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I'm A Racist
Yeah i'm a racist I like fast cars Oh i'm a racist I like drivin' hard Round 'n round all left turns Pedal to the metal,just watch that rubber burn
Yeah i'm a racist I like fast women Oh i'm a racist I'm right there with 'em Round 'n round we take our turn I practice safe sex,just smell that rubber burn
Yeah i'm a racist Oh i'm a racist Movin' too fast to rust Yeah i'm a racist Oh i'm a racist Buddy you can eat my dust
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Clever play on words Rockin..and some good fun thrown in ...the burning rubber, for example....not sure though how the audience will react. There may be a danger that someone won't appreciate the cleverness and denounce the use of the racist word, or simply think you're stupid for using it.
En d'autre mots, this one may be too clever for its own good. Then again, the acid test is the audience. So experiment!
If writing ever becomes work I think I'm going to have to stop
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say John,thanx for droppin' in and your comments.Yeah i thought i'd use a play on words so i can fool a few folks that prob was expecting something else.
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Not what I expected, but as said, a clever play on words but could still be taken wrong at points, jmho Kimberly
*Always open to collaborations on my lyrics.. with singers and musicians, but PLEASE contact me before putting work into one--in case someone else has it..thanks!!** BMI Member All Rights Reserved http://www.littleikepublishing.com Email for Song Business Only littleikeproductions@hotmail.com
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LOL Okay this is funny!
Yeah i'm a racist I like fast cars Oh i'm a racist I like drivin' hard Round 'n round all left turns Pedal to the metal,WATCHIN' rubber burn
I made a little change, kos, very cute idea indeed!
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It is quite clever but would be best employed only with an audience that knows you're definitely not a racist (I'll just assume that's the case for now).
I would be wary of this particular pun, though, because it could be perceived as belittling the importance of racism. Bear in mind that racism is a phenomenon that causes discrimination, persecution and murder. It's not a joke to many people. That doesn't mean you can't use humour in a song about racism, but who is it you want to mock - the victims or the perpetrators? I'm sure that's not your intention, but the lyric here could be perceived as seeking to satirise the victims or those who express concern about those victims.
Randy Newman plays with words in this way, and toys with our expectations. He also sometimes adopts the character of people whose attitudes he's criticising or mocking. But he does that to make a point against prejudices - not to make them seem trivial.
There are probably quite a few puns around the word 'genocide' that you could use. Ones that play on the 'geno' part of that word and then take it somewhere else. But would you do that?
Or a song punning with the first half of the word 'paedophile' in a similar way. Those first two syllables form part of many other words too, with completely different meanings - eg, paediatrician, pedometer, etc - but somehow I bet you'd avoid that one. ;-)
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hey Steve,thanx for your input on this one.Just a play with words,if anyone can't figure that out then they're a complete dumbazz.WOW!I'm like Randy Newman,i'm like Randy Newman!Steve,i write all kinds of stuff wether i lived it or dreamed it,there are lots i've written i will not post on here because people would get the wrong image of me for sure.i just write whatever and that's it.
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Hiya Rockin -- I have to confess I kinda didn't want to click in - not that I thought you WERE really racist at all BUT that cringing feeling of what on earth is this about.... so I'm more with Steve on this one, ALTHOUGH it's very clever and well-written. And YES it's obvious it's a play with words, it's just... is that how you wanna play and are you sure. I'd just go with "Racer" - but...... then you lose your wordplay sorta, mostly, nearly. It's all your call-- but it IS as Steve said, something that really hurts people, and many of us who "live white" don't comphrehend the pain and injustice day by day that others go through-- just in how the white "other" looks at you in the store or talks to you at the counter. It is not dead as some would want to believe. Sadly. I've met, I don't know how many people who don't *think* they're racist and will say so--then you get talking to them and boy the stuff that falls out of mouths, incorrect assumptions etc., can be quite alarming. Just sayin'. I'm 1/4 Mexican - doesn't show on the surface - and I was raised with stories of what my grandmother went through in the 30's. And told not to tell people I was of "Hispanic" origin at all, IE, in other words/places that's called "passing for white." I got tired of that as an adult and tell everyone about my Mexican grandma. And I wish I was more tan. Urgh. Anyway -- not knocking ya' - this is a clever write, but the title made me cringe. Too many friends who've been hurt by it. Linda
Last edited by Linda Adams; 10/01/10 08:05 PM.
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I have to confess I kinda didn't want to click in - not that I thought you WERE really racist at all BUT that cringing feeling of what on earth is this about.... so I'm more with Steve on this one, ALTHOUGH it's very clever and well-written. And YES it's obvious it's a play with words, it's just... is that how you wanna play and are you sure. Unfortunately, I feel that if you were to market-test this song to a range of audiences, it would be the KKK focus group where you got the most applause. That's because it comes across as belittling racism and the seriousness of being a racist. It appears to mock the racist label and thereby potentially trivalises it in those situations where the term is warranted. I'm not saying that was your intention at all. I'm sure it wasn't. And it's a clever play on words, no doubt about it. But those who regard racism as 'natural', justifiable or nothing much to worry about are the people who would enjoy it most of all. They might well regard it as a potential anthem against so-called 'political correctness' - the label that some like to throw at anything that challenges prejudice. And are those the sort of gigs you want to get? However, it's possible that an additional verse or chorus disassociating yourself from actual racism and/or acknowledging its seriousness might make a difference and could change perceptions. That might be worth trying out.
