Wampum

The local university radio station, WMPG, hosts a Sunday night 2 hour music retrospective on 1980's popular music, mostly of the rock and New Wave genre. I call in frequently enough that the hosts now make sure they have their collection of Split Enz vinyl readily available when they hear my voice.

But recently, the show's name, Stuck in the '80s, has acquired new meaning for me. I spent many an evening convincing my 20-something friends that we older folk has also experienced the same sense of impending doom as Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election loomed. We were sure the world was on the brink of nuclear and environmental apocalypse. To make matters worse, Reagan rode to victory on the wings of the newly formed Moral Majority, headed by the Rev. (sic) Jerry Falwell.

Yes, folks, things looked pretty bleak back then on the social progress front. Don't think it could have been that bad? Well, here's my suggestion for this week's Stuck in the 80's premier cut, by the beloved cult favorite, The Dead Kennedys: (for those easily offended by colorful language, you can skip this one)

"Moral Majority"

You call yourself the Moral Majority
We call ourselves the people in the real world
Trying to rub us out, but we're going to survive
God must be dead if you're alive

You say, 'God loves you. Come and buy the Good News'
Then you buy the president and swimming pools
If Jesus don't save 'til we're lining your pockets
God must be dead if you're alive

Circus-tent con-men and Southern belle bunnies
Milk your emotions then they steal your money
It's the new dark ages with the fascists toting bibles
Cheap nostalgia for the Salem Witch Trials

Stodgy ayatollahs in their dobble-knit ties
Burn lots of books so they can feed you their lies
Masturbating with a flag and a bible
God must be dead if you're alive

Blow it out your ass, Jerry Falwell
Blow it out your ass, Jesse Helms
Blow it out your ass, Ronald Reagan
What's wrong with a mind of my own?

You don't want abortions, you want battered children
You want to ban the pill as if that solves the problem
Now you wanna force us to pray in school
God must be dead if you're such a fool

You're planning for a war with or without Iran
Building a police state with the Ku Klux Klan
Pissed at your neighbour? Don't bother to nag
Pick up the phone and turn in a fag

Blow it out your ass, Terry Dolan
Blow it out your ass, Phyllis Schlafly
Ram it up your cunt, Anita
Cos God must be dead
If you're alive
God must be dead
If you're alive

Time to make sure these old favorites are available on CD and MP3.