In this episode I talk about one of the songs that inspired me to do this podcast. Johnny Horton’s career was cut short, maybe due to powdering alligators behinds… listen and you will learn about the German Battleship Bismarck.

Sink the Bismarck by Johnny Horton

Lyrics

In May of 1941 the war had just begun
The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns
The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea
On her decks were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees

And

Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood
And every British seaman, he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismarck the terror of the sea
Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees

We’ll find the German battleship that’s makin’ such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck ‘cause the world depends on us
Yeah hit the decks a runnin’ boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down

And

The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day
The Bismarck started firing fifteen miles away
“We gotta sink the Bismarck!” was the battle sound
But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down

And

For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail
Churchill told the people: “put every ship asail
Cause somewhere on that ocean, I know she’s gotta be
We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea!”

And

The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the morning sun
Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
The Admiral of the British fleet said turn those bows around
We found that German battleship and we’re gonna cut her down

The British guns were aimed and the shells were coming fast
The first shell hit the Bismarck they knew she couldn’t last
That mighty German battleship is just a memory
“Sink the Bismarck!” was the battle cry that shook the seven seas

And finally…

We found that German battleship was makin’ such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismark cause the world depends on us
We hit the decks a-runnin’ and we spun those guns around
We found the mighty Bismark and then we cut her down

Links

Bismarck

Johnny Horton

Johnny Horton’s Greatest Hits

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Today I talk about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii and phalluses. Be prepared.

Cities in Dust from Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Lyrics

Water was running, children were running You were running out of time Under the mountain, a golden fountain Were you praying at the Lares shrine?

And

Hot and burning in your nostrils Pouring down your gaping mouth Your molten bodies, blanket of cinders caught in the throes, and

Whoa oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend Oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend Oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend Oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend

And

We found you hiding, we found you lying Choking on the dirt and sand Your former glories, and all the stories Dragged and washed with eager hands

Links

Pompeii

Lares

Pompeii: Archaeologists unveil ceremonial chariot discovery

Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

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This episode we are talking about Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and the damage it caused.

China by Joan Baez.

Lyrics

In the month of May, in the glory of the day Came the descendants of a hundred flowers And their fight it did begin with the aging Mandarin And they fought with an extraordinary power Everyone was smiling, their hearts were one In Tiananmen Square

And…

In the month of June, in the darkness of the moon Went the descendants of a hundred flowers And time may never tell how many of them fell Like the petals of a rose in some satanic shower Everyone was weeping in all of China And Tiananmen Square

And…

And even the moon on the fourth day of June Hid her face and did not see Black sun rising over Tiananmen Square

Links

Hundred Flowers Campaign

Hu Yaobang

Tiananmen Square Protests

Thanks for listening

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This is the end… beautiful friend… the end… my only friend… the end… at least of this season. Season 1 is over.

Today I talk about Sneetches, Right Guard, the Republic of Biafra, and Pol Pot. Enjoy…

Holiday in Cambodia by The Dead Kennedys.

Lyrics

So, you’ve been to school for a year or two And you know you’ve seen it all In daddy’s car, thinkin’ you’ll go far Back east, your type don’t crawl

Play ethnicity jazz to parade your snazz On your five-grand stereo Braggin’ that you know how the niggers feel cold And the slums got so much soul

It’s time to taste what you most fear Right Guard will not help you here Brace yourself, my dear Brace yourself, my dear

It’s a holiday in Cambodia It’s tough, kid, but it’s life It’s a holiday in Cambodia Don’t forget to pack a wife

You’re a star-belly sneetch, you suck like a leech You want everyone to act like you Kiss ass while you bitch so you can get rich But your boss gets richer off you

Well, you’ll work harder with a gun in your back For a bowl of rice a day Slave for soldiers till you starve Then your head is skewered on a stake

It’s a holiday in Cambodia Where people dress in black A holiday in Cambodia Where you’ll kiss ass or crack

Links

The Doors - The End

The Republic of Biafra

Khmer Rouge

Pol Pot

Thanks for listening…

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Today we are talking about a legendary singer/songwriter and a legendary human being. We are talking about the person that was the inspiration for the beginning lines of this very podcast that you hear every week and that you just heard. It is from his iconic line, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”.

Homework

The Ballad of Ira Hayes by Johnny Cash is off his album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.

Lyrics Discussed

Gather round me people there’s a story I would tell
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indian
A proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land
Down the ditches for a thousand years
The water grew Ira’s peoples’ crops
Until the white man stole the water rights
And the sparkling water stopped
Now Ira’s folks were hungry
And their land grew crops of weeds
When war came, Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man’s greed

And

There they battled up Iwo Jima’s hill
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again

And when the fight was over
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

And

Then Ira started drinking hard
Jail was often his home
They’d let him raise the flag and lower it
Like you’d throw a dog a bone!
He died drunk one morning
Alone in the land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won’t answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinking Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

And lastly

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lying thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died

Other Links

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima Video

Ira Hayes Facts

Hardcore History

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

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I don’t like Mondays, well actually they are fine I suppose. This week we talk about Ethiopian Christianity, Band Aid, Live Aid, Famines, and Brenda Spencer.

