Written over 30 years ago, but there's nothing quite as timeless as liberal guilt. From Gold Turkey: National Lampoon Radio Hour/Greatest Hits:
I wish I was a Negro
With lots of Negro songs
So I could stay true to my ethnic roots
And still play rock 'n' roll
If I was a funky Negro
Eating soul food barbeques
I wouldn't have to sing
The middle-class liberal well-intentioned blues
Intentioned blues
Intentioned blues . . .
I wish I was an Indian
A grown-up Sioux papoose
So when I get drunk on a beer and a half
I'd have a good excuse
I'd be a noble savage
Wouldn't ever wear no shoes
And I wouldn't have to sing
The middle-class liberal well-intentioned blues
Intentioned blues
Intentioned blues . . .
I wish I was a Wetback
On strike in a lettuce patch
Or a slant-eyed peasant with Viet Cong
Stashed underneath my thatch
I only ever cross a picket line
To pay my union dues
To keep on singing
The middle-class liberal well-intentioned blues
Intentioned blues
Intentioned blues . . .
But I am not a Negro (c'mon!)
Not a Red Man nor a Mex (join me kids!)
I'm a member of the oppressing color
Language, age, and sex
I sympathize with the Arab cause
I feel for the put-upon Jews
And I keep singing
The middle-class liberal
Humanitarian
Meaningful dialogue
We are all responsible
Well-intentioned blues
Intentioned blues
Intentioned blues . . .
Proof for the younger kids that National Lampoon at one time had a true satirical viewpoint. That sounds like the work of Christopher Guest, et al - also most memorably responsible for the show Lemmings, the most vicious send-up of Woodstock and hippies and self-righteous Boomy Baber musicfests ever seen.
Just as a sample, the original stage presentation had a pitch-perfect parody of Joan Baez singing Pull Those Triggers, Niggers (we're with you all the way; We're fighting for your freedom just across the bay.) Baez, in the tradition of Pete Seeger and speaking Truth to Power, sued 'em and got the number removed from the show and all subsequent recordings.
Posted by: Rob De Witt at January 30, 2014 11:22 AMNever saw this back in my Nat-Lamp reading days. Genius and just as appropriate now as it was then.
Posted by: Jack at January 30, 2014 11:27 AMThat's Guest on guitar and vocals, all right. A long and productive career for the Baron.
Posted by: Velociman at January 30, 2014 2:10 PMMakes me think of Lou Reed's I Wanna be Black. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kUVk2Otrnw
Posted by: Harry at January 30, 2014 4:14 PMHere ya go.
Alice Playten (I think), but you'd never know it....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NafrFdBXfrk
The NatLamp gang nailing the limousine libs, circa 1973.
Posted by: Rob De Witt at January 30, 2014 5:25 PMThat is, Diana Reed.
http://illfolks.blogspot.com/2007/06/sacrilege-6-joan-baez-pull-triggers.html
Posted by: Rob De Witt at January 30, 2014 5:30 PMIt's a Mighty Wind
Posted by: Cletus Socrates at January 31, 2014 5:53 PMSo whenever I see one of those, I always want to know, "Who's Judas Iscariot?"
Posted by: John A. Fleming at January 31, 2014 9:09 PMThe Folk Song Army
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yygMhtNQJ9M
Posted by: Assistant Village Idiot at February 1, 2014 6:09 PM
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