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Iris DeMent — Wasteland of the Free
Album: The Way I Should
Avg rating:
7.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 66









Released: 1996
Length: 5:09
Plays (last 30 days): 2
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Living in the wasteland of the free...

We got preachers dealing in politics and diamond mines
And their speech is growing increasingly unkind
They say they are Christ's disciples
But they don't look like Jesus to me
And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got politicians running races on corporate cash
Now don't tell me they don't turn around and kiss them peoples' ass
You may call me old-fashioned
But that don't fit my picture of a true democracy
And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got CEO's making two hundred times the workers' pay
But they'll fight like hell against raising the minimum wage
And If you don't like it, mister, they'll ship your job
To some third-world country 'cross the sea
And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free
Where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

We got little kids with guns fighting inner city wars
So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors
And we call ourselves the advanced civilization
That sounds like crap to me
And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got high-school kids running 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess
Who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test
But if you ask them, they can tell you
The name of every crotch on MTV
And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we win
Some guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sin
But he's standing up for what he believes in
And that seems pretty damned American to me
And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free
Where the poor have now become the enemy
Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

While we sit gloating in our greatness
Justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free
Living in the wasteland of the free
Comments (4)add comment
This is a new one on me...  first impression is a "7", a solid floor, but quite likely to rise once I take a closer listen, especially to the lyrics.  Almost early Dylanesque in its iconoclasm, without Bob's subtlety - with Dylan you had to work a little to understand his symbolism - deMent doesn't pull any punches.  Fine by me, as Dylan says in My Back Pages:
 
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect...
 
If one's belief system cannot withstand challenge, it's not much of a belief system.

RP continues to surprise, and that's a good thing, a very good thing...
Posted 3 weeks ago by bluwaterschooner    [ Reply ]
A righteous rant but a tad didactic. It's sadly as applicable today as 30 years ago.
Posted 1 month ago by fredriley    [ Reply ]
I love Iris but this song is where she really gets gutsy, letting it all hang out about her fellow countrymen and revealing what a growing majority really feel about what's goin' on. God bless America for caring; it's 1967 all over again. This inspirationally rallying cry to stand up and face the fear gets Wasteland of the Free Godlike status in my books. Turnpike Billy
Posted 18 years ago by turnpike    [ Reply ]
Timely
Posted 21 years ago by Emc2    [ Reply ]