Homework

I Don’t Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats.

Lyrics Discussed

_The silicon chip inside her head Gets switched to overload And nobody’s gonna go to school today She’s going to make them stay at home

And daddy doesn’t understand it He always said she was as good as gold And he can see no reason ‘cause there are no reasons What reason do you need to be shown?_

And

_(Tell me why) I don’t like Mondays (Tell me why) I don’t like Mondays (Tell me why) I don’t like Mondays I wanna shoot

The whole day down

The History

Brenda Spencer: She Asked For a Radio, He Got Her a Gun

Cleveland Elementary School Shooting

1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego News 8 - Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Other Links

Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Live Aid concert raises $127 million for famine relief in Africa

Ethiopian Tewahedo Church

Bob Geldof Interview

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This week I talk less about Missouri, well actually no Missouri at all. This week is about Ben Franklin, Ponce de Leon, Robotron, George Orwell’s 1984, Isaac Newton, and Galileo… whew

And Cheech Wizard

Homework

The Sounds of Science by the Beastie Boys is off their second album Paul’s Boutique.

Lyrics Discussed

Now here we go dropping science, dropping it all over
Like bumping around the town like when you’re driving a Range Rover
Expanding the horizon and expanding the parameters
Expanding the rhymes of sucka MC amateurs
Naugles, Issac Newton, a scientific EZ
Ben Franklin with the kite, gettin’ ova with the key

And

Ponce De Leon, constantly on
The fountain of youth, not Robotron
Peace is a word I’ve heard before
So move and move and move up on the dance floor
Cuz I’m gonna die, gonna die one day
Cuz I’m goin’ and goin’ and goin’ this way

And

I got science for any occasion
Postulating theorems, formulating equations
Well, Cheech Wizard in a snow blizzard
Eat a chicken gizzard with a girl named Lizzy
Dropping science like Galileo dropped the orange

The History

Ben Franklin

Thomas Francois Dalibard

Juan Ponce de Leon

A History of Robotron

1984

Cheech Wizard

Sir Isaac Newton

Galileo Galilei

Other Links

Cookie Puss Ice Cream Cake by Carvel

Cookie Puss by The Beastie Boys

Williams Robotron Promotional Video

My Playlist is Killer Merchandise

My Playlist is Killer Playlist

 Music Song of the Day Mixtape

Spotify Song of the Day Mixtape

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This week I talk about some more Missouri melodrama. This time it’s Times Beach. Times Beach was a newspaper promotion that turned a floodplain into a town, into a national disaster, into a floodplain, and into a state park.

Homework

Ten Second News by Son Volt is off their first album Trace. Also it is Shawna Lutes and my favorite traveling music.

Lyrics Discussed

When you find what matters is what you feel It arrives and it disappears Driving down sunny 44 highway There’s a beach there known for cancer Waiting to happen

And

And it’s hard enough soaking up billboard signs You scorch and drown alive, never knowing why The levee gates are open wide There’s a cough in the water and it’s running into town

The History

Ill-Fated Times Beach, Missouri

Epa History - Times Beach

Times Beach, Missouri

Waste-oil hauler Russell Bliss, who allegedly sprayed dioxin-contaminated oil…

Learn about Dioxin

Other Links*

My Playlist is Killer Merchandise

My Playlist is Killer Playlist

 Music Song of the Day Mixtape

Spotify Song of the Day Mixtape

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This week I talk about some earth shaking material (ugh). I discuss the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812. The song is by one of my top 5 bands, maybe top band, Uncle Tupelo.

Homework

New Madrid by Uncle Tupelo is off their album Anodyne.

Lyrics Discussed

All my daydreams are disasters She’s the one I think I love Rivers burn and then run backwards For her, that’s enough

And

They all come from New York City And they woke me up at dawn

And

Caroms over the landfill Buries us all in its broken back There’s a man of conviction And although he’s getting old

Mr. Browning has a prediction And we’ve all been told So come on back from New York City Roll your trucks in at dawn_

The History

New Madrid Seismic Zone

New Madrid, Missouri

Morehouse, Missouri

Iben Browning, New Madrid Incident

Other Links

My Playlist is Killer Merchandise

What WasTed Bundy’s Execution Like?

 Music Song of the Day Mixtape

Spotify Song of the Day Mixtape

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Today Ronnie talks about a little Ice-T, a little PMRC, and a little naked RATM. This could be interesting… or boring. This episode does not have a parental advisory.

Homework

Freedom of Speech by Ice-T is off his album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech.

