We're All Cowards Now

Pretty self-explanatory
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Poor Deportee
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We're All Cowards Now

Post by Poor Deportee »

This song has been haunting me of late. On the one hand, it seems straight out of the Official EC Lyrical Playbook circa "Armed Forces" - a portrait of a world sliding into fascism (as the percussion at the end, so reminiscent of boots marching, hammers home). The final verse also hearkens back to "Less Than Zero," with lovers getting it on while fascists parade on the screen.

What I find intriguing - flummoxing? bemusing? - in this is the vagueness of the song's ideological target. Who or what exactly is bringing us the fascism that we're too cowardly to defy? The third verse - "they're coming for our [guns] and threats and insults" - could be straight out of Fox News, with the right-wing concern about the "right to bear arms" and "free speech." But the rest of the song does not at all scan like an ironic appropriation of right-wing hysteria; if anything, in context, you strongly suspect it to be a reaction to the wave of authoritarian populism represented by Trump and his ilk. In other words, irony is not the song's main register.

The passage "They're draping stones with colours/And a roll of stolen names/Except those we never cared about/And those we need to blame" is similarly ambiguous - it *could* be about scapegoating vulnerable minorities, as per the usual gambits of fascism; but it could also be about the current fashion for tearing down statues of 19th century racists, renaming public institutions, etc..

What I'm saying is that the song's critique seems open to applying to certain trends on both right (Trump) and left (cancel culture). On both sides, cowardice is the enabler: cowardice of the GOP types, cowardice of those who fear being "called out" as white supremacist, etc..

Am I alone in thinking EC may be bringing together very different social/ideological strands here and suggesting that they both bring us toward fascistic place?

Time has taught us
That they're sending out their sons
To take away our guns and our daughters
We are all cowards now
Rivers rising
Darkness fell upon
People blotting out the sun
Disguising how
We are all cowards now

At least the Emperor Nero had an ear for music
But that's history
Caligula said "God's speed, my steed"
But that's his story

They're coming for our Peacemakers
Our Winchesters and Colts
The rattle of our Gatling Guns
Our best cowboy revolts and threats and insults
We are all cowards now

The emptiness of arms
The openness of thighs
The pornography of bullets
The promises and prizes can't disguise
We are all cowards now

They're draping stones with colours
And a roll of stolen names
Except those we never cared about
And those we need to blame
We'll extinguish that flame, just the same
We're all cowards now

Arms are empty
The pornography of plenty
Count commands from one to ten
Number sins from ten to twenty
There's an illusion we believe in
There is honour in their need
Pretty confetti, chemical debt
And a necessity to bleed

My fears too fleet to scupper
My prayers too thin to scream
On my lover's back a zipper
On her limb a straightened seam
So, close the windows tightly
Lower lamps and shades
On the screen, silent rehearsals
For tomorrow's parades
For tomorrow's parades
For tomorrow's parades
We are all cowards now
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
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A rope leash
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by A rope leash »

I think this song, and No Flag, represent the impotence and frustration of the masses in the face of oppression and tyranny.

My question is…how did Elvis come up with perfect songs for a dystopian lockdown before the boot actually fell? Is he psychic, or did his elite friends clue him in on what was about to happen?

Hmmm?


Viva Van Morrison.
Neil.
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by Neil. »

I have to confess I'm not a massive fan of the recent very very gloomy songs on Hey Clockface. This one, the spoken word ones, Newspaper Pane etc. are so, so bleak. Elvis has always had a sour worldview, quite understandably, but often in the past he has couched them in very peppy pop. But these ones are so depressing - 'No Flag' is equally miserable, but at least the raucous riff, drumming and sci-fi riff make it a less bitter pill to swallow.
Hawksmoor
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by Hawksmoor »

I'm with Deportee on this one. The more I listen to it, the more I think it is a remarkable thing. A coruscating critique of the way society is operating right now, but brilliantly, without naming or pointing fingers at anyone. Very much in the vein of Shipbuilding, where Elvis seems to be saying 'I'm not going to be so crass as to attack any person, I'm just sketching what I see as the way things are'. Telling a story about the modern world, which is what great songwriters do. Every time I listen to this song, I find something new in it.
JPadoo
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by JPadoo »

I must say I agree wholeheartedly. An incredibly under appreciated song. There have been many days during these difficult times that I’ve listened to this on repeat, over and over and over again. Very much a “feel in the moment” thing, when I’m feeling as if all hope is lost… “Byline”,”Newspaper Pane”, and “Vivian Whip” take me there as well, but in a “good” way, if you know what I mean. So-called depressing songs are uplifting in some very strange ways, and leave longer lasting impressions when one is in the right (or wrong?) state of mind. I’m very happy “Hey Clockface” exists, and is yet another record that only Elvis could have made.
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Top balcony
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by Top balcony »

A rope leash wrote:My question is…how did Elvis come up with perfect songs for a dystopian lockdown before the boot actually fell? Is he psychic, or did his elite friends clue him in on what was about to happen?
Hmmm?
Viva Van Morrison.
We are of course each welcome to our own opinion.

