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July 20, 2004
DEJA VU (ALL OVER AGAIN)
So I was listening to the radio at work yesterday... I write better when I have background music on; I don't usually pay too close attention to whatever's playing, I just think better when there's music on - and besides, it helps drown out the residual noise that comes from sharing a cube farm with 8 other people.
A song came on that I at first totally drowned out; I wasn't even listening as the announcer cued up the song, or as the guitar chords and words began playing over the air. I sort of noticed that it sounded familiar, both the style and the voice. Then as I started paying more attention, I thought, "this sounds like John Fogerty." Then I listened more closely... the song sounded like "Who'll Stop The Rain," but it clearly wasn't the same song. I didn't think I'd heard this one before, so I focused on it for a moment. And as I listened to the words, the song's powerhit me like a ton of bricks.
"Deja Vu (All Over Again)" is John Fogerty's new song.As the leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fogerty wrote and sang some of the more poignant songs opposing the war in Vietnam during the period from 1968-1972. His songs were so effective because they eschewed bombast and anger (for the most part, though "Fortunate Son" is pretty angry that rich kids - like George W. Bush, for example - didn't go fight in Vietnam in nearly the numbers that kids from poorer families went). His lyrics focused on the sadness and loss that came from the war, the feelings of regret and pain that emerged when once-promising lives were snuffed out for a cause that seemed vain and vague at best, a deliberate deception at worst.
And he's returned to those themes in "Deja Vu" - subtly comparingBush's war in Iraq with Vietnam. He doesn't tilt angrily at the Bush windmill, but rather just plaintively sings that we may have seen this all before, and it doesn't feel good.And in the end chorus, he asks the listener if they've been to read thenames on the Vietnam Wall - aheartbreakingly effective reminder of theparallels.Because I was so moved by the song, I am postingsome of thelyrics here... but I strongly recommend checking them all out on Fogerty's site.
One by one I see the old ghosts rising/Stumblin' 'cross Big Muddy, where the light gets dim/Day after day another Momma's crying/She's lost her precious child to a war that has no end
Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio/Did you stop to read the writing at The Wall/Did that voice inside you say I've seen this all before/It's like Deja Vu all over again... It's like Deja Vu all over again
Here's agreat article on the song written by the Scripps-Howard news service.
Now, we all know who controls radio in this country... so I'm betting you that the song will likely never see the light of ClearChannel's airwaves.ClearChannel will claim that their listenership (you know, the ones held hostage by the fact that ClearChannel owns well over half the stations in most major markets?) doesn't want to hear songs like this, with anti-war or anti-Bush points of view. Of course, we know that's a lie - that ClearChannel's demonstrated a pattern over the last three years of suppressing outspoken lefty artists (anyone hear the Dixie Chicks lately?) while openly endorsing jingoistic crap like Toby Keith's "Courtesy of The Red White & Blue." But they'll cling to the lie.
So let's don't let 'em. Let's call every ClearChannel adult contemporary station in every market (you know the one, 9 times out of 10 it's called "Mix"something) or the classic rock stations and tell them we really want to hear this song. They'll still never play it, but if enough people request it we can at least put the lie to their excuse.
I don't know where every one of you lives, but I know some of the general locations for some of you. Here's a list of a few of the ClearChannel stations in areas where some of you are:
Boston: Kiss108 (781-396-1430)
New York: Q104.3 (212-575-1043)
Philadelphia: Q102 (610-667-8100) or Sunny 104.5 (610-668-0750)
Washington DC: Hot 99.5 (301-468-9429) or WASH-FM (301-984-9710)
Raleigh: G105 (919-878-1500) or Sunny 93.9 (same phone #, believe it or not)
Chicago: Kiss 103.5 (312-540-2000)
San Francisco: KMEL 106.1 (415-538-1061)
Seattle, Jerseyand Indiana, I didn't forget you guys... I just can't tell from ClearChannel's site which of their stations in your area would be most appropriate.
Anyway, let's get those phones ringing, fellow Mudgeons.Make sure ClearChannel knows that its public wants to hear John Fogerty's new song.
