Two Twin Towers (spoken word-ish)
Let me tell you a tale of treason,
A reason, if you will, to kill:
Two towers fell, right?
Important that we fight, alright, but still,
Why dwell? It’s cuz the media makes money with every pill,
With every shill the media mills out
More of the masses become devout - devout haters,
Masturbaters jerking off with every purchase,
Of every flag, draping the shit over their shoulders,
Armchair soldiers in red, white and blue drag,
It’s sad how glad they are to see Amerikkka like this,
It's sad that hicks listen so closely to shit spit by media outlets,
Rednecks made pets to a propaganda machine,
I bet you never even seen Uganda or Sudan,
Cause the TV news chooses the shit you see,
And why would they show you a land without oil,
And the machete genocide going on on that soil,
When Iraqi coverage pays the most?
While brown skin slits brown throats near African coasts,
Brown bodies drown and float near home,
No plan from majorities where minorities roam,
But don’t worry yourself when you got that dope car,
Tryin to be a rock star writin rhymes through rough times
without thinkin too far - into the future,
Go find your chemical suture, your weed,
Don’t pay heed to me or my mind’s frustration,
Go play your playstation while freedom’s lost,
At freedom’s cost, after slaves slaved in plantations,
And forefathers forged a new nation, and for what?
For you to sit with eyes shut while throats get cut.
(2003)
(written for a fake rapper profile on a rap battle website after 911 - the fake rapper wasn't white, never gonna write white rap)
When I saw the title "Two Twin Towers", the first thing that came to mind was the second book in Lord of the Rings series "The Two Towers". From first impression, I gathered that this rapper was angered by human corruption, and the lyrics represented examples of it. I tried to make sense of the title with the lyrics, so I considered that perhaps society needs more inspiration from the "Lord of the Rings" books, which in essence teaches the reader about character values such as perseverance, commitment, overcoming obstacles and hardship, and refusing to be corrupted by the Ring. Then I realized that the title was about the Twin Towers, or perhaps a play on words about both the Tolkien book and the 9/11 event. That's when I realized why the rapper said "a reason, if you will, to kill". The song/poem is giving reasons why America was attacked by religious terrorists/extremists.
ReplyDeleteBut is it right to "kill" corruption? The pleasures described in this poem--such as masturbation, drugs, video games, and cars--are passions that meet the basic human need of happiness. In Philosophy of Ethics classes, I learned a bit about the meaning of happiness. What is generally understood by a handful of philosophers (I'm thinking John Stuart Mill & Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism are included, if I recall correctly) is that there are two levels of happiness: the one that meets our basic pleasures and passions of a physical sensation, and the one that sustains contentment and quality of living characterized by what we understand to be "virtuous behavior". Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics describes these two levels of happiness, with the first level being the passions and the second level being the Eleven Moral Virtues: Courage, Moderation, Liberality, Magnificence, Greatness of Soul, Ambition, Gentleness, Friendliness, Truthfulness, Wittiness, and Justice. In my opinion, corruption stems from violating any of the virtues listed. Perhaps Americans are corrupt in their lavish indulgences, and perhaps religious extremists are corrupt in their need to control others. I see Americans violating the virtue of Moderation, while I see extremists violating Liberality. Perhaps both violate Justice. But to loop back to the question about if it's right to kill: clearly it's not supposed to be, which is preached as moral law in many religions. And does it make the rapper angry that this moral law has been violated? I think so. But I also think this rapper would ease his anger through the virtue of Wittiness and accept indulging in the pleasures described, within Moderation of course.