I’ve been saying to friends there’s no excuse for this. But maybe there is; humor it seems is under attack. I try to be funny at the right moments, and I have descended to this level at times. Ordinarily, I try to write songs and poetry that will last. On rare occasions I have tossed off a song taken from the daily news and I’ve had a sort of policy to sing it only once, at whatever concert it was, for humorous digression.
Visiting my great guitarist buddies, Helen Avakian and Dave Irwin, we got in a discussion about songwriting. Somehow that night I couldn’t stop thinking about the news, and the messes we’re in. I know, we’re all having these conversations these days, “Can you believe what’s happening?” No, we can’t, it challenges our very imagination to picture those figures in the shadows who are probably laughing as they think up the next theft of democracy, decency, compassion, and the list could go on. So, in the morning I presented them with this song. And I’ll admit it’s gotten a little edited, but maybe still in process although already aging.
I’ve called them “throw away” songs though I certainly don’t want to demean folks who are masters of this. It’s a good exercise, if that’s what’s dominating your brain and you start thinking “what’s next?” (it’s something I do often). Well, then, what’s next is our response to the surrounding stimuli. I guess I won’t get invited to sing it on the Colbert show, so I will just put it out there in the media access I have. Hope we can have a smile.
Straight From Hormuz April 2026 Jim Scott
Had to pawn my guitar to fill up my car.
Oh, honey have you heard the news?
We had to drop some bombs for democracy
Now oil can’t get through the Strait of Hormuz.
Forget the pedophiles and worry about war
Try to question it, you’re sure to find
A sharpie pen is worth a lot more
To a president losing his mind.
(Sing the bass line) Bomb, bomb, bomb-ba-bomb …
The world we believed in and fought to protect
Is up for sale, and that’s how
The criminal occupant of the government
Stays out of jail for now.
Crisis upon crisis, that’s on purpose,
So hard to keep up, and get things sorted
Some neighbors are taught to hate us,
Some neighbors getting deported.
The Mad Man theory has us all weary,
but some think it’ll work for a while.
Make war, attack the Pope, pretend you’re Jesus - anything
To keep attention off the Epstein files.
Fight the science with alternative facts,
Make peace by pretending you’re tough.
If you’re wondering just how did we get here –
Well, we didn’t work hard enough.
(Bomb, bomb, bomb-ba-bomb …)
What will we do? What will we do?
Well there’s a simple answer, if you ask me.
We got a little less than half a year
To save the Earth and democracy.
Let’s pray for the President, wish him a nice retirement,
And hope for justice to prevail.
It seems rape and murder and illegal wars
Are not enough to put you in jail.
Got to turn out the vote, speak truth to power,
Make good political mayhem
But while we’re marching and chanting and expressing ourselves
Folks drive by, and say “That’s them.”
The criminals and liars may be beyond reach
Let’s not waste time discussin’ them
We’ve got to save some souls who believe the lies
Can’t let this become “Us ‘n them.”
Bomb, bomb, bomb-ba-bomb
No time for complacency, no time for sarcasm,
No time for hesitation, because --
Diplomacy doesn’t work, never works, doesn’t work,
Doesn’t work - until it does.
Got to vote, and it might get harder, don’t give in to fear,
And it’s important to remember
You can support with your time and money,
The folks who’ve worked for 4 years
To bring us that election in November.
