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Hiroshima Nagasaki Russian Roulette

from Human Interesting by Jim Page

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about

Produced by Micheal O Domhnaill
Words and music by Jim Page

Jim Page: vocals and guitar
Micheal O Domhnaill: keyboard and whistle
Stan Woods: vibra band

Portland, OR 1985

lyrics

They dropped the bomb in forty-five to end the world war
No one had ever seen such a terrible sight before
And the world watched with eyes wide to see where it would lead
as the politics of power passed around the seed
It was a time to remember that we never can forget
They were playin' Hiroshima-Nagasaki Russian Roulette

They arose like the saviors of our modern human race
with radiation halos that hung above their face
with the key to the sure cure and treatment of our ills
a hot shot of cobalt and a pocket full of pills
Speaking always of the enemy who lurked across the seas
while moving in among us like a carrier disease

Down deep inside the bunkers of the concrete and lead
Einstein's disciples working steadily ahead
Building heavy metal power plants to fire the city lights
and all you hear is the underground, humming in the night
And the walls of tight security circle all around
where they spill out all the poison and they bury it in the ground

Holed up in the harbors, hidden secretly away
the warheads and the submarines await to make their play
And the military masterminds improve on their designs
while the soldiers get all doped up and stumble through the lines
And the leaks in the water get carried by the tide
They call it National Security, I call it attempted homicide

Governors and statesmen on congressional pay
quick to please the hand that feeds, they are careful what they say
They call out experts to assure us and to wave their magic wands
this is the power of the future, and the future marches on
And they gather up their favors and political gains
while the spills fill the rivers and settle in the plains

I know the minds behind them, they are riddled full of holes
They are not to be trusted with their hands at the controls
Their eyesight is twisted with the glory of their careers
and the heaped praise of flattery is music to their ears
And to listen to them talk about how it hasn't happened yet
is like playin' Hiroshima-Nagasaki Russian Roulette

Those who brought the deaths of millions, for it was their stock in trade
they are afflicted with the fallout that they themselves have made
they have sealed their own inevitable doom, and it will surely come
and not even the moons of Jupiter will be far enough away to run
when the world that they've assaulted begins to turn around
and the unavoidable gravity pulls them to the ground

credits

from Human Interesting, released June 7, 2002

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Jim Page Seattle, Washington

Named by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as “One Of The 50 Most Influential Musicians In Seattle History.” Originally from California Page has called Seattle and the Pacific Northwest “home” since 1971. Songs covered by The Doobie Brothers, Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, Michael Hedges, and Roy Bailey. Utah Phillips: “If you’re ever going to get the message, this is the messenger to get it from.” ... more

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