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it's too bad ya feel that way Linda,you've already read what i said to Steve so let's leave it at that.Who said i was white anyway?Are you actually saying that all racist are white?Lets move on before i draw the prejudice out of you.
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i just write whatever and that's it. A great talent and one I envy. But I don't think you can divorce art from society. Artistic works can have social consequences. They can reinforce people's prejudices or they can challenge them.
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We'll agree to disagree then - and no, I didn't presume/assume you were white either, actually - in all honesty I did not; yes, racism can exist in any demographic; it's just that the predominant oppressive form of racism in the USA is white vs. "other." (By oppressive I mean, the format which causes the most public pain and suffering of others, not that other examples of racism don't also cause suffering, but that this one currently holds the most power to destroy. Nazi anti-Semitic racism destroyed perhaps the most in all written history, though other examples of racially-based genocide also exist. But currently: in the US: white-vs-"other" is the one in greatest need of being taken out and shot.)
Anyway, apologies for any offense I have caused you with my thoughts & opinions here; and we'll still get along, all right?
Thanks - Linda
Last edited by Linda Adams; 10/20/10 07:32 PM.
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hey Linda,thanx for your comments and everything's cool with you and i.Thanx for your time and sugs!
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Only someone with no concept of the perils faced by REAL victims of racism would write something so ill conceived. The cleverness here doesn't rise above 7th grade cluelessness about the world. And even if you removed the word and concept the rest of the song is poorly written.
It's hard to treat you like a real person Rockin_M because you go by an equally uninspired anonymous handle. But in this case it's the only smart thing you've done here.
My advice is to change the title to something else, remove the word racist from every line and then let this poor effort sink into oblivion.
Sorry to be harsh, but after reading responses that commended this effort I had to speak out. Those of you who simply accepted this in a positive way or suggested it had merit need to take a serious step back as well and ask yourself what in the world you were thinking.
Racism comes in all colors as do those who aid and assist it by looking the other way or patting it on the back. What's next? A pun about the holocaust? Can someone use humor to expose racism? Sure, but this doesn't attempt to nor do I see evidence of a talent great enough to pull it off if he tried. How about learning the skill of SELF editing and SELF censorship? No one on earth needs to post every bad idea they have on a public message board.
Brian
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney "It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney "Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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thanks for your comments also Brian.My name is Michael LeBlanc and i'm not hiding behind my email or anything else from no one.You and some others did not like the song,that's fine,i don't mind.I feel i have written some pretty goods ones among the many calibers of lyricist here.It's just too bad you picked a bad lyric [to some]to be your first critique on any of my lyrics.Hasn't any of my others pleased you?Have you read any of them?But this song remains!Thanks for droppin' in,Michael LeBlanc
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thanks for your comments also Brian.My name is Michael LeBlanc and i'm not hiding behind my email or anything else from no one.You and some others did not like the song,that's fine,i don't mind.I feel i have written some pretty goods ones among the many calibers of lyricist here.It's just too bad you picked a bad lyric [to some]to be your first critique on any of my lyrics.Hasn't any of my others pleased you?Have you read any of them?But this song remains!Thanks for droppin' in,Michael LeBlanc It's not simply a case of "others did not like the song, that's fine, I don't mind". Those who've criticised this lyric have been trying to tell you, some more bluntly than others, that its flaws are a good deal more serious than that. The lyric belittles racism. Not in a way that demonstrates the ridiculousness of racism - which is what Randy Newman would do and has done - but rather to ridicule the notion that racism exists. Now you took my previous mention of Randy Newman to mean I was saying that you were "like Randy Newman". That was the message you wanted to hear but it isn't what I wrote. I contrasted Newman's style with yours to show that his songwriting style was the opposite of this one. Newman uses humour to mock and undermine prejudice, not to reinforce it. And his songs demonstrate empathy with others and their concerns. However, you're just dismissing those concerns as mere personal preferences expressed by people who are 'dumbazzes'.
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steve steve steve,other than using the word racist as a play with words,i don't see any racist remarks in this song.There seems to be a few people here who expressed racism more than i would have ever thought of but i guess it takes one to know one. I guess this is more a sheeple board where if you don't write by the sheperds rule,you don't belong.Like the little boy who gets mad and takes his football away and goes home because other kids aint playin' fair.I'm no one sheep,i'm my own person.If you don't like a certain lyric,go read the next one.It's just like a song on the radio,if you don't like it,turn the station,pretty simple.This is far from a racist song that'll ever be.So the word "racist" falls in the same catogory as [naughty word removed]?Please send me a list of words that i can not put in my lyrics so i won't offend anyone here!Peace and love,Michael LeBlanc
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Michael, you appear to be reading the words people write without appreciating the content, whether it comes to your own words (the lyric) or the responses you've received.
