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Today’s mission
Today, i will learn skinny love and blood. I will also post them on the internet. If they are good. Guitar time is back!
FIRST FIRST
So. Today i listened to the song Fuck tha Police for the first time. This is one of those that you hear so much in passing on VH1 specials and car commercials that you start to think that you know it. Well. Turns out I don’t. I had literally never heard a word of any of the song’s actual verses. Even though it came out something like 22 years ago, i still found myself shocked by how forward it is.
Beat tha police outta shape
And when I’m finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still can’t swallow bread and water
I don’t know if they fags or what
Search a nigga down and grabbin his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can’t get none
But don’t let it be a black and a white one
Cuz they slam ya down to the street top
Black police showin out for the white cop
I’m certainly not here to comment on the politics of this song. I just want to relay my first impressions. They are as follows.
I am surprised by how much this tune makes me love N.W.A. I’m not gonna buy into the branding that they were pushing, because the violent years of the members of this group existed in a very small window of time. Most of them are pretty chill these days. But this song is raw and intensely sincere, even if it’s just a reflection of a mood they were all in during the period of time in which it was recorded. The record is oozing with spite, and i like it. In a way, it reminds me of why i write songs.
I’ve always been inspired by hubris. Wagner, Miles, Kanye, N.W.A. These folks make me feel like i should be bolder in my art and in my life in general, even though that runs counter to all the religiosity i was raised with. Meekness, right? But most people are into these showy/obstinate characters (Miles isn’t showy. I know) because life is just so damned mundane otherwise. Everyone roots for the streaker. Or the guy who dunks on the other guy. Or the president who speaks his (her?!) mind. And N.W.A.’s brazen disregard for political correctness, or hell, their own safety, is an attractive quality. Always root for the outlier.
Lastly, i’m struck by how much i want to distance myself from some of the statements of the song, for fear of some sort of guilt by association. Once again, this isn’t a political comment, but merely an irrational fear that folks will think that my feelings mirror those of the group. I want to somehow temper my joy while listening to it. And that is a tragedy. I should be punished for my cowardice.
The first of my firsts.