Welcome to mine : this post is the clear front runner for the 2021 Top-Balcony-Award-for-Most-Offensive-Idiocy Cup.
Hawksmoor
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by Hawksmoor »

Top balcony wrote:
A rope leash wrote:My question is…how did Elvis come up with perfect songs for a dystopian lockdown before the boot actually fell? Is he psychic, or did his elite friends clue him in on what was about to happen?
Hmmm?
Viva Van Morrison.
We are of course each welcome to our own opinion.

Welcome to mine : this post is the clear front runner for the 2021 Top-Balcony-Award-for-Most-Offensive-Idiocy Cup.
With all due respect (and obviously I could be completely misreading this) but surely ARL's comments about Elvis' 'elite friends clueing him in on what was about to happen' are intended humorously?

At least, I seriously hope so.

Not least because, if, in some weird/dystopian fantasy world, your 'elite friends' had given you the nod that they were about to stage a global pandemic, the last thing they'd want you to do is to give the game away by writing about it in a pop song! :lol:
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A rope leash
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by A rope leash »

Please allow me to say a few things in defense of my “offensive idiocy”.

Elvis definitely has elite fans. They pinned a medal on him not long ago and called him “colonel” or something, didn’t they?

The elite pull the strings on politicians that pull the strings on people. I doubt that they are surprised by much…but we can disagree on that, because in the information age, truth becomes an autopsy of bullshit.

Elvis put a couple of darts right in the center of the target just at the right time. Chalk it up to luck, I suppose, but these songs hit me right when I was getting hit by the first crush of the authoritarian boot. “We’re all cowards” is precisely how I felt then and how feel now. “No flag” is exactly where I wish to be, because I want nothing to do with these war-mongering pigs that have killed millions over the years with their meddling wars.

But, we’re helpless in the face of a technological juggernaut that has taken over our governance. It doesn’t feel like freedom, because it isn’t.

Perhaps Elvis was feeling this before the authoritarianism went into full open effect. I don’t see these songs as “giving away” the plot, really…they are to ethereal and not widely heard. As a free person, I can speculate about his relationships with the elite, and spout off about it…so I’m going to do that as long as I can. It never has bothered me if someone is offended, or thinks I’m an idiot. I’ve been a whack-job conspiracy nut since I was a kid, so everything I say is a joke anyway, right?

Time will tell. We will never know the whole truth, but some things will become so obvious that we will come to accept them as fact. The way I see it, western democracies are falling apart at a fantastic pace, and are being usurped by corporate fascist interests. Once they get a grip, there will be no letting go.

A virus didn’t do this to us, they did. Perhaps some are happy with it. Maybe you think Van Morrison is a nut-job, and there’s nothing to Eric Clapton and thousands of others’ adverse reaction to the vaccine, but I hope there remains room in this world for all of us, even people like me who find speculation to be an entertaining and necessary part of an examined life.
sulky lad
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by sulky lad »

I’m not articulate or knowledgeable enough to pass comment on corporate fascism or the machinations of big business on a global scale but like Top Balcony’s relatives, I’ve worked in the health service and seen the wrecking of lives add health caused by Covid ! It’s not a made up disease or a propaganda tool of any government - people are still dying and here in the UK our hospital staff are on their knees trying to cope with the demands of a scared and mal-informed public and the irrational fears based on media disinformation. This has little to do within the context of this post I know but to try and say the vaccine is a bad thing is dangerous for the millions of vulnerable people. If you feel fit and healthy and don’t want the Chinese to have control of your mind then don’t have it but don’t whinge when the health service can’t deal with your abdominal pain or chest pain - unless of course you’re a wealthy Rock star such as Clapton who can afford private health care ! And Covid isn’t new - we’ve had variant such as SARS variants and bird flu for the last 30 odd years !
Sorry if I seem a pedant I’m just sick of seeing colleagues giving their all in the NHS and then being treated like morons because folk think they’re puppets of the state for caring for each and every individual who presents to the in their hours of need
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Top balcony
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Re: We're All Cowards Now

Post by Top balcony »

I disagree with great swathes of your post above A R L , much of your worldview does not accord with mine, but firmly agree with this bit :
A rope leash wrote: I hope there remains room in this world for all of us
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