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Title: Country Singer Goes on SNL, Exposes Afghan Heroin Trade and No One Even Noticed
Source:
Free Thought Project
URL Source: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/sturgill-snl-military-war-heroin/
Published: Jan 19, 2018
Author: Matt Agorist
Post Date: 2018-02-02 05:29:47 by Deckard
Ping List: *Music* Subscribe to *Music*
Keywords: None
Views: 550
Comments: 7
Sturgill Simpson is one of the most under-appreciated, under-aired, unknown, and immensely talented musical artists around. Up until last month, in fact, most Americans have never heard of him — because he’s entirely too truthful to be on the radio. To his devoted fans, this author included, Sturgill Simpson is a pioneer in the realm of music — and activism. For years, Simpson has been enlightening his listeners, not only through his band’s amazing sounds but also through his activism. Sturgill Simpson is unafraid of being unpopular for telling the truth, and it has reflected in his music for more than a decade since the days of Sunday Valley. For Simpson, nothing is taboo — up to and including his antiwar stance. While he’s best known for being the country singer who sounds like a mix of Conway Twitty, Waylon Jennings, and Merle Haggard — and the one who sings about the mind-expanding powers of hallucinogens like ‘Marijuana, LSD, Psilocybin, and DMT’ — Sturgill also loves to blast the military industrial complex. His music and band are so powerful that many people may miss what he’s saying, but not us. With his newfound success and popularity from the Grammy nomination and appearances on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Sturgill was recently asked to play on Saturday Night Live (SNL). Shockingly enough, the producers, either through carelessness or intention, allowed Sturgill to play one of his most powerful antiwar songs from all of his albums — Call to Arms. The song is ironically titled as it is a call to arms against the US military rather than a call to arms for them. In the song, Simpson, who is also a US military veteran, calls out not only the brutal nature of military and war, but the fact that Western profiteers are making a figurative killing off of heroin for the literal killing of people in Afghanistan. A former British Territorial Army mechanic, Anthony C Heaford released a report two years ago, and a series of photos, which he says proves that British and American troops are harvesting opium in Afghanistan. It is also no secret that Afghanistan opium production has increased by 3,500 percent, from 185 tons in 2001 to 6,400 in 2015, since the US-led invasion. However, mentioning this on television is virtually unheard of — but not for Sturgill Simpson. After playing Keep it Between the Lines, Simpson went on to drop truth to the millions of viewers — and most of them had no idea. As the song starts out, Sturgill Simpson calls out both oil and heroin and notes how the troops are used as pawns in these wars for profit. I done Syria, Afganistan, Iraq, and Iran Well they send their sons and daughters off to die Well they cut off your hair and put a badge on your arm The second part of the song actually addresses why no one even caught the fact that he just exposed war for profit on SNL. Wearing that Kim Jong-il hat Nobody’s looking up to care about a drone For an unknown reason, the last verse of the song was omitted, possibly because of all the swearing. But it is still very powerful. Turn off the TV The band then launched into an incredible 2-minute jam. At the end of the song, Sturgill throws down his guitar and looks out at the crowd with an inspiring anger. And, just like that, truth got leaked out on to mainstream television. Below is the performance from Saturday. If you’ve never heard of Sturgill Simpson, we highly recommend you try it out. You can do so here, at his website.
North Korea tell me where does it end
Well the bodies keep piling up with every day
How many more of em they gonna send
For some oil
To control the heroin
Well son I hope you don’t grow up
Believing that you’ve got to be a puppet to be a man
Strip you of your identity
Tell you to keep your mouth shut boy and get in the line
Meet your maker over seas
While your grandma’s selling pills stat
Meanwhile, I’m wearing my ‘can’t pay my fucking bills’ hat
All too busy looking down at our phone
Our ego’s begging for food like a dog from our feed
Refreshing obsessively until our eyes start to bleed
They serve up distractions and we eat them with fries
Until the bombs fall out of our fucking skies
Turn off the news
Nothing to see here
They’re serving the blues
Bullshit on my TV
Bullshit on my radio
Hollywood telling me how to be me
The bullshit’s got to go
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
Silly claim. This guy is just a rocker, not really a country singer at all. The Call To Arms song has a good beat, nice instrumentation. But it is no country song at all.
You make a good point - the line between what's country and what's rock is nebulous at best. If I'm gonna listen to country - give me old-school country music. Dwight Yoakum, Buck Owens, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, etc. It was a lively performance but you'd have to take a lot of drugs to say that he sounds like Conway Twitty or Merle Haggard.
No fiddle, no steel guitar - that ain't country. Wow! Just read on Wiki that he's from Jackson KY. I spent my summers growing up there working and playing on my grandfather's tobacco farm. Apparently his early work was more traditional country - he has even played the Grand Ole Opry. For an unknown reason, the last verse of the song was omitted, possibly because of all the swearing. But it is still very powerful. Turn off the TV Turn off the news Nothing to see here They’re serving the blues Bullshit on my TV Bullshit on my radio Hollywood telling me how to be me The bullshit’s got to go Funny, but when I was in, they put a patch on my chest with my name on it, and told me to obey only honorable orders. And that last verse sounds just as anti-media/Hollywood as it does anti-war..
Yeah - well I was starting to like the guy until I read this: But on Wednesday night, Simpson didn’t just rave against Nashville’s musical tastes. He raged against its political homogeneity too, taking a direct shot at President Donald Trump in the process. “He’s a fascist fucking pig,” Simpson said. “And I’m not afraid to say that because at this point, anybody that’s still supporting that guy can’t be anything in my mind other than an ignorant fucking bigot.” When one commenter asked him to give a mock acceptance speech as if he were on stage inside Bridgestone Arena, Simpson launched into a diatribe against guns, homophobia and racism. “Nobody needs a machine gun, coming from a guy who owns a few guns,” Simpson started. “What else? Gay people should have the right to be happy and live their life any way they want to and get married if they want to without fear of getting dragged down the road behind a pickup truck. Black people are probably tired of getting shot in the streets and being enslaved by the industrial prison complex. And hegemony and fascism is alive and well in Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you very much.” Probably the only thing he said that has any truth to it...
While he’s best known for being the country singer who sounds like a mix of Conway Twitty, Waylon Jennings, and Merle Haggard...
#2. To: Tooconservative (#1)
This guy is just a rocker, not really a country singer at all.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.
#3. To: Deckard (#2)
#4. To: Tooconservative (#3)
(Edited)
It was a lively performance but you'd have to take a lot of drugs to say that he sounds like Conway Twitty or Merle Haggard.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.
#5. To: Deckard, y'all (#0)
Well they cut off your hair and put a badge on your arm Strip you of your identity Tell you to keep your mouth shut boy and get in the line Meet your maker over seas
#6. To: tpaine, Tooconservative (#5)
And that last verse sounds just as anti-media/Hollywood as it does anti-war..
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.
#7. To: Deckard (#6)
---- hegemony and fascism is alive and well”
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