Slow Down Gandhi

Annotation

Sage Francis is a East Coast hip-hop artist, born in Miami, Florida (1976), and currently based in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2005 he self-released the 12" single "Slow Down Ghandi", which later appeared on the album A Healthy Distrust (Epitaph Records # 86709-2). He wrote the song during the 2004 presidential election, about "fly-by-night activists who get caught up in political fervor every election year and then they fall by the wayside when the party is over".1 In the middle section of the song, he criticised US military recruitment methods with regards to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, saying "it felt like Kent State the way they targeted the students, I galloped off whistling Ohio" - a reference to the famous Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young single Ohio. Francis later wrote that "ever since 9/11 I've been on an anti-war crusade, dear Barack…bring 'em home".2Sources1strangefamousrecords.com: Slow down ghandi↩2strangefamousrecords.com: Slow down ghandi↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Kent / Jackson State Songs

Sage Francis is a East Coast hip-hop artist, born in Miami, Florida (1976), and currently based in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2005 he self-released the 12" single "Slow Down Ghandi", which later appeared on the album A Healthy Distrust (Epitaph Records # 86709-2). He wrote the song during the 2004 presidential election, about "fly-by-night activists who get caught up in political fervor every election year and then they fall by the wayside when the party is over".1 In the middle section of the song, he criticised US military recruitment methods with regards to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, saying "it felt like Kent State the way they targeted the students, I galloped off whistling Ohio" - a reference to the famous Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young single Ohio. Francis later wrote that "ever since 9/11 I've been on an anti-war crusade, dear Barack…bring 'em home".2 Sources1strangefamousrecords.com: Slow down ghandi↩2strangefamousrecords.com: Slow down ghandi↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: There once was a song called "Arrest the President" / Contemporary music, a hit with the kids, it was a top ten / I wasn't pop then, so I missed the bus a bit / But politics, it was on everybody's "hot this summer" list / The cool kids were all rocking votes / I shit you not, I was pistol whippin' cops for hip hop (Booyea!) / On my soapbox yelling into megaphones / Killing hard rocks, using carcasses as stepping stones / Had to promise that I'd stop holding my marches / The day that Chris Columbus got crucified on golden arches / My pedestal was too tall to climb off / In fact that's the reason for the high horse / And from up here I see marines in hummers on a conquest / Underdogs with wonderbras in a push-up contest / All for the sake of military recruitment / It felt like Kent State the way they targeted the students / I galloped off whistling "Ohio" / The rest of them, stuck doing stand-up at a cricket convention / Who would they die for? / Is it the same machine that leaves the quality of life poor? / An abominable colony of cyborgs? / Clogging up the property that I bought with eyesores? / That clever ad campaign ain't worth / The time taken from minimum wage labor / I don't care how half-naked or fake she looks / She smells like dirty cash and aged paper books / Who would she die for? / Slow down Gandhi, you're killin' 'em... / Now it's whistle blower versus the pistol holder / Case dismissed, they'll lock you up and throw away the key witness / Justice is…

About the artist

Sage Francis (born Paul Francis, 18 November 1976, Miami, Florida) is an underground hip-hop artist long based in Providence, Rhode Island, founder of Strange Famous Records and a member of Non-Prophets. "Slow Down Gandhi" appears on his 2005 album "A Healthy Distrust" (Epitaph/Anti-), which was also issued as a promo 12". [Source: Wikipedia; Discogs]

Themes

Kent State · Anti-Government

In collections

Kent / Jackson State Songs · Rap / Hip Hop Songs