Freedom of speech:
Democracy is the freedom to say you don’t like democracy, yeah
Freedom of the press:
What the papers say is absolutely right and everybody else is just fascist racist, yeah
Freedom of religion:
Can’t I even pray in peace without somebody screaming about black-hatted zealots?
Freedom to criticize:
But you gotta know where to draw the line between earnest opposition and just plain being jealous
It’s a democracy
Yeah, it’s a free country
Liberty and freedom
That’s what it’s all about
It’s a democracy
Justice and equality
We can’t do without
In our society
Equal opportunity:
Just try to get a job if you didn’t join the forced labor union, yeah
Equal representation:
Let the lefties in and keep the righties out, yeah
Equality in housing:
And pay three times the price if you don’t toe the party line
Equal rights for all:
Raise hell about your sex life and just see where you’ll wind up in line
They’re yelling FIRE! In a crowded theater
They’re putting the wrong people in jail
When our soldiers are fighting, they call ‘em imperialists
Ain’t it a wonder the operation failed?!?
The right to peaceable assembly:
I’m stuck in the middle and both sides are throwing stones, yeah
The right to bear arms:
But if I’m ever caught using them it’s twenty five to life, yeah
The right to petition:
I fill out a form and it goes from office to office and nothing gets done
The right to remain silent:
Of all the rights I have I think that’s the best one
Speak your piece as much as you want
But you gotta let me have just as much say
Expression from all without harassment or taunts
It’s the only way to go in this democratic way
It’s a democracy
Yeah it’s a free country
Liberty and freedom
That’s what it’s all about
It’s a democracy
Justice and equality
We can’t do without
In our society
©2023 The Hesh Inc.
Bet you had no idea I've written political songs! I'm generally not a political songwriter but sometimes, when you're surrounded by the bullshit, there's no other way to blow off steam than to write a song about it.
This song is more about Israeli democracy rather than US democracy, although there is a bit of the American variant thrown in; some of the lines can really apply to both countries. And political correctness is a scourge common to both countries.
I wrote it in 1986, while I was doing my stint in the IDF. What was actually going on at the time politically didn't have a direct bearing on what I was writing; it wasn't a general-election year. But every day I'd read about some shenanigans or others that would make my blood pressure rise.
Musically, it has a groove similar to Funkadelic's "One Nation Under a Groove" and the J. Geils Band's "Flamethrower." Never recorded.