A FACADE OF PLASTIC PIETY – Parody of “Twist in My Sobriety”

A FACADE OF PLASTIC PIETY: This parody is based on the beautifully haunting song by Tanita Tikaram titled “Twist in My Sobriety, and I’ve provided her Official Video on this page as well. US sanctions have killed more children than all the nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and biological weapons combined. Ponder that as elections approach.

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LYRICS to FACADE OF PLASTIC PIETY

All those children that sanctions kill
Sanctions launched from here
Mainstream News said we sent them aid
So now our conscience is clearHumanitarian, lies beneath the veneer
So many countries we forced to bow
And simply wiped away
I know they wished they could be so willed
To never do what we say
The Super-Power
Demanding all to obey

Look, your labels are just holograms
Look, your greed puts blood upon your hands
From your hands you know you’ll never see
The slightest shred of a democracy
A facade of plastic piety.
A facade of plastic piety.

Always with the same recipe
Using labels to create the fight
Layered over with hypocrisy
And war’s insatiable appetite

I don’t care about their different thoughts
Different thoughts are good for me
Up in arms and chaste and whole
All God’s children took the toll

Look, your labels are just holograms
Look, your greed puts blood upon your hands
From your hands you know you’ll never see
The slightest shred of a democracy
A facade of plastic piety.
A facade of plastic piety.

Some are beautiful and some are damned
US sanctions wield a heavy hand
A hand in profit and a hand in death
Death’s a field of baby’s breathDeath’s a field of baby’s breath

Look, your labels are just holograms
Look, your greed puts blood upon your hands
From your hands you know you’ll never see
The slightest shred of democracy
A facade of plastic piety.

THE ORIGINAL SONG: Twist in My Sobriety by Tanita Tikaram

“Twist in My Sobriety” is a song written and recorded by Tanita Tikaram. Released as a single in 1988 from her debut album, Ancient Heart, it was Tikaram’s biggest international success, achieving top 10 placings in several European countries.

The first line of the song, “All God’s children need traveling shoes,” is the title of a book by writer/poet Maya Angelou.

Tikaram has offered different views on the song’s meaning, but said it’s mostly about the particular relationship with the world one feels when entering adulthood. “The song is really about not understanding – when you’re 18, you’ve got a very particular emotional relationship with the world, you feel very isolated, and everybody else is so distant and cold. And I think I was singing about not feeling anything or not being moved by things around. I think this is a strong feeling when you’re just after adolescence.”

Malcolm Messiter plays the oboe on the song, which is featured prominently on the song’s chorus, as well as being used on instrumental solos throughout the song. A rarity on pop songs, the use of the oboe was favourably remarked by several reviewers, citing that it made the song unique and distinct from other charts hits of the time.

In 2001, the song appeared on the soundtrack of the film Bandits.

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