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Mix Tape
WWIII
by Josh Tyson
drawing by Adam Mitchell
Do you ever get worried about all of humanity getting stripped to dust by a cavalcade of atomic blasts? I do. It’s nothing worth fretting about constantly, but when I do get a little uneasy about the prospect of nuclear winter, a good mix tape always makes me feel at ease, which is why I’ve crafted this one here. Side A, which is supposed to be representative of the impending apocalypse, is a bit doom-and-gloom, but side B, which is about life post-defcon 4, makes up for that with some really lively numbers.
I realize that iPods have pretty much smothered the demand for a mix tape, but if calamity strikes, and the internet ceases to be, those little white boxes aren’t going to be worth shit. It’s going to be all ghetto-blasters and D batteries (huge).
SIDE A
Ice Age-Joy Division
What kind of mix tape would this be if it didn’t open with Joy Division? While not Love Will Tear Us Apart, Ice Age is ripe with desperation and confusion, something I think we can all relate to.
Power and Glory-Phil Ochs
This might seem a bit random, but this song reminds me of the scene in Spiderman where Uncle Ben turns to Peter Parker and tells him to remember that, “with great power comes great responsibility.” That’s what this song is all about--on a national scale. It’s message is that America is only as rich as the poorest of the poor, only as free as a padlocked prison door. That our power rests on the strength of our freedom. Alright, so I’m quoting the song directly.
Ballad of the Sin Eater-Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
Wow this is getting really serious, but hang in there, it’s a rollicking number. During the chorus Ted starts sounds like Cookie Monster, which is a tad ironic as this song has to do with the way the rest of the world perceives America’s rampant gluttony. Kind of Mmmmm cooookies!
War Pigs-Black Sabbath
People get Ready-Rod Stewart w/ Jeff Beck
This song is sorta wuss, but Rod really brings the fucking pain in the final chorus. It sounds like he’s trying to gouge his own appendix out with a rusty soup spoon--without spilling a martini. Regardless, the message is very uplifting. Curtis Mayfield wrote the song after the civil rights march on Washington. His version is better, but it doesn’t have Jeff Beck’s yelping guitar. It’s his hot licks that help keep hope alive.
Sag Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind-Joan Baez
Folk singer/activist, Pete Seeger wrote this song. It’s English title is Where Have All the Flowers Gone. It been translated and performed in French and, here, in German. It pretty much all there is to be said about mankind’s cyclical infatuation with war. Joan Baez sings it pretty as hell--no surprise.
Jersey Thursday-Donovan
This song has little to do with the cause, I just like it. You cannot fade Donovan.
SIDE B
The Pie-The Ex
This song opens with a recipe for a delicious-sounding sweet-potato pie, delivered in in a rushed, fevered tone. Then the music starts up and the song suggests different ways of smashing the pie into the faces of corporate crooks. True, after nuclear war, those prissy bilkers will be huddled in bomb shelters eating filet mignon out of cans, and will thusly be hard to hit with pie. But the recipe will be helpful nonetheless, because survivors will be very hungry.
Broken Household Appliance National Forest-Grandaddy
As its title suggest, this song is about a forest of broken household appliances that now serve as homes for owls and squirrels their woodland ilk. Forests like this one are destined to become commonplace during the long winter.
Livin’ in the City-The Dritbombs
This song is all about hard times, and getting through them. Lil’ Stevie Wonder knows it, the Dirtbombs know it, and so will the rest of us.
Starvation-The Pioneers
Reggae is the best! Even a song about the spread of starvation glimmers with hope. Oh yeah, but marijuana is evil! Never forget that.
Peg-Steely Dan
Can’t have all serious jams. The technical wizardry of this song manages to overshadow the utter silliness of it. Are there still women named Peg?
Resurrection-Steppenwolf
I checked-out a Steppenwolf album from the library last week. This is my favorite song off of it. It is in the key of rock, and the title suggest a vague sort of hope.
Pink Moon-Sebadoh
There are three cover songs on this mix, I figured one more couldn’t hurt. You have to really pay attention to hear the Nick Drake original in this loud screechy feast, but it’s there and man does it rock buns! Bring on the bombs!
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