Your Egypt

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Here's an interesting U.K. band 8)




Faithless Attack Iraq War With Lyrics Of Mass Destruction

Group's first Stateside hit warns about misinformation, abuse of power.

by Jennifer Vineyard




Faithless' Maxi Jazz and Sister Bliss (file) (Appio)


Faithless are currently enjoying their first Stateside hit, with the funky anti-war single "Mass Destruction." It suggests a twist on the famous NRA line about guns: weapons of mass destruction don't kill people, people kill people — especially


if they have weapons like misinformation, power and greed at their disposal.

"It's people who are dangerous," said the group's rapping frontman, Maxi Jazz (real name Maxwell Frazer). "The conflict that we appear to be in doesn't stop with soldiers going to somebody else's country and fighting. The front line is right here, in train stations, in shopping malls."

Faithless have long been able to fill arenas in the U.K., emerging in the mid-1990s when trip-hop was at its peak and gaining notoriety for spawning Dido, who continues to collaborate with the group on an occasional basis. Dido's brother, Rollo Armstrong, remained behind, as did Jazz and multi-instrumentalist Sister Bliss (real name Ayalah Bentovim).

But it wasn't until "Mass Destruction" that the U.S. really started paying attention. It's not Faithless' first philosophical number — "God Is a DJ" gets that honor — but their new album, No Roots, can be heard on two levels — an ambient dance record with pattering beats, and a political statement that urges you to think. And that's just how they wanted it.

"I didn't want it to be a tub-thumping anti-war tirade," Jazz said. "But I felt pained and grieved that so many people don't have a voice, so I figured it's about time we found our voice."

One of Faithless' chief concerns is that the U.K. (as well as the U.S.) is becoming less of a proper democracy, and more like an elected autocracy. Jazz compares showing support for your country to showing support for your football team, where a coach is making all the decisions "and we just turn up and pay the money." That, he says, is not how a democracy is supposed to run. He finds fault with what he calls using September 11 as a justification to go to war with Iraq, and with politicians linking al-Qaeda to Saddam Hussein — the weapon of "misinformation" cited in "Mass Destruction."

"This is what was really outlined by [Tony] Blair at the time," Jazz said. "I remember thinking, 'Wait a minute, is it not the case that [Hussein] was crushed militarily in 1991? Not a little slap around the face but properly put down?' His military machine was smashed, then 12 years of sanctions. Explain to me what kind of a magician could, after that, have weapons of mass destruction that could threaten my or Britain's interests. It just didn't make sense to me. And of course, nothing's been found. It completely confirms what I thought in the first place. This was an act that was going to be done anyway."

Faithless hoped to underscore their point with a video that suggested tortuous situations, to break down what happens when big nations crush little nations on a more human scale. Shot in February by directing team Dom & Nic (Dominic Hawley and Nicholas Goffey), two versions of the video were created — one that was more straight performance in a brick-walled room that looks like a prison, with the band playing assumed political prisoners, and another that includes children acting as the adults enduring and giving out brutality to others, shot to appear like a documentary.

"That's a very obvious analogy to not being heard, talking to a brick wall," Sister Bliss said. "So they're two very simple ideas, but horribly prescient, because of the atrocities in the Iraqi prison camps. But having said that, people treating each other with complete disrespect is nothing new."

"We might be accused of being preachy," Jazz said. "But at the end of the day, we want to touch people's hearts, and if we can do that, that's the point of carrying on, it seems to me."

This report is from MTV News.


FAITHLESS LYRICS

Mass Destruction

(Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether you're soar away sun or BBC 1
Misinformation is a weapon of mass destruc
You could a Caucasian or a poor Asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether inflation or globalization
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction)

My dad came into my room holding his hat
I knew he was leaving,
he sat on my bed told me some facts, son.
I have a duty, calling on me
You and your sister be brave my little soldier
And don't forget all I told ya
Your the mister of the house now remember this
And when you wake up in the morning give ya momma a kiss
Then I had to say goodbye

In the morning woke momma with a kiss on each eyelid,
Even though I'm only a kid
Certain things can't be hid
Momma grabbed me
Held me like I was made of gold
But left her inner stories untold
I said, momma it will be alright
When daddy comes home, tonight

[CHORUS]

Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether you're soar away sun or BBC 1
Misinformation is a weapon of mass destruc
You could a Caucasian or a poor Asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether inflation or globalization
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether Halliburton or Enron or anyone
Greed is a weapon of mass destruction

We need to find courage, overcome
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction

The skin under my chin
is exploding, again.
I'm getting stress from some other children.
I'm holding it in, we taking sides, like a politian
an if I get friction we get to fightin.
I defend my dad he's the best of all men
an whatever he's doin he's doin the right thing.
Its frightenin but it makes me mad, why do all
of these people seem to hate my dad?
an if that ain't enough, now I've got these spots.
I go to sleep every night with my stomach in knots.
and whats more I can hear Mama next door
explore the radio for reports of war.
and all we ever seem to do is hide the tears,
seems Daddy been gone for years.
But he was right, now I'm geared up for the fight
an he would be proud of me if Daddy came home tonight.

[CHORUS]

My story stops here, lets be clear
This scenario is happening everywhere
And you ain't going to nirvana or farvana
You're coming right back here to live out your karma
With even more drama than previously, seriously
Just how many centuries have we been
waiting for someone else to make us free
And we refuse to see
That people overseas suffer just like we
Bad leadership and ego's unfettered and free
Who feed on the people they're supposed to lead
I don't need good people to pray and wait
For the lord to make it all straight
There's only now, do it right.
Cos I don't want your daddy, leaving home tonight

[CHORUS]


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