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God & the FBI

Janis Ian
Language: English


Janis Ian

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[2000]
Parole e musica di Janis Ian
La canzone che dà il titolo all’album

God & the FBI

Nel secondo dopoguerra, gli anni della “minaccia comunista”, della “caccia alle streghe” e dell’inizio della “Guerra Fredda” (che tanto fredda non fu nemmeno, anzi), il padre di Janis Eddy Fink (il vero nome di Janis Ian), un semplice allevatore di pollame, partecipò ad un raduno sindacale sul prezzo delle uova, e questo allora bastava per essere attenzionato dai servizi di J. Edgar Hoover. Ma forse, in quegli anni bui, bastava ancora meno, anche solo ascoltare un disco di Pete Seeger

The album's title is taken from the song "God & the FBI", about Janis' early life with her parents and the FBI's effect on her. "My dad was a chicken farmer who made the mistake of going to a meeting about the price of eggs; they picked him up for questioning the next day. We were on the watch list from then on. It took me nine years to get our FBI files. Mine was disappointingly thin - I'd hoped I was more of a threat than that! But it's scary to look at that period in our country's history, and discover that you were being watched by informers through binoculars while you played at summer camp. I hope that whole organization is more like The X-files portrays it than our experiences with them." (Janis Ian)
Mama's making mimeos. Pete's on the stereo
singing 'bout freedom, bugs in the bedroom
Big investigation - danger to the nation
Search and seizure, better buy a lawyer
"We know you're a member
"Saw you under cover
"Are you hiding evidence?"
None of this makes any sense

They called the FBI
I had to disappear
Called the G-men, T-men, See-You-At-The-Scene men
Told 'em I was hiding here
They could fingerprint my heart
I knew it from the start
Ain't no place for a face to hide
from God and the FBI

Commies, Pinkos, reds at the windows
Foreign agitators running elevators
J. Edgar Hoover in a pink tutu
investigating anyone who thinks like you
Welcome to the fifties
You look a little shifty

They called the FBI
I had to disappear
Called the G-men, T-men, See-You-At-The-Scene men
Told 'em I was hiding here
They could fingerprint my heart
I knew it from the start
Ain't no hole for a soul to hide
From God and the FBI

Stay flat, don't rat, What's a proletariat?
Stalin was a democrat - Washington is where it's at
Every politician is a sewer of ambition
Hide me, hide you - better hide the baby too
"We demand an interview
"How long have you been a Jew?
"We can make you testify
"Freedom is no alibi"

They called the FBI
I had to disappear
Called the G-men, T-men, See-You-At-The-Scene men
Told 'em I was hiding here
They could fingerprint my heart
I knew it from the start
Ain't no place for a face to hide
From God and the FBI

Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2017/11/29 - 12:44




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