The Liner Project

The Liner Project

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The Liner Project episodes

  • 203: Johnny Horton - Sink the Bismarck
    The song that inspired a podcast and teaches us about the Bismarck

    In this episode I talk about one of the songs that inspired me to do this podcast. Johnny Horton’s career was cut short, maybe due to powdering alligators behinds… listen and you will learn about the German Battleship Bismarck.

    Sink the Bismarck by Johnny Horton

    Lyrics

    In May of 1941 the war had just begun

    The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns
    The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea
    On her decks were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees

    And

    Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood

    And every British seaman, he knew and understood
    They had to sink the Bismarck the terror of the sea
    Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees

    We’ll find the German battleship that’s makin’ such a fuss

    We gotta sink the Bismarck ‘cause the world depends on us
    Yeah hit the decks a runnin’ boys and spin those guns around
    When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down

    And

    The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day

    The Bismarck started firing fifteen miles away
    “We gotta sink the Bismarck!” was the battle sound
    But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down

    And

    For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail

    Churchill told the people: “put every ship asail
    Cause somewhere on that ocean, I know she’s gotta be
    We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea!”

    And

    The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the morning sun

    Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
    The Admiral of the British fleet said turn those bows around
    We found that German battleship and we’re gonna cut her down

    The British guns were aimed and the shells were coming fast

    The first shell hit the Bismarck they knew she couldn’t last
    That mighty German battleship is just a memory
    “Sink the Bismarck!” was the battle cry that shook the seven seas

    And finally…

    We found that German battleship was makin’ such a fuss

    We had to sink the Bismark cause the world depends on us
    We hit the decks a-runnin’ and we spun those guns around
    We found the mighty Bismark and then we cut her down

    Links

    Bismarck

    Johnny Horton

    Johnny Horton’s Greatest Hits

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    14 min
  • 202: Siouxsie and the Banshees - Cities in Dust
    Volcanic eruptions and stone phalluses

    Today I talk about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii and phalluses. Be prepared.

    Cities in Dust from Siouxsie and the Banshees.

    Lyrics

    Water was running, children were running

    You were running out of time
    Under the mountain, a golden fountain
    Were you praying at the Lares shrine?

    And

    Hot and burning in your nostrils

    Pouring down your gaping mouth
    Your molten bodies, blanket of cinders
    caught in the throes, and

    Whoa oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend

    Oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend
    Oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend
    Oh - oh your city lies in dust, my friend

    And

    We found you hiding, we found you lying

    Choking on the dirt and sand
    Your former glories, and all the stories
    Dragged and washed with eager hands

    Links

    Pompeii

    Lares

    Pompeii: Archaeologists unveil ceremonial chariot discovery

    Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

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    12 min
  • 201: Joan Baez - China
    The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests

    This episode we are talking about Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and the damage it caused.

    China by Joan Baez.

    Lyrics

    In the month of May, in the glory of the day

    Came the descendants of a hundred flowers
    And their fight it did begin with the aging Mandarin
    And they fought with an extraordinary power
    Everyone was smiling, their hearts were one
    In Tiananmen Square

    And…

    In the month of June, in the darkness of the moon

    Went the descendants of a hundred flowers
    And time may never tell how many of them fell
    Like the petals of a rose in some satanic shower
    Everyone was weeping in all of China
    And Tiananmen Square

    And…

    And even the moon on the fourth day of June

    Hid her face and did not see
    Black sun rising over Tiananmen Square

    Links

    Hundred Flowers Campaign

    Hu Yaobang

    Tiananmen Square Protests

    Thanks for listening

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    13 min
  • 110: The Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
    This is the end... at least of this season

    This is the end… beautiful friend… the end… my only friend… the end… at least of this season. Season 1 is over.

    Today I talk about Sneetches, Right Guard, the Republic of Biafra, and Pol Pot. Enjoy…

    Holiday in Cambodia by The Dead Kennedys.

    Lyrics

    So, you’ve been to school for a year or two

    And you know you’ve seen it all
    In daddy’s car, thinkin’ you’ll go far
    Back east, your type don’t crawl

    Play ethnicity jazz to parade your snazz

    On your five-grand stereo
    Braggin’ that you know how the niggers feel cold
    And the slums got so much soul

    It’s time to taste what you most fear

    Right Guard will not help you here
    Brace yourself, my dear
    Brace yourself, my dear

    It’s a holiday in Cambodia

    It’s tough, kid, but it’s life
    It’s a holiday in Cambodia
    Don’t forget to pack a wife

    You’re a star-belly sneetch, you suck like a leech

    You want everyone to act like you
    Kiss ass while you bitch so you can get rich
    But your boss gets richer off you

