Founding Fathers - Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?

Annotation

Pioneering Hardcore Punk band formed in December 1979 in Austin, Texas, USA, and currently based in Portland, Oregan, USA, led by guitarist and vocalist Dave Dictor. The group was known for its political lyrics and anti- Ronald Reagan material in the 1980s. This 2004 album (Sudden Death Records # SDR-0058) mainly focused on protest against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and opposition to President George W. Bush. It contained a couple songs which referenced the Vietnam War.. This included the song "Founding Fathers - Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?", in which they discussed hypocrisy in US foreign policy, including "John Wayne running up the hill, see how many Vietnamese he could kill". Then in the song "Ballad of G.W." about George W. Bush, MDC criticised Bush for avoiding service in Vietnam: saying that "there's a war in Vietnam", but "George stay at home with mom", while they "buy...a spot in the Texas National Guard", meanwhile the "common people get maimed and scarred". This is interesting contemporary, post-war take on draft inequality, which had a similar theme to the well-known 1969 protest song "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, about the grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, David Eisenhower, (married to the daughter Richard Nixon), avoiding the Vietnam War draft by getting into the reserves.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Punk Songs

Pioneering Hardcore Punk band formed in December 1979 in Austin, Texas, USA, and currently based in Portland, Oregan, USA, led by guitarist and vocalist Dave Dictor. The group was known for its political lyrics and anti- Ronald Reagan material in the 1980s. This 2004 album (Sudden Death Records # SDR-0058)mainly focused on protest against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and opposition to President George W. Bush. It contained a couple songs which referenced the Vietnam War. This included the song "Founding Fathers - Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?", in which they discussed hypocrisy in US foreign policy, including "John Wayne running up the hill, see how many Vietnamese he could kill".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Are the founding fathers terrorists or freedom fighters? / And Paul Revere the famous night rider / And Andrew Jackson the Indian killer / A movie of his life could be a nightmare thriller / Hand out blankets with disease / Our God is so much better we believe / Genocidal times, get on your knees / We are the good guys or so we perceive / So back then they rebelled against the king / The U.S. in Iraq is really the same thing / All the radio hate disc jockey's rage / Screaming we should blast them back to the Stone Age / Just like John Wayne running up the hill / See how many Vietnamese he could kill / Destroy the village to save it is part of the plan / Just as letting African's die of AIDS is to steal their land / "Mommy, was George Washington a terrorist?" / "No honey, he was a great man, the first president and an important slave owner." / "Mommy what are doing in Iraq?" "Honey we are gonna' teach these people how to be free." / We prop up the Saudi's corrupt regime / Denied people's rights and justice so it seems / All done for convenience and all that black gold / Send our boys off to protect our freedoms or so they're told / "Didn't they lynch black folks in the South / And set them on fire and hang them from trees just like they did those men in Iraq?" / "Oh honey, that was so long ago. We don't think about things like that." / All this hypocrisy makes us sick as hell / Our murderous government think they're so swell / Capture people deny them their rights /…

Notes

Also issued in Canada on Sudden Death Records (SDR-0058).

About the artist

American hardcore punk band formed 1979 in Austin, Texas (as The Stains). [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Genocide · Iraq War · Religion · American Revolution

In collections

Draft Songs · Punk Songs