It is to laugh - Ray Stevens - written in '68 Funny then - truer so much more today

[3825-87867]

[Wonder Why]

1. Needs closed capioning or translation into American from English.

[Wiz Imp]

2. Stevens did some decent novelty songs decades ago, but at some point (maybe after 9/11) he turned into a wingnut racist

I have a hard time listening to anything from him anymore (even the old stuff)

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3903141/

So apparently, in the 15 years since I last bothered to think about him, he's gone crazy. Or maybe he was always crazy and he didn't show it? His older songs always did vaguely smack of dumbass pandering but he must have held back to avoid alienating too much of his audience. Anyway, like Victoria Jackson and Gallagher, he's recently discovered that he can elbow his way back into the limelight by full out embracing lunatic right politics and repackaging himself as the straight-talkin' darling of the tea party contingent. The results are pretty amazing; his new songs are full of wonky rants about "Obamacare", death panels, and illegal immigration. They're really...not fun songs. He also dances around wearing a tri-corner hat and makes cracks about how Obama is going to rename the USA the USSA -- the UNITED SOCIALIST STATES OF AMERICA. I'm not sure if this is a desperate bid for relevancy or if he's genuninely an idiot, but I kind of suspect the latter.

The lyrics in "We the People" -- the one about death panels -- almost seem like a parody:

We heard from Hannity, Beck and Limbaugh
what you got in mind for Grandma,
And we've heard this O'Reilly fellow on Fox,
We're just like Joe the plumber
and when we crunch the numbers
we'll vote you out at the ballot box!

More obnoxious, he does that thing where he bleeps out the word "ass" with a fart noise because, apparently, we're children who will cry if we hear a bad word. I hate that sort of shit.

"Come to the USA" contains hilariously bizarre lines about how the US government loves giving taxpayer money to illegal immigrants to start brothels. In the music video, he predictably appears wearing a sombrero. He also appears wearing a Hawaiian shirt and smoking a cigar. I think he's supposed to look like a Cuban refugee, but I can't be sure. Actually, a lot of his new songs seem to really hate Mexicans, even ones not explicitly about immigration like "Juanita and the Kids," where he just sings about scamming tax refunds in a Mexican accent. It's kind of gross. "God Save Arizona" compares illegal immigration in Arizona to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and also calls fascist piece of shit Joe Arpaio "a patriot."

[Grins]

3. It WASN'T funny then!

It was a serious statement! It was even brought up in a theology class I took in college.

I had forgotten that song. Thanks for bringing it back up.

[John1956PA]

4. One on my favorites. Years ago, I transcribed the lyrics and framed them. n/t

[John1956PA]

5. "Eighty-six-proof anesthetic crutches prop you to the top . . .

Last edited Thu Feb 20, 2025, 11:05 AM - Edit history (1)

. . . Where the smiles are all synthetic and the ulcers never stop."

[John1956PA]

6. Ray Stevens had a hit with "Everything is Beautiful."

Last edited Thu Apr 17, 2025, 01:06 PM - Edit history (5)

I think that song was released in 1968.

[John1956PA]

7. Ray Stevens put out a few songs I enjoyed.

Last edited Thu Apr 17, 2025, 01:04 PM - Edit history (2)

Songs which come to my mind are "Mr. Businessman" and "Guitarzan."

[John1956PA]

8. Post, April 7, 2025