Welcome to Max and the Marginalized's page/blog, etc. We are a political band in Los Angeles. We write and record a new song every week (as of this writing we've been doing this for 32 weeks straight), always about something that week which we find worthy of our protestations. All the songs are available for download right here.

The idea is simple, really. How can bands claiming to want to make a difference write a song about, say, ending the war and then hold on to it to make a perfectly polished recording of it for their album which will come out in a year, secretly and shamefully hoping the war lasts until then so their song, marketed properly, will still be relevant?

We don't have any interest in that. We write songs about things that are happening now, record them, and release them with the hopes that they can be a small part of a big conversation that leads to real progress.

All of our songs appear on The Huffington Post with little blogs accompanying them explaining what they are about. Those can be found right here. We are also on MySpace like every other band in the universe, but are trying to move the operation to the non-Murdoch world at our Facebook Page.

Lineup: Max Bernstein - guitar + vocals. Dave Watrous - Bass. Jon Ryggy - Drums. Our friend Max Waker is a recording engineer and makes cartoons.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Two Peninsulas - A song about Hillary's Florida/Michigan power grab



(Graphic by Darkblack)



We are back and on schedule! Last week's song went up on Sunday because I was sick and couldn't sing it until Saturday but we are now back on schedule. I am going to try to make Tuesday the new posting day because that way I can start tracking on the weekend and not have to do it after work.

This week's song is about the Hillary Clinton campaign's attempt to get the Michigan and Florida delegates seated at the convention, even though they're not supposed to count.

For those of you just tuning in, here is the rundown. Florida and Michigan kept moving their primaries up and up and were stripped of their delegates. In other words, the Democratic party said "We're punishing you so your primary votes don't count." This is fundamentally screwed up, I'll give you that. However, all the candidates pledged not to campaign there, and Obama didn't even bother to get his name on the ballot in Michigan. All the voters knew that their choice for the Democratic nominee didn't actually count and that their vote was a mere demonstration. Hillary won both (duh) and is now claiming that it should count.

Have you ever played poker with someone for play money and if they beat you they ask you for a hundred bucks? If you have, I'm sorry that you hang out with such scumbags.

And that's just what the Clinton campaign is doing. I have been a huge defender of Hillary throughout the years, but this is indefensible.

With that, we bring you Two Peninsulas. (Get it? Florida is a peninsula and Michigan has the upper peninsula? I'm a geography nerd.) Enjoy - and please sign the petition that begs her not go through with this power grab.

Note: I would like to mention that after last week's song which was a big multi-layered thing with lots of guitars and background vocals, I wanted to strip it down this week. This song has just drums, one bass, one guitar and one vocal (and a crazy ending) in homage to great bands like The Buzzcocks and The Jam who did so much with so little.

Two Peninsulas

Two peninsulas pointing off an island
sticking out like two sore thumbs
One agreement to play within the playbook
throw it out when the game's been won
When I was younger, a saying i remember
"work hard and play by the rules"
And though I've always been one of your defenders
These accusations might all hold true

So let's play cards just for fun and plastic chips
If you bust me will you try to get my money in your grips
And I'd really hate to think that this was the plan all along
and I know you know it's wrong
Two peninsulas we're cut right off the island
don't you try to sew them on

Start the efforts to certify the phantoms
Under the guise of counting everyone
Any victory without a competition
Counts for less than Barry Bonds' home runs
And to you, i know it's surely not a problem
To have an asterisk next to your name
And though you've been the victim of some dirty tricksters
It's no excuse to be one just the same

So let's play ball in an exhibition match
If I rout you can I try to get it added to my stats
Drive a rusty stake into questionable ground
Looking for a workaround
Two peninsulas were cut from the equation
don't you try to make them count

'Cause we've grown, old and tired
Of the willful disregard for the rules
So it's high time I object
To ambition left unchecked
You've got so much more than my respect to lose

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Michigan's actually two peninsulas -- lower and upper. So adding Florida, shouldn't the name be 'three peninsulas'?