Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship
Mau Mau (Amerikon)
1970 · RCA Victor LSP 4448 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship
- Title
- Mau Mau (Amerikon)
- Release
- Blows Against the Empire
- Year
- 1970
- Label
- RCA Victor # LSP 4448
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Genre
- Country · Country Rock
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The song "Mau Mau (Amerikon)" (RCA Victor # LSP 4448), a collaboration between Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship (pretty much an extended line-up of Jefferson Airplane with other San Francisco musicians), makes a clear reference to Richard Nixon and his war - "so drop your fuckin' bombs...hey Dick, whatever you think of us is totally irrelevant" - probably a response to Nixon calling demonstrators "bums" on 30 April 1970. Is a "grade-B movie star governor" an early reference to Ronald Reagan? The entire album deals with counter-culture issues. The song "A Child Is Coming" has a possible reference to the draft: "what are we gonna do when Uncle Samuel comes around, askin' for the young one's name".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: You unleash the dogs of a grade-B movie star, Governor's war... / So drop your fuckin' bombs / Burn your demon babies... / Hey Dick, whatever you think of us is totally irrelevant / Both of us now, and to you we are the present / We are the future, you are the past / Pay your dues and get outta the way / 'Cause we're not the way you used to be when you were very young
About the artist
collaboration between Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship (pretty much an extended line-up of Jefferson Airplane with other San Francisco musicians)
Themes
From the release Blows Against the Empire