MARKING UP THE UNION SUNDOWN

JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU'VE UNDERSTOOD what I'm saying, here's another shot at conflating reality with a Bob Dylan lyric one redliner at a time. In rock mythology the roots grow deep and wide, but it's rather clear that this Dylan has no peer as the unmitigated prophet of doom and exaltation, centered as it is, upon the timeless truth we all confess but can rarely recognize in ourselves, OR others. Yes, here again was the voice that always managed to spin the magic far beyond the usual malapropism of contemporary songwriter genius. No matter how we choose to slice the banana, it seems that Dylan with Infidels had grabbed a direct pipeline from GOD in shaking down the Barack Obama bug some twenty-six years before the facts themselves show up to kick us in the pants. Sure, he was observing the germane times in which he was living back then, just as we all were, but my oh my, how fast the bodies and antibodies are piling up these days.

America has lost its industrial base to China, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere. America is financially overextended, depleted energy reserves forcing us to funnel billions of dollars annually to our duplicitous enemies, millions of Americans are jobless and under-employed leaving the nation crowned with a future of unprecedented deficits and national debt far beyond the parameters of rational manageability—the socialists.

With the UAW now taking control of General Motors, and the brazen Obama administration's irresponsible manipulation of private interests leaving many of us muttering new words for nothing left to lose, Dylan's cracked ancient voice seems ever more pertinent today than it did to the general population that score and nine years ago when these simple but crafted lines first broke into our consciousness...

Union Sundown off the Infidels LP

Well, my shoes, they come from Singapore,
My flashlight's from Taiwan,
My tablecloth's from Malaysia,
My belt buckle's from the Amazon.
You know, this shirt I wear comes from the Philippines
And the car I drive is a Chevrolet,
It was put together down in Argentina
By a guy makin' thirty cents a day.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

Well, this silk dress is from Hong Kong
And the pearls are from Japan.
Well, the dog collar's from India
And the flower pot's from Pakistan.
All the furniture, it says "Made in Brazil"
Where a woman, she slaved for sure
Bringin' home thirty cents a day to a family of twelve,
You know, that's a lot of money to her.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

Well, you know, lots of people complainin' that there is no work.
I say, "Why you say that for
When nothin' you got is U.S.-made?"
They don't make nothin' here no more,
You know, capitalism is above the law.
It say, "It don't count 'less it sells."
When it costs too much to build it at home
You just build it cheaper someplace else.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

Well, the job that you used to have,
They gave it to somebody down in El Salvador.
The unions are big business, friend,
And they're goin' out like a dinosaur.
They used to grow food in Kansas
Now they want to grow it on the moon and eat it raw.
I can see the day coming when even your home garden
Is gonna be against the law.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

Democracy don't rule the world,
You'd better get that in your head.
This world is ruled by violence
But I guess that's better left unsaid.
From Broadway to the Milky Way,
That's a lot of territory indeed
And a man's gonna do what he has to do
When he's got a hungry mouth to feed.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.

Copyright ©1983 Special Rider Music