No-one here has suggested that 'racist' is a word you shouldn't use in a song. I've got songs that include that word. My songs, however, don't seek to diminish the importance of racism, they don't mock its victims.
Individual words have little meaning in isolation. It's the sentences they're in and the meaning, be it intentional or unwitting, that matters - not the individual words.
As Brian Austin Whitney has already commented: "Only someone with no concept of the perils faced by REAL victims of racism would write something so ill conceived."
He was taking a charitable view, though, because the other sort of person who'd write something so ill-conceived would be someone who's fully aware of its impact but simply doesn't care.
Like I said in a previous post, the gigs where you'd get most laughs for the humour of this lyric would be during the evening entertainment at KKK conventions and suchlike. If that's your chosen peer group, then I have to congratulate you on the lyric. In those terms, it's absolutely excellent and, for that market, it's a number one hit.
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I stand by my original assessment that it may be too clever for it's own good, but that the acid test is the audience. And for what it's worth, there's not a racist remark in this, and the word racist is simply misused.
This is done in lots of lyrics and dialogue and writing, so what's the big deal? Until Carlin did his bit in those words you can't say on television, America's censors were horrified by them...as they were with double beds and hearing toilets flush.
That not everyone is willing to appreciate this experiment is fine, but Brian, for you to slam this lyric and those who saw it differently from you is not right. I believe you over reacted here.
Michael, to you I'll say keep stretching and learning and make lots of mistakes. You'll be better for it.
If writing ever becomes work I think I'm going to have to stop
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Racism is a serious issue because we have been taught by our so-called leaders that we are racists, and that we must be on constant lookout for all forms of it, and that this subject should strike fear in all of us to the point where we are unable to have intelligent and honest discourse about our obvious differences. It is pathetic the way people buy into the fear, and equally pathetic that we are all turning into slaves because we can't break free from economic oppression, regardless of skin color.
To criticize someone who is only trying to show you another way to break free from the constraints of a particular word or idea is to enslave one's self to only the known...or oppressively drummed-in preconceptions of that word. This writer is having a bit of fun, which most here understand. Those who harbor internal fear, those who by their misguided indoctrination via oppressors have tried foolishly to suggest this is a bad work are outwardly reflecting their own inward insecurities. God bless one and all. Grow up.
JD
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I’m A Racist
Before you go and label me I’d like to label myself—here goes Being a man of conscience I thought you’d like to know
I’m a racist I’m for the whole human race I hope one day we take this planet over And do away with hate
Look down your nose if you like Admittedly I have issues I’m only another human Just another beautiful human Getting’ screwed
Getting’ screwed just like you
I’m a racist I’m for the whole human race I hope one day we take this planet over And do away with hate
Racism is so everywhere you can’t legislate it away So inevitable you see it every day Can’t escape Can’t escape Try as you might we’re glued to fate What can I say—it’s written all over my face
I’m a racist I’m for the whole human race I hope one day we take this planet over And do away with hate
I’m a racist I’m for the whole human race I hope one day we take this planet over And do away with hate
(C) 2010 JD Stenzel All Rights Reserved
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Ohhhhh,that's how ya do it!A cool write JD indeed.Thanx!
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Ironically JD, you've made my point via your protest. If you are going to use that word, then use it in context and make a statement that is relevent to the word. Whether people like or dislike your lyric, it's clear you were making a statement in context of the topic and the word, and not making light of it.
In the first lyric, the opposite was true. A very poor attempt at humor which was neither clever, in context nor in good taste. And if he was going for poor taste to start with, the gratuitous use of that word is offensive and serves no purpose beyond offending. It's the same as when someone makes a gratuitous attempt to offend people not for art or even political statement, but merely for the purpose of offending. That is what I have a problem with. In addition, the lyric demonstrated a complete void of talent or artistic merit. Gratuitous crap for it's own sake is a waste of our time and frankly I am not interested in supplying a place for someone to artistically masturbate here. He should do it in his own space and let those of us who want to be a positive part of a community get on with life.
Your lyric, though it has some issues, has little in common with the original. You did an excellent job of illustrated my point to start with. Thanks.
Brian
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney "It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney "Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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I agree with Brian here.
Whilst I don't necessarily share all of its worldview expressed in JD's lyric (I'm unlikely to find many people on JPF who do share my worldview), it makes a serious point and does it well. It plays with the word 'racist' but uses it in a way that does actually have a point.
However, Michael's lyric didn't do that. It trivialised racism.
That said, I don't think we need to get into condemnations of Michael's entire artistic output or indeed his character in general.
As they say: criticise actions, not the person; discuss behavior and action, not character.
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