Lyrics Discussed

Freedom of Speech, let ’em take it from me
Next they’ll take it from you, then what you gonna do?
Let ’em censor books, let ’em censor art
PMRC, this is where the witch hunt starts
You’ll censor what we see, we read, we hear, we learn
The books will burn
You better think it out
We should be able to say anything, our lungs were meant to shout
Say what we feel, yell out what’s real
Even though it may not bring mass appeal
Your opinion is yours, my opinion is mine
If you don’t like what I’m sayin’? Fine
But don’t close it, always keep an open mind
A man who fails to listen is blind
We only got one right left in the world today
Let me have it or throw The Constitution away

The History

PMRC’s ‘Filthy 15’: Where Are They Now?

1985 PMRC/Senate Hearings: Then and Now

Dee Snider’s PMRC Senate Hearing Speech Full

Frank Zappa’s PMRC Senate Hearing Speech

John Denver’s PMRC Senate Hearing Speech

Other Links

Rhyme Pays by Ice-T

My Playlist is Killer Shirt

Thanks for listening and have a great couple of weeks.

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This week I talk about the iconic southern rock anthem Sweet Home Alabama and the “feud” with Neil Young. I also spend some time discussing the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace. The co-authors of Sweet Home Alabama tell vastly different stories about the controversial lines about Governor Wallace in the song.

Homework

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd is off their album Second Helping.

Lyrics Discussed

Well I heard mister Young sing about her Well, I heard ole Neil put her down Well, I hope Neil Young will remember A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow

And

In Birmingham they love the governor (boo, boo, boo) Now we all did what we could do Now Watergate does not bother me Does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth

The History

Was There Really A Feud Between Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Governor George C. Wallace

Sign up at Black Lives Matter

Other Links:

Gator Country by Molly Hacthet

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In this week’s episode I talk about Neil Young’s song, Southern Man . I discuss the 3 iterations of the Ku Klux Klan. I discuss the book, The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, and the movie, The Birth of a Nation, that brought the Klan back from extinction. The we go positive with Daryl Davis and discuss the Black Lives Matter movement.

Homework

Neil Young Southern Man is off of the album After the Gold Rush

Lyrics Discussed

I saw cotton and I saw black. Tall white mansions and little shacks. Southern man, when will you pay them back?

Southern man, better keep your head. Don’t forget what your good book said. Southern change gonna come at last. Now your crosses are burning fast. Southern man.

The History

Ku Klux Klan The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan The Birth of a Nation

Daryl Davis

Sign up at Black Lives Matter

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This week I talk about The Bottle Rockets song Wave That Flag. I talk about the three flags of the Confederate States of America. Then I discuss heritage versus hate. This should be fun.

Warning

This podcast does have some cuss words. If this offends you, please don’t listen.

Feedback from the trailer

@_gabytron

@mark_greentree

@andydomAU

@MarvelousMrsB

Homework

Wave That Flag by The Bottle Rockets

Brian Henneman

Played with Uncle Tupelo on March 16-20, 1992.

The Bottle Rockets are Brian Henneman, Mark Ortmann, Tom Parr, and Tom Ray.

Wave That Flag is off an album named Bottle Rockets and the Brooklyn Side

First Verse

Look, here comes another one, 4-wheel drive. Look there in the window, man, Saints alive! That good ol’ boy’s waving The stars & bars. It’s a red, white & blue flag. It ain’t ours.

Chorus

Wave that flag hoss, wave it high Do you know what it means? Do you know why? Maybe being a Rebel ain’t no big deal. But if somebody owned your ass How would you feel?

Three flags of the CSA

First - Stars and Bars, designed by Nicola Marschall, Prussian-American (also designed the gray uniforms)

Second - The Stainless Banner

Third - The Blood-Stained Banner

What most people think is the flag of the CSA…

Confederate Battle Flag - Army of Northern Virginia

Heritage vs. hate

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In the inaugural episode of The Liner Project, I talk about my love of music and history and why I even started this thing. I discuss my musicial influences like the following:

Country Joe & The Fish

Janis Joplin

The Band

Sly & The Family Stone

Crosby, Still, Nash & Young

Jimi Hendrix

KISS

I discuss my lifelong love of history and the influence that one great teacher like Bob Depro can have on a person.

The Liner Project is going to run in seasons of 10 shows. They will release bi-weekly and each show will have homework that points to the next episode. Send your homework answers to Ronnie at any of the places linked below. If you get it right, you will have a chance to receive a homemade surprise from my wife and I.

Homework for this week:

1. This band is from Festus, Mo.
2. One of the founders of the ’90s alt-country/roots rock revival is an integral part of this band.
3. This song talks about some flags which seems topical.

And lastly some thanks and credits like real liner notes:

My wife, Shawna Lutes, for designing the logo and being there for me for 20 years. She inspires me to want to do more.

My great friends, Scott Willsey and Vic Hudson, for helping (and by helping I mean doing) with the website and editing. Added to these two I would like to add Clay Daly for their friendship and pushing me to do this show.

See you in a couple of weeks where we will learn about flags. Thanks for listening.

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