ASSIGNMENT #1: What do you think the composer was trying to say with this song? One page only!
Joe Jackson, "Evil Empire" (1989)There's a country where no one knows
What's going on in the rest of the world
There's a country where minds are closed
With just a few asking questions
Like what do their leaders say
In sessions behind closed doors
And if this is the perfect way
Why do we need these goddamn lies
This doesn't go down too well
"we give you everything and you throw it back
Don't like it here you can go to hell
You're either with or against us . . ."
There's a country that's great and wide
It's got the biggest of everything
Try to attack it and you can't hide
Don't say that you haven't been warned
You can't hide in a gunman's mask
Or kill innocent folks and run
But if you're good at it they might ask -
Come on over to the other side
There's a country that's tired of war
There's a country that's scared inside
But the bank is open and you can draw
For guns to fight in their backyard
I could go on but what's the use
You can't fight them with songs
But think of this as just
Another tiny blow against the empire
Another blow against the evil empire
Just another blow against the evil empire