    Well, you’ll work harder with a gun in your back

    For a bowl of rice a day
    Slave for soldiers till you starve
    Then your head is skewered on a stake

    It’s a holiday in Cambodia

    Where people dress in black
    A holiday in Cambodia
    Where you’ll kiss ass or crack

    Links

    The Doors - The End

    The Republic of Biafra

    Khmer Rouge

    Pol Pot

    Thanks for listening…

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    12 min
  • 109: Johnny Cash - The Ballad of Ira Hayes
    Today we are talking about a legendary singer/songwriter and a legendary human being. We are talking about the person that was the inspiration for the beginning lines of this very podcast that you hear every week and that you just heard. It is from his iconic line, 'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash.'

    Today we are talking about a legendary singer/songwriter and a legendary human being. We are talking about the person that was the inspiration for the beginning lines of this very podcast that you hear every week and that you just heard. It is from his iconic line, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”.

    Homework

    The Ballad of Ira Hayes by Johnny Cash is off his album Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.

    Lyrics Discussed

    Gather round me people there’s a story I would tell

    About a brave young Indian you should remember well
    From the land of the Pima Indian
    A proud and noble band
    Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land
    Down the ditches for a thousand years
    The water grew Ira’s peoples’ crops
    Until the white man stole the water rights
    And the sparkling water stopped
    Now Ira’s folks were hungry
    And their land grew crops of weeds
    When war came, Ira volunteered
    And forgot the white man’s greed

    And

    There they battled up Iwo Jima’s hill

    Two hundred and fifty men
    But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again

    And when the fight was over

    And when Old Glory raised
    Among the men who held it high
    Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

    And

    Then Ira started drinking hard

    Jail was often his home
    They’d let him raise the flag and lower it
    Like you’d throw a dog a bone!
    He died drunk one morning
    Alone in the land he fought to save
    Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
    Was a grave for Ira Hayes

    Call him drunken Ira Hayes

    He won’t answer anymore
    Not the whiskey drinking Indian
    Nor the Marine that went to war

    And lastly

    Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes

    But his land is just as dry
    And his ghost is lying thirsty
    In the ditch where Ira died

    Other Links

    Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima Video

    Ira Hayes Facts

    Hardcore History

    Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

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    16 min
  • 108: Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays
    This week we talk about Ethiopian Christianity, Band Aid, Live Aid, Famines, and Brenda Spencer.

    I don’t like Mondays, well actually they are fine I suppose. This week we talk about Ethiopian Christianity, Band Aid, Live Aid, Famines, and Brenda Spencer.

    Homework

    I Don’t Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats.

    Lyrics Discussed

    _The silicon chip inside her head

    Gets switched to overload
    And nobody’s gonna go to school today
    She’s going to make them stay at home

    And daddy doesn’t understand it

    He always said she was as good as gold
    And he can see no reason ‘cause there are no reasons
    What reason do you need to be shown?_

    And

    _(Tell me why) I don’t like Mondays

    (Tell me why) I don’t like Mondays
    (Tell me why) I don’t like Mondays
    I wanna shoot

    The whole day down

    The History

    Brenda Spencer: She Asked For a Radio, He Got Her a Gun

    Cleveland Elementary School Shooting

    1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego News 8 - Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    Part 4

    Other Links

    Do They Know It’s Christmas?

    Live Aid concert raises $127 million for famine relief in Africa

    Ethiopian Tewahedo Church

    Bob Geldof Interview

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    14 min
  • 107: Beastie Boys - The Sounds of Science
    Beastie Boys - The Sounds of Science

    This week I talk less about Missouri, well actually no Missouri at all. This week is about Ben Franklin, Ponce de Leon, Robotron, George Orwell’s 1984, Isaac Newton, and Galileo… whew

    And Cheech Wizard

    Homework

    The Sounds of Science by the Beastie Boys is off their second album Paul’s Boutique.

