"Victim Time" original by Ted (protestfest)

[Ted]

Victim Time
©1983,2012 Ted Johnson

Ted: acoustic guitar, ukulele, acoustic bass, and MBR drums
Recorded on a Micro BR
It's eleven fifty nine, fifty nine. It's been this late for quite a time.
Blind men are digging where the map marked X. The buried treasure is a land mine.

The more fear, the more security. How much protection can a megaton be?
Call that a shield. Looks like a weapon to me.

Well I won't play a game I can't win. The face of my clock's got a sinister grin.
It's victim time. Don't act surprised. You saw the clock, but closed your eyes.

Twenty three fifty nine, fifty nine; speaking in military time.
You might as well. Somewhere a hippie makes a peace sign.

Building an arena for the last match. Convinced the eggs wouldn't dare hatch,
They heat the incubator, and find a missile gap to patch.

Eleven fifty nine, fifty nine. We put it out of our minds.
We live a double life, we grit our teeth, standing in the victim line.

Well I won't play a game I can't win.
The face of my clock's got a sinister grin.

It's victim time. Don't act surprised.
You know your double life's a lie.

Well I won't play a game I can't win.
The face of my clock's got a sinister grin. (repeat.)

This is a really old song. The guys in The Nutrients would like to relearn it, but I'm kind of burned out on it. So I tried to breath some new life into the song by increasing the tempo and giving it a more driving rhythm.

I also got a ukelele for Christmas, so the uke part you hear was originally piano.

I wrote this song after reading Jonathan Shell's The Fate of the Earth, studying Political Science in the early '80s, and living through the trauma our president at the time -- who in hindsight seems so moderate.

Maybe I'll post my original demo of this from the '80s and see what people prefer.

[Krasi]

Don't know what the old version was like but this is amazingly well produced track. On the MBR!!!
Very very alternative sounding and I like it a lot!!!

[Geir]

That is one fabulous song Ted, with your quality trademark stamped all over it. Love the open mix your choice of instrumants give and the performance is stellar !

And how you managed to make that shiny little box do that drumming is really quite a feat !!!

Bravo !!

Dowloaded and on it's way to (τ/2)Pod !!

[Hook]

Really great tune here man! "The face of my clock has a sinister grin" I love it!. Nice uke playing sounds excellent, love that bass. Super fun tune!!!
Rock on!

[lg]

Sounds great Ted. I watched several of your vids, and enjoyed them as well.
It was really cool to see you playing bass!
Rock on!

LG

[Oldrottenhead]

quirky and magical the uke and bass sound braw tell yer maw. and get the lyrics up.

[Ferryman_1957]

Agree with Jim, the uke and bass sound great together. Just love that bass sound and the parts with the uke chords on the left and the little "twangs" on the right. Great fun Ted, really quirky and original. Can't hear the words though, can you post them?

Cheers,

Nigel

[Ted]

lg, Nigel & ORH,

The lyrics have been added at the top. (Ugh. This song is a little too didactic for my current taste in lyrics.)

One of the reasons I've been wanting a ukulele for awhile is so that I can experiment with the blend of a uke and my acoustic bass.

I probably have at least one more Nutrients' song that I'll do this way -- because (as Nigel discovered) I create YouTube tutorials in order to teach the songs to the other guys.

[Ferryman_1957]

The lyrics have been added at the top. (Ugh. This song is a little too didactic for my current taste in lyrics.)

Some good images in there though nevertheless, nicely done. Maybe a bit blunt but we are all a bit more forthright when we are younger. Except of course Jim (see "Oblivious"...)  

Cheers,

Nigel

[Oldrottenhead]

cheers ted i think the lyrics are great, you are too hard on yourself, i wish i could have written lyrics like that in the 80's. and nigel i've toned down over the years