Talkin' Bomb Shelter Blues

Steal This Song

Our "leaders" and our craven media are once again trying to sell us on the idea of nuclear war as a do-able thing. This has happened before. Below are the lyrics to "Talkin' Bomb Shelters Blues", a song I wrote in the early 80s when the Reagan people (every bit as crazy and murderous as the Trump team) were trying to sell us on the idea of "refurbishing" our bomb shelters as a first step down the mental rathole of accepting the idea of nuclear war. 


Well I picked up a paper the other day
and was surprised to see the front page say
our bomb shelters were under stashed
in the event of a nuclear holocaust.

Our concerned president was underway
to try and get us citizens to pay
for a years supply of canned air and grits
so we'll be prepared for when the big one hits.
(y'know, everything that makes life worthwhile, canned asparagus, DVDs, condums…)

I remember bomb shelters from long ago
when folks were spendin' lots of dough
diggin' holes in their backyards and fillin' 'em with cement
and callin' 'em security, an investment!
(They'd take out loans on 'em, which is mighty strange when you think about it a certain way, but what's stranger was the banks would give 'em to 'em!)

Well, I put down that paper and I felt sad
it took a little while and I got mad
about all the jive that I have heard
'bout how the world has had it, so give it the bird.

There's Mister Big saying' bigger is better
and the bigger the big, well the better the better
and if we gotta fight big to get the better
lets all get fried in the glorious together!
(we'll make the whole world one big strip mine. Then we'll all be rich…right?)

And there's plenty of Doomsday tales for you
some comet's gonna split the Earth right in two
California's gonna shake of right about Texas
or the planets lining up for a big Solar Plexis.

And theres all those religions goin' round
circling' down on the ol' common ground
Say the end is comin' and it's comin' fast
so forget this world, save your spirit's ass.

But wait a minute…

Have you seen the sky turn grey and then turn blue?
Have you listened to the rivers and the mountains, too?
Don't you think there's something bigger here than me and you
tryin' to tell us get together before it's through?

And if they push the button like the sayin' goes
and the world turns on like a big light bulb
and you're down in some hole with no night or day
What the hell you want to live for anyway?
(sex?!)

So when you're talkin' bomb shelters, you're talkin' defeat
when you fix 'em up you can have my seat
I'll be up here tryin' to make ends meet
not down in some hole playin' hide and seek.
(I ha….ate canned asparagus!!!)

Any questions?