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This bouncy rocker is as political as I get.

The title is a satire on an ecological bumper sticker. The phrase “one planet-one utopia-one helmet” is an abstraction on history; how tyrannical regimes rose to power on these exact themes.

The lyrics pull from three sources. First, it references the 1984 San Francisco mayoral elections. Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys came in fifth. Dianne Feinstein was running for mayor on a slogan that she’d “sweep the city clean of crime.” Jello followed suit by going around town with a vacuum cleaner.

Second, I quote theology from the streets of San Francisco, so full of competing philosophies and religions, as in the days of Paul at Athens in the Areopogus. I was responding to the popular belief in Yin/Yang, as if “good” is totally dependent on “evil” to define “good” to obtain balance. I just can’t get my head wrapped around that. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, this is like saying you need a parasite in order to know if you’re healthy or not.

Last, it’s a tribute to characters and images in concept works by Ray Davies and The Kinks (who are also the primary musical influence on this song). The more you know about their music and subjects, the clearer it is: ARTHUR, MUSWELL HILLBILLIES, PRESERVATION ACTS, “Waterloo Sunset, “You Really Got Me,” etc. The “-ation” rhyming in the chorus copies “When Work is Over” from SOAP OPERA. The chorus alludes to the freakishness of the John Lennon assassination. Death does not discriminate.

The song was the airplay-favorite from my first album in 1985 (even charting around the USA and parts of Europe), and I used to play it regularly in concert. A manic acoustic remake was made in 2005 for TREADMARKS. In 2007 I offered an “Espresso mix” (now called "X-Man Remix") of the original (adding fresh guitars, percussion, and remastering) and put it on GRATEFUL…which describes my gratefulness that people still like this odd little ditty.

The photo shows me playing with my band circa 1986-87, October, with Ron Davis, Chris Haggerty, and Victor Valverde.

lyrics

I heard someone crying Waterloo
Could be the big one, watcha gonna do?
Yin yang, sorry Arthur
You don't crucify for soap operas
Some girl takin' motion pictures
of some hillbillies in a union house with fixtures
Envision trilateral
Commission subliminal

Chorus 1:
It's indoctrination
Gradual sensation
Bugs in conversation
Next assassination
Could be a politician
Or some kind of musician
Now is the time of salvation

I knew a young czar
Local heavy punker dead Kaiser
Got elected mayor
(He say) no more Kinks, No more Stones
No more Who, metal drone
Saw him buying psychedelics
At the coal mine, erecting the new relics
He banned the cross, gave us all a new savior
Gonna get the mark, or you're gonna get the razor

Chorus 2:
It's indoctrination
ideological rebellion
With no consideration
Next assassination
Deifies the politician
Deifies the musician
Still there is time for salvation

A new prophet, new age centurion
He's such a nice man with a nice one world religion
One mind, one planet
One utopia, one helmet
Someone is pulling all the strings
His name is backwards, and he'll tell you anything
Riling up the left, ruffling the right
But it ain't too long 'fore we tie him up tight

Repeat Chorus 1

Song written by Johnny J. Blair copyright 1985 Singnorbertmusic, Inc. ASCAP copyright renewed 2007 Word2Soul BMI

credits

from PICASSO​’​S GLAM BAROQUE PSYCHEDELIC SUNSHINE (A collection of 12 way​-​out pop songs), released January 4, 2017
JJB: bass, guitars, percussion, all vocals
Darryl Putt: lead guitar
Billy Reynolds: drums
Xavier Scott Francis: remixing & remastering

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Johnny J Blair "Singer at Large" image

Johnny J Blair "Singer at Large" San Francisco, California

"Johnny is a virtuoso"--Brian Wilson
"Pop music with a conscience.”--Goldmine
“the Harry Houdini of rock and roll.”-- Spotlight. Listen to Johnny's fast-paced mix of old school soul, psychedelia, punk/new wave, & classic pop/rock. Singer-songwriter in his own right, he was also a sideman for Davy Jones and The Monkees + performed with David Cassidy, Al Stewart, Buddy & Julie Miller, & others. ... more

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