When the lie's so big

[Initech]

They got lies so big
They don't make a noise
They tell 'em so well
Like a secret disease
That makes you go numb

With a big ol' lie
And a flag and a pie
And a mom and a bible
Most folks are just liable
To buy any line
Any place, any time

When the lie's so big
As in Robertson's case,
(That sinister face
Behind all the Jesus hurrah)

Could result in the end
To a worrisome trend
In which every American
Not "born again"
Could be punished in cruel and unusual ways
By this treacherous cretin
Who tells everyone
That he's Jesus' best friend

When the lies get so big
And the fog gets so thick
And the facts disappear
The Republican Trick
Can be played out again
People, please tell me when
We'll be rid of these men!

Just who do they really
Suppose that they are?
And how do they manage to travel as far
As they seem to have come?
Were we really that dumb?

People, wake up
Figure it out
Religious fanatics
Around and about
The Court House, The State House,
The Congress, The White House

Criminal saints
With a "Heavenly Mission" --
A nation enraptured
By pure superstition

Do you believe in the Invisible Army?
(Yes, indeed!)

When the lie's so big
And the fog so thick
And the facts kept forgotten
Then the Republican Trick
(Ketchup is a vegetable!)
Can be played out again
People, please tell me when
We'll be rid of these men!

- Frank Zappa, Broadway The Hard Way (1988)

Truer words have never been spoken.

[jimshoes]

1. Thanks for posting

As I started reading the words, I'm thinking, hey, these are really great lyrics, then I get to the bottom and see FZ wrote them and just smiled. Miss ya Frank.

[Initech]

4. I always wonder what he would think if he were alive to see Bush II.

[bbernardini]

2. I can't tell you how many times I've thought about posting these lyrics...

I never got around to it, so thanks for posting them. "Broadway The Hard Way" was my introduction to the world of Frank Zappa.

[Initech]

3. That album should be essential in every progressive's music collection.

[90-percent]

5. Frank Zappa

"Frank Zappa is my Elvis" - Matt Groening


I remember the 88 tour like it was yesterday. First tour in four years and first after Senate PMRC hearings. Zappa was being followed by a 60 minutes crew and they were going to do a feature on him. He had voter registration efforts going on at all his shows.

James Baker gave him prostate cancer!

I went up and down the northeast devouring his tour. Hilight was nassau coliseum, frank and a hockey rink full of harcore zappaphiles. Long Island is zappa Country.

I congratulated Eric Buxton on his solo spoken word segment during the intermission.

-90% j immy