetery, there's a monument that reads: "to the soldiers killed in montana while clearing
hostile indians away... '
and there's a flag there flying high, over the fallen killers' graves
when they call on me to die for them i'll say... "not me!"


don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me
they Stand for greed, they stand for hate, for nothing i believe
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me

don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me...
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me...
they Stand for greed, they stand for hate, for nothing i believe...
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me...

don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me, for me
they Stand for greed, they stand for hate, for nothing i believe
don't fly those stripes, those stars-and-stripes for me... me... me!!!

[FatFreeMilk]

Thanks! I'm listening it right now :D

[hazard]

anybody care to explain to me what the declaration of war upon "the world of anti-choice" means"?

it either means, as the abortionists will assert, that they are declaring war on those opposed to abortion

or, as I will assert, they are declaring war upon the WORLD of modern redefinitions as working in a constant flux and process of shifting meaning and value on the fly

my assertion meshes better with the rest of the song anyway

[Marxist in Nebraska]

I dunno, hazard, I thought it was talking about anti-abortionists myself. I could be wrong, I suppose. Would you elaborate what you think it means, and why that makes more sense with the overall lyrics?

[hazard]

with pleasure

first starters, KMFDm is one of the most hardline prolife activist bands out there

next, WWIII is all about the process of "doublespeak" in its proper context

anti-choice is one of the most idiotic rehtorical moves I've ever seen in the post McCarthy era as it is fielded by the abortionists

it is, their position, no longer confident in the positive phrasing of their rhetorical stance so they are forced to stress their position through a negative attribution towards those opposed to it

the line "world of anti-choice" is the clue

you have to look at what the phrase literally means before, as most abortionist supporters tend to do, latch upon the buzz term, which is currently "anti-choice"

this line, literally means, the world as it is defined by "anti-choice". those opposed to abortion would never allow this phrase be used to define their stance. it's not like I'd go to an abortion rally and side with pro-life and say "I"M WITH ANTI-CHOICE! ANTI-CHOICE! WHOOO! ANTI-CHOICE". no. I would say "I'M WITH PROLIFE! PROLIFE! WHOOOO!" the word itself is a JINGLE. A SLOGAN. PROPAGANDA. As contsructed by the pro-choice movement, and is intende as an insult to those opposed to their position. THEIR world is the world of doublespeak. Of CNN. of disney. of corporate.com imperialism. that IS, by definition, their world.

anyway, KMFDM is typically MORE obvious in their anti-abortion stance anyway

other lines in this song are obvious and direct indication of this stance, here are some of them as it relates to this issue.

War against all odds
I declare war on your inner sanctum
On your bloodthirsty gods

is in relation to a fetus in the womb as being sacrificed to the bloodthirsty gods of greed and exploitation

Rape and slaughter of the innocent

"innocent" is a ProLife slogan, and rape and slaughter of the innocent is another stab at abortionists

other classic lines found throughout KMFDM include

"orgasmic waste, eccentric and pretentious"

meaning an embryo, taken as waste or a byproduct from orgasm, is eccentric and prentitious (HUMAN)

"this country named "America", is built on graves"
"of the natives who lived here before, genocide took place"
"the word "america" means "freedom" - as in, "free to kill the free...""

hardline anti-abortionists compare abortion to modern day genocide, and this quotation IS about the modern day wholesale murder for profit of developmental humans

KMFDM overall sees this issue in a proper socialist phrasing. there is an inherent hypocrisy in how socialists automatically assume, due to capitalist (McCarthy era) propaganda that abortion is about gender rights and not about human rights as they relate to this species functioning as a cohesive unit of TWo genders that work in conjunction with one another. as such, socialists and communists alike are EASILy displayed as hypocrites when forced to argue on behalf of this position. the only way to maintain the logical moorings that are necessary for communism to work, one must look past abortion as a gender related issue mostly because it is not. KMFDM works to fight against capitalist exploitation in aproper sense without falling for the mcCArthy trap that abortion is a WOMAN's issue and not a societal one. naturally, women automatically bear the brunt of responsibility in the development of humans in the pre-birth state. phrasing abortion as an issue ON THESE GROUNDS ALONE make it seem as if this OBVIOUS point is somehow profound. it isn't. the proper way to look at this, just like KMFDM does, is to identify the source of this deception and attack it for what it is.

KMFDM is declaring war upon such a world that will allow RHETORIC to only confuse and deceive men and women into believing lies that only serve as a profit generating practice. abortion on demand is akin to the drive through fast food restaurant, 24 hour convenience stores and all the other highlighted targets in this song.

[Marxist in Nebraska]

An elaborate explanation... thanks for that, hazard.

I remember that "orgasmic waste" line. That is from "Light", is it not? I had no idea what it meant, and I had no idea that KMFDM was anti-abortion rights.

[hazard]

I think they're more about criticising all aspects of capitalism, and that includes the billion dollar bourgeois baby butcher industry that is abortion

especially in the way that is used to generate mccarthy era propaganda within socialist and communist groups