Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes At Others Vol. 4

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes At Others Vol. 4

I feel like I've almost exhausted the cream of the crop of songwriters directing their bile at one another.  Starting with this volume, the doorway to inclusion has been widened to include artists taking a swipe at corporations, the media, Hollywood, and the goverment (& other clowns).  While I don't feel Vol. 4 is where the series jumps the shark, it may have sideswiped it!

Punk Rock Girl by The Dead Milkmen takes swipes at The Beach Boys, California Dreamin’, and any record store that doesn’t carry Mojo Nixon!  Clowns Are Experts (At Making Us Laugh) by The Vandals points out that Ronald McDonald has never made anyone laugh.  The press take it on the chin in Sunday Papers - Joe Jackson, as they do in Crackpot History And The Right To Lie - Adam Ant.  The press get sullied here, to--but a cabdriver inspired the song; Your Early Stuff - Pet Shop Boys.  Jane was always the most empathic of The Go-Go’s; Goodbye Cruel World - Jane Wiedlin.  Lots of bands lash out at their record company, and Chrysalis Records gets a pin stuck in them in Procol Harem’s Butterfly Boys.  Disgust with the average American’s myopic view of Buddhism lead to Bodhisattva (Live) - Steely Dan.  Not above attacking his label with Mercury Poisoning, here Gram bitches that There's Nothing On The Radio - Graham Parker & The Figgs.  FTN (Fuck Ted Nugent) - Goldfinger needs no explanation.  If you don’t want to be crushed by the police state, you’d better Know Your Rights - The Clash.  Another dim view of fame & the media is expressed in Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath.  “Video games train our kids for war” in Open Your Eyes - Lords Of The New Church, and that was way before Grand Theft Auto!  Killing nurses leads to songs like Richard Speck by The Gun Club.  In Cunts On Roads (to the tune of Country Roads) - Howling Willie Cunt states “A funeral home is the place you belong.”  Play It All Night Long by Warren Zevon was suggested in the comments section, but I agree it’s probably an indictment of The South more than an attack on “that dead band.”  Graham Nash addressed David Crosby’s addiction in Crosby Stills & Nash's Wasted On The Way.  “Mr. DJ, won’t you please play” A Real Country Song - Dale Watson.  Familiar pride isn’ the only thing driving; If You Don't Like Hank Williams by Hank Williams Jr.  This song is a tongue-in cheek riposte to those in the music industry that doubted the band in their early days: In One Ear - Cage The Elephant & later naysayers using words like “comeback” lead to Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J.  Seth MacFarlane drags William Shatner into this mean-spirited ditty that lists the actresses who routinely appear topless—especially Kate Winslet: We Saw Your Boobs! - Stinky