The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #126045   Message #2813448
Posted By: 3'Shift
16-Jan-10 - 05:32 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Smokers Are Scum, a gentle song
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Smokers Are Scum, a gentle song
Apologies for prolonging this long & rocky thread, but 1) obviously the song itself is ironical, over-the-top and satirical, and 2) the reason so many find it so offensive & hard to stomach is that the author is NOT making fun of the general viewpoint expressed therein, in distinction from most of the other satire mentioned.

If it were left as an exagerated, comic rant ther might be a few mutters, but the author makes it quite clear that she regards close-range tobacco smoke as virulent poison, and those who carelessly administer it to others as something like hit-&-run drivers. (And although a smoker myself, I have to agree with her.) The song itself, in performance, may come across as hilarious, but in her discussion it is obvious that she endorses its general attitude, rather than lampoons it. (Again, rightly enough, particularly in the case of someone who could conceivably be seriously, even fatally injured by a fairly small amount of the stuff.)

As a funny song it may be a success, and as political action it seems to have already proven itself, but when its forcefulness & hyperbole in the service of something the writer vehemently believes in are defended more-or-less with "Oh, c'mon, lighten up, it's a satire", then you must expect that a lot of people are going to perceive hypocrisy. Hence trollness.

Actually, I came on here to find the words to 'Andrew Rose' about 5 hrs. ago, and I hope I'm not going to get entangled in this damn' spider web of a site every time I need some lyrics...    ;)