    Lyrics Discussed

    Now here we go dropping science, dropping it all over

    Like bumping around the town like when you’re driving a Range Rover
    Expanding the horizon and expanding the parameters
    Expanding the rhymes of sucka MC amateurs
    Naugles, Issac Newton, a scientific EZ
    Ben Franklin with the kite, gettin’ ova with the key

    And

    Ponce De Leon, constantly on

    The fountain of youth, not Robotron
    Peace is a word I’ve heard before
    So move and move and move up on the dance floor
    Cuz I’m gonna die, gonna die one day
    Cuz I’m goin’ and goin’ and goin’ this way

    And

    I got science for any occasion

    Postulating theorems, formulating equations
    Well, Cheech Wizard in a snow blizzard
    Eat a chicken gizzard with a girl named Lizzy
    Dropping science like Galileo dropped the orange

    The History

    Ben Franklin

    Thomas Francois Dalibard

    Juan Ponce de Leon

    A History of Robotron

    1984

    Cheech Wizard

    Sir Isaac Newton

    Galileo Galilei

    Other Links

    Cookie Puss Ice Cream Cake by Carvel

    Cookie Puss by The Beastie Boys

    Williams Robotron Promotional Video

    My Playlist is Killer Merchandise

    My Playlist is Killer Playlist

     Music Song of the Day Mixtape

    Spotify Song of the Day Mixtape

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    23 min
  • 106: Son Volt – 10 Second News
    Son Volt – 10 Second News

    This week I talk about some more Missouri melodrama. This time it’s Times Beach. Times Beach was a newspaper promotion that turned a floodplain into a town, into a national disaster, into a floodplain, and into a state park.

    Homework

    Ten Second News by Son Volt is off their first album Trace. Also it is Shawna Lutes and my favorite traveling music.

    Lyrics Discussed

    When you find what matters is what you feel

    It arrives and it disappears
    Driving down sunny 44 highway
    There’s a beach there known for cancer
    Waiting to happen

    And

    And it’s hard enough soaking up billboard signs

    You scorch and drown alive, never knowing why
    The levee gates are open wide
    There’s a cough in the water and it’s running into town

    The History

    Ill-Fated Times Beach, Missouri

    Epa History - Times Beach

    Times Beach, Missouri

    Waste-oil hauler Russell Bliss, who allegedly sprayed dioxin-contaminated oil…

    Learn about Dioxin

    Other Links*

    My Playlist is Killer Merchandise

    My Playlist is Killer Playlist

     Music Song of the Day Mixtape

    Spotify Song of the Day Mixtape

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    17 min
  • 105: Uncle Tupelo - New Madrid
    Uncle Tupelo - New Madrid

    This week I talk about some earth shaking material (ugh). I discuss the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812. The song is by one of my top 5 bands, maybe top band, Uncle Tupelo.

    Homework

    New Madrid by Uncle Tupelo is off their album Anodyne.

    Lyrics Discussed

    All my daydreams are disasters

    She’s the one I think I love
    Rivers burn and then run backwards
    For her, that’s enough

    And

    They all come from New York City

    And they woke me up at dawn

    And

    Caroms over the landfill

    Buries us all in its broken back
    There’s a man of conviction
    And although he’s getting old

    Mr. Browning has a prediction

    And we’ve all been told
    So come on back from New York City
    Roll your trucks in at dawn_

    The History

    New Madrid Seismic Zone

    New Madrid, Missouri

    Morehouse, Missouri

    Iben Browning, New Madrid Incident

    Other Links

    My Playlist is Killer Merchandise

    What WasTed Bundy’s Execution Like?

     Music Song of the Day Mixtape

    Spotify Song of the Day Mixtape

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    23 min
  • 104: Ice-T - Freedom of Speech
    Ice-T - Freedom of Speech

    Today Ronnie talks about a little Ice-T, a little PMRC, and a little naked RATM. This could be interesting… or boring. This episode does not have a parental advisory.

    Homework

    Freedom of Speech by Ice-T is off his album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech.

    Lyrics Discussed

    Freedom of Speech, let ’em take it from me

    Next they’ll take it from you, then what you gonna do?
    Let ’em censor books, let ’em censor art
    PMRC, this is where the witch hunt starts
    You’ll censor what we see, we read, we hear, we learn
    The books will burn
    You better think it out
    We should be able to say anything, our lungs were meant to shout
    Say what we feel, yell out what’s real
    Even though it may not bring mass appeal
    Your opinion is yours, my opinion is mine
    If you don’t like what I’m sayin’? Fine
    But don’t close it, always keep an open mind
    A man who fails to listen is blind
    We only got one right left in the world today
    Let me have it or throw The Constitution away

    The History

    PMRC’s ‘Filthy 15’: Where Are They Now?

    1985 PMRC/Senate Hearings: Then and Now

    Dee Snider’s PMRC Senate Hearing Speech Full

    Frank Zappa’s PMRC Senate Hearing Speech

    John Denver’s PMRC Senate Hearing Speech

    Other Links

    Rhyme Pays by Ice-T

    My Playlist is Killer Shirt

    Thanks for listening and have a great couple of weeks.

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    21 min

About The Liner Project

From the publisher's feed

Ronnie Lutes merges music and history in this compelling podcast about album liner notes.