[PaulAds]

"Inspired" by Hillary Clintons "joke" about the possibility of carrying out a drone strike to kill Julian Assange. This was a little up-tempo throwaway 2:30 expression of my disgust. There are often online vigils held on his behalf, but I can't help feeling he's doomed 

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17012&LangID=E


Publish and Be Droned

Everybody said you’re not to be trusted
Better not believe a word you say
Loads of people curiously flustered
I wonder why it matters anyway

Poor old Uncle Sam
Pretending he’s been scammed
Cannot face the fact that he’s been owned
Revenge becomes a thirst
and he intends to do his worst
Screw em all...they must be stoned
If they can’t be stopped then Publish and Be Droned

Everybody said that you would be trouble
they said that you’d be dangerous to know
Sat there in your Ecuadorian bubble
All stitched up and no place left to go

Thanks to anyone who finds the time to have a listen.

[pompeyjazz]

Jeez ! How many years has he been there now, appearing on the balcony now and again. He looks really pasty, hardly surprising.
I really love the chord progressions on this one Paul and it's as tight as feck. Lovely bass sound,  perfect to my ears. Lovely acoustic as well. Of course your lyrics are always well researched and thought out and deliver a message which for me is a huge bonus.

Fabulous again Mr A 

[rightly]

Excellent.
I never did get around to watching the documentary of him.
I can't really evaluate his situation.
He must have been a big embarrassment for the high n mighty.
A whistleblower, a hero to some.

Great song.  publish and be droned.
Maybe it lacks another verse. I'd like to hear it filled out.

Very classy writing, as ever. 

[MichaelA]

I do like this raw, retro beat which is so damn bouncy and really brings the song to life!

Nice rapid dart into an interesting subject, wham bam and you're done, no dragging it out here! 

[dinnerwithgreedo]

Not bad for a 'throwaway'! Jeez!

[adamfarr]

Short and bouncy. Great drive from the rhythm section. That acoustic sounding really good and a great counterpoint to your rock voice. I kind of wanted you to come back with another rocking chorus at the end too, left me wanting more...

[jacksimmons]

This is a really nice, bouncy number. I really like your tunes and think they have an air of pop finesse to them - something I appreciate very much. The production on this is clean and fresh.

I guess my main bone of contention is with the theme: Julian Assange's silly Wikileaks experiment has put a lot of vulnerable people overseas at risk. Muslim anti-extremists in Afghanistan were hunted and killed by the Taliban as a direct result of these kinds of indiscriminate leaks, because their names appeared in documents as coalition collaborators. He is hauled up in the Ecuadorian embassy fleeing a rape charge.

So, not sure we would agree on Assange, but I like the song nonetheless!

[PaulAds]

He is hauled up in the Ecuadorian embassy fleeing a rape charge.

Are you sure about that?

[mickyplankton]

Hi Paul. Like this musically. It's a compact bouncy punky pop song. Well structured and delivered. It's got a good balance between elements My only advice re the mix may be to add a tiny bit of treble to the drums just to give a bit more sharpness to the snare drum .
Re the lyrics, I love the idea of you tackling contemporary contentious topics. Far more interesting than a lot of the generic topics that inspire people. The challenge is whether the song stays on the right side of history! I'm on the fence with the subject matter. Assange is a bit of an anti hero for me. I do like how he rocks the establishment but I don't know enough about this to have a firm opinion. It's hard to know who to trust and believe these days.

[PaulAds]

Thanks all...

Literally just a throwaway song I knocked up in 2 days last February. I won't pretend I don't know a bit about the subject, but I consciously tried to avoid any controversy. It was, as I said, just an expression of disgust that a potential president of the worlds most powerful country could joke about assassinating a publisher who has - as far as I'm aware - never published a story that has proven to be false. I don't know many other media outlets who can make that claim.

There is, of course, plenty more to the story...most of which can be accessed through the media outlets described above.

[jacksimmons]

Are you sure about that?

I was sure, until you said that. Is there evidence to the contrary?

I am totally with you on the disgust about Hilary's joke (and general disgust with the Clintons).

[PaulAds]

Are you sure about that?

I was sure, until you said that. Is there evidence to the contrary?

I am totally with you on the disgust about Hilary's joke (and general disgust with the Clintons).

This is from https://www.justice4assange.com/

"The extradition warrant from Sweden was revoked on 19 May 2017, when the prosecutor also closed the entire underlying investigation. Having obtained Mr. Assange’s testimony, the prosecutor decided it would be disproportionate to proceed.

The investigation had already been found to be baseless by Stockholm’s senior prosecutor, Eva Finne, who found that the conduct alleged by the police "disclosed no crime at all". SMS messages from the alleged complainant made public in 2015 showed that she "did not want to accuse Assange of anything", that she felt "railroaded by police and others around her", and "police made up the charges".

The UK’s role in the Swedish affair was exposed in emails obtained under Freedom of Information Act which revealed that Sweden moved to drop the investigation in 2013, but the UK Crown Prosecution Service persuaded Sweden to keep it alive. Emails show the UK advised Sweden not to interview Mr. Assange in the UK in 2011 and 2012.

UK prosecutors admitted to deleting key emails concerning Assange and engaged in elaborate attempts to keep correspondence from the public record.

The Swedish prosecutor admitted to deleting an email from an FBI agent about Assange which she received in 2017, and claimed it could no longer be recovered"

There was previously this...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4021166/Former-Icelandic-minister-claims-FBI-tried-frame-Julian-Assange.html

From a more mainstream publication...which might suggest an earlier intent to stop him. To be honest, I don't like to get too much into it all.

Thanks though... I'm pleased you enjoyed the song!

[Skub]

Yo Paul.

One of the things I greatly enjoy about your music,is the intelligent lyrics and diverse topics.

Having been around for a few years,I'm oh so tired of banal lurve songs with interchangeable,throwaway and shallow lyrics,which are there mainly to have some phonetics in the track. Yeah,I know,I'm old. 

My jury is out on dear Julian,but one thing is for sure,he has some very powerful enemies and they have lots of ways to destroy lives,or present folk with credible misinformation any way they choose. There are plenty of dirty moves behind the scenes,all to preserve the status quo.

When powerfully corrupt politicians are aware of your existence,then you must present a threat of some kind.

Anyway,greatly enjoyed the track Paul. These days I'm a big fan of the sub 3 minute song. Wham,Bam and thank you Ma'am. 

[PaulyX]

Nice one Paul.  My favourite aspect is the contrast, as Adam already pointed out, between that lovely bubbly musical background and your angrier voice / lyrics - a bit of thunder on a sunny day. Works really well.  Short songs rock, leave em wanting more (I want more).

[Paulski]

Good tight song here Paul - the vox are stellar as usual.
And I like the chord progressions a lot.
Don't know about Assange - but Hillary was a poor choice to run against Trump IMO.
She has likeability of minus 10 
On my headphones I hear a lot of white noise starting at about one minute in - no-one else mentioned it so must be my set-up. It drops out and becomes clean again at the end.

Good work!
Paul