The Consumer Goods - Political and Cultural References

Political and Cultural References

Many of the Consumer Goods' songs refer to contemporary and historical politics and culture. For example:

  • the famous U.S. supreme court case of Roe V. Wade is used as a backdrop to the amusing pro-choice anthem "Rovie Wade"
  • Canadian Conservative hockey pundit Don Cherry is the central character in satirical pop anthem "Hockey Night in Afghanada"
  • Malcolm X's speech about violent and non-violent revolution is featured on "Christmas in Camden"
  • Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz is mocked for his repressive civic record in "And The Final Word is Yours, Sam Katz"
  • the 1898 invasion of Cuba by the United States in the Spanish-American War, and subsequent imperialist domination of the island until 1959, is referenced in "Gunboat Diplomacy"
  • "Lord's Not On My Side" appears to flow directly from Bob Dylan's "With God On Their Side" and makes reference to Condoleezza Rice's comment in 2006, "may god forgive the terrorists"
  • "The Terminator Rules" is a reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Hollywood actor who played the role of The Terminator in the 1990s and who now holds the office of California Governor - the song references his aggressive policies towards undocumented foreign workers in that state. The song refers to the trailer park Duroville.
  • Mao Zedong's aphorism "Revolution is no tea party" is featured on the track of the same name
  • a speech by Dick Cheney is appropriated and edited in a mocking tribute to Cheney, George W. Bush, Colin Powell, and Donald Rumsfeld in "Eat a Dick, Cheney"
  • the phrase "camels coming home to roost" on "London Bombs" refers either to Ward Churchill's controversial essay On the Justice of Roosting Chickens or Malcolm X's commentary on the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
  • commentary on the Devil's Lake outlet controversy and criticism of Premier of Manitoba Gary Doer on "Good Thing (for Bourgeois Nationalism)"
  • the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon is the subject of "Lebanong Song"
  • Winston Churchill's unfortunate description of Iraq as an "ungrateful volcano" when Iraqis refused to comply with British subjugation after the First World War is the subject of the song of the same name
  • the gradual demise of the MontrĂ©al Expos on "C'est la Vie Westerne"
  • the story of the ill-fated Taiping Rebellion is articulated on the track "Taiping Riverboat"
  • author of the U.S. Patriot Act, John Ashcroft, is skewered in "Happy Bidet (Let The Balled Eagle Soar)"

Read more about this topic:  The Consumer Goods

Famous quotes containing the words political and, political and/or cultural:

    “Common hypocrites pass themselves off as doves; political and literary hypocrites pose as eagles. But don’t be fooled by their eagle-like appearance. These are not eagles, but rats or dogs.”
    —Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)

    “The national anthem belongs to the eighteenth century. In it you find us ordering God about to do our political dirty work.”
    —George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)

    “The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
    —Ann Oakley (b. 1944)