Sunday, July 4, 2010

Every War Needs a Soundtrack



In a comment I received to a post on the drug-fueled insurgency that is going on in Mexico (here) there was a link to a song I'd never heard before - The Free Mexican Air Force. The commenter rightly pointed out that every war needs a soundtrack.

I like the reasoning, especially because the song is from the point of view of the Gringo stoner, who is a necessary but often-overlooked party to the conflict. One nickname for weed is "chronic," and that's how the Mexican drug war is shaping up, as well.

Here are the lyrics:

In the Morenos Mountains campesinos are planting their fields
While the ghost of Zapata rides a horse that can still outrun the wheel
There, free in the sky high above, nearly clear out of sight
It's the Free Mexican Air Force flyin' tonight

In the City of Angels, a cowboy is cooling his heels
Remembering that God gave us herbs and the fruits of the fields
But a criminal law that makes outlaws of those seeking light
Made the Free Mexican Air Force -- Mescalito riding his white horse --
Yeah, the Free Mexican Air Force is flyin' tonight!
Flying so high - yi - hiyeeeee! ...

How strange that an innocent herb causes money to burn
They'll jail you or kill you for making those rich fat cats squirm
They're the fools who make rules with no difference between wrong or right
That's why the Free Mexican Air Force is flyin' tonight

Uncle Sam in his misery put a nix on the fields of Guerrero
Sayin', "Shoot down all gringos and wetbacks who dare wear sombreros!"
Either run for your life, surrender, or stand up and fight --
Or join the Free Mexican Air Force -- Mescalito riding his white horse --
Yeah, the Free Mexican Air Force is flying tonight!
Flying so high - yi - hiyeeeee! ...

(instrumental bridge)

It is not marijuana destroying the minds of the young
But confusion continued for power and greed in all forms
Well, the borders of evil will fall to the smugglers of light!
We're the Free Mexican Air Force and we're flyin' tonight!

In San Antonio, they tell me that power and money are one
They can buy us or sell you to keep you afraid, on the run
But no one can stop us! My vision is clearly in sight!
And the Free Mexican Air Force -- Mescalito riding his white horse --
Yeah, the Free Mexican Air Force is flyin' tonight!
Flying so high - yi - hiyeeeee! ...

Some were smoking colitas while other were loading their guns
Blowing smoke from their six-shooters, spinning their barrels for fun
Contrabandistas, banditos alike --
We're the Free Mexican Air Force and we're flyin' tonight!

High in the hills we are harvesting sweet sensimillia
Yeah, the law wants it all 'cause they know that the wild weed can free ya
And freedom for us is a prison for the rulers of might!
That's why the Free Mexican Air Force -- Mescalito riding his white horse --
Yeah, the Free Texican Air Force is flyin' tonight!
Flyin' so high- yi- yee...
Flyin' tonight!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tom Lehrer song for World War III, So Long Mom, on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklr0UD9eSo

Also for your consideration: Who's Next, a ditty on nuclear proliferation... South Africa wants two, that's right, one for the blacks and one for the whites. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRLON3ddZIw

TSB said...

I had a High School teacher who loved those Tom Lehrer songs, and used to play them in class. The one about Werner Von Braun was my favorite ("I know where the rockets go up but not where they come down, "that is not my department said Werner Von Braun"").

Anonymous said...

Lehrer came out of retirement for this -I'm not sure what it is- but he hasn't lost much:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89yf-utLVfA&feature=related

. One of my biggest losses in the Katrina flood was a photo of Lehrer he inscribed to me when I was in the second grade in 1965. I'd memorized one of his albums and my dad pulled some strings to get the photo (or he faked it - was never sure). The Werner Von Braun song is a keeper for sure. Nothing much beats The Vatican Rag, though.Look at the Marty Feldman BBC cover. You would be startled by how much listening to Tom Lehrer influenced the course of my life. Not really for the best, obviously, but it's been interesting.

Anonymous said...

One last Tom Lehrer joint for a Rebellion, then I will leave it for dead. Lehrer worked early on with Mel Brooks and Don Adams. You can see it in this totally amazing Youtube: Tom Lehrer - Dodge Rebellion Theatre (1967)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7_sHweN3Po&eurl=http://www.youtube.com/user/6funswede%3Fblend%3D2%26ob%3D4%23p/a/AC569A6FE68CDF2A/1/n7_sHweN3Po&feature=player_profilepage

TSB said...

It's amazes me to realize that corporations produced films like that for in-house use.

Quite a cultural artifact of 1967, as well, what with the Indian character and the first grade school teacher in the bikini.

Anonymous said...

LOOKS LIKE IT'S BECOME A SOUNDTRACK TROOP MOVEMENT. FROM HEBRON ON THE WEST BANK, THE BATTALION 50 ISRAELI MARCHING BAND:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIrVofeRh0g&feature=player_embedded

TSB said...

Israeli TV says the IDF is investigating the six troops in that video. What? They can't take a joke?

When I think of how we used to blow off steam in the Old School U.S. Army (circa the early 1980s), I am sooo glad that no one had digital video recorders then.