Lost Gem: "Hard Day On The Planet" - Loudon Wainwright lll (1986)



"Everyone has a system,
but they can't seem to win.  
Even Bob Geldolf looks
alarmingly thin."

~ Loudon Wainwright III ~


The tongue-wagging folker...Loudon Wainwright III...appears on the "Lost Gem" list again with a rather resigned look at our world's state of affairs.

Pulled from "More Love Songs" (1986)...the listener will find several songs worthy of owning.

Lost Gem:--> "Hard Day On The Planet"...has a catchy upbeat push with a rather bleak downbeat message. Amusing, in a sad understanding way.

Produced by (and featuring) legendary Richard Thompson...25 years later, the song could have been written this morning.

Have you heard this gem?


The dollar went down and the President sick.
Who's in charge, now? I don't know, take your pick.
A new disease every day and the old ones are coming back
Things are looking kind of gray, like they're gonna get black.

Don't turn on the TV, don't show me the paper.
Don't want to know he got kidnapped or why they all raped her.
I want to go on vacation till the pressure lets up.
But they keep hijacking airplanes and blowing them up.

(Refrain)
Its been a hard day on the planet.
How much is it all worth?
Its getting harder to understand it.
Things are tough all over on earth.

It's hot in December and cold in July.
When it rains it pours out of a poisonous sky.
In California the body counts just keep getting higher.
Its evil out there, man, that state is always on fire.

Everyone has a system, but they can't seem to win.
Even Bob Geldolf looks alarmingly thin.
I want to get on that shuttle get out of this place.
But there's gonna be warfare up there in outer space.

I've got clothes on my back and shoes on my feet.
A roof over my head and something to eat.
My kids are all healthy and my folks are alive.
It's amazing but sometimes I think I'll survive.

I've got all of my fingers and all of my toes.
I'm pretty well off I guess, I suppose.
So how come I feel bad so much of the time?
A man ain't an island. John Donne wasn't lying.

It's business as usual; some things never change.
It's unfair and unkind and unjust and it's strange.
We can't seem to learn; we won't seem to stop.
Maybe some explosions would close up the shop.

Maybe that would be fine: we would be off the hook.
We resolved all our problems, never mind what it took.
And it all would be over, finito, the end.
Until the survivors started up all over again.

Good stuff.

Casey Chambers
Follow Me On  FACEBOOK  &  TWITTER 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interview:-- Joan Staley (Actress - Classic Movies & Television)

Interview:--> Terry Kirkman (The Association)

Interview -- Henry Lee Summer (Singer/Songwriter)