Satire by Daniel Rigney
I was dumpster diving behind the headquarters of the National Republican Committee the other day, looking for tidbits, when I found a printout of an engaging Salon article, Battle Hymn of the Republic: The Theme Song of the Radical Right. The article was about how Ronald Reagan’s favorite song “became the background music of the modern G.O.P.”
Digging deeper, beneath a discarded Wall Street Journal, I found a crumpled page from a yellow legal pad. On it were the handwritten lyrics to an alternative Battle Hymn.
I suspect these bitter words may have been penned by some curmudgeon or mole buried deep within the bowels of the Republican nerve center – possibly a disgruntled employee who was insufficiently grateful for a job cleaning plumbing leaks at RNC headquarters.
I’ve misplaced the crumpled manuscript,* but I do remember these first two stanzas:
The song goes on in this satirical vein, with stanzas touching on issues ranging from global warming, immigration, civil and women’s rights to overseas sweatshops, the automation of your job, and benign surveillance.
Though I seem to have lost the original, there must surely be talented lyricists out there who can supply additional or alternative stanzas. We’re a creative nation after all. Creativity from below has always been one of our democratic strengths.
There must be garage bands, gay choruses, and hiphop artists out there who could turn this anonymous satire into a viral YouTube video.
Not that I would recommend or encourage such a thing. Wouldn’t be prudent at this juncture.
Danagram
:] … enjoying free-er speech since 2011
*This version is not to be confused with other Internet takeoffs sharing the same title, including a considerably more tasteful and poetic version published here previously by Open Salon’s own Barbara Smith Stoff.
I was dumpster diving behind the headquarters of the National Republican Committee the other day, looking for tidbits, when I found a printout of an engaging Salon article, Battle Hymn of the Republic: The Theme Song of the Radical Right. The article was about how Ronald Reagan’s favorite song “became the background music of the modern G.O.P.”
Digging deeper, beneath a discarded Wall Street Journal, I found a crumpled page from a yellow legal pad. On it were the handwritten lyrics to an alternative Battle Hymn.
I suspect these bitter words may have been penned by some curmudgeon or mole buried deep within the bowels of the Republican nerve center – possibly a disgruntled employee who was insufficiently grateful for a job cleaning plumbing leaks at RNC headquarters.
I’ve misplaced the crumpled manuscript,* but I do remember these first two stanzas:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the rich;
They are trampling down the ‘takers,’ tossing labor in the ditch,
Cutting up the social safety net and hunting down the witch.
Their greed is marching on.
Tory, tory hallelujah.
Tory, tory hallelujah.
Tory, tory hallelujah.
Their greed is marching on.
They are privatizing government and profiting from war.
And they minimize their taxes as their stock investments soar.
As the middle class gets poorer, they move everything offshore.
Their greed is marching on.
Tory, tory hallelujah.
Tory, tory hallelujah.
Tory, tory hallelujah.
Their greed is marching on.
Though I seem to have lost the original, there must surely be talented lyricists out there who can supply additional or alternative stanzas. We’re a creative nation after all. Creativity from below has always been one of our democratic strengths.
There must be garage bands, gay choruses, and hiphop artists out there who could turn this anonymous satire into a viral YouTube video.
Not that I would recommend or encourage such a thing. Wouldn’t be prudent at this juncture.
Danagram
:] … enjoying free-er speech since 2011
*This version is not to be confused with other Internet takeoffs sharing the same title, including a considerably more tasteful and poetic version published here previously by Open Salon’s own Barbara Smith Stoff.
No comments:
Post a Comment