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| George Michael's new video mocks US and his poodle |
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| jaihoon |
| 07/02/02 at 23:02:15 |
| George Michael song satirizes Bush, Blair RASHMEE Z AHMED TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, JULY 02, 2002 6:28:21 PM ] LONDON: In an apparent return to a bygone age of rock rebellion long ago led by Bob Dylan, British singer George Michael has launched his most controversial music video yet, a searing political satire on the American "war on terror", Britain's "poodle" Prime Minister Tony Blair and the growing threat to the West from marginalised Muslims. The song, Shoot the Dog, is considered the most politically daring so far by a pop star best known around the world for more syrupy hits, such as Careless Whispers, and his fashionable quiff, snazzy sunglasses, permatan and controversial 1998 exploits in a Los Angeles toilet. The lyrics, which Michael admits stray into "dangerous territory", launch what some music critics are calling a new 'pop protest' movement on forbidden ground – the response of America and the West to the September 11 attacks. The animated video of the new song, which controversially shows Michael arriving in the Blairs' bedroom on a nuclear missile and then apparently attempting to seduce Cherie Blair, is focussed on an explosive mix of Islamophobia, the West's sense of fear and retribution. One line reads, Mustapha, Mazeltov, the Gaza Boys, all that holy stuff. I get the feelin' when it all goes off, they're gonna shoot the dog, they're gonna shoot the dog. The "dog" in this case is Blair's Britain, which Michael accuses in an interview, of having become "the second most dangerous place on earth thanks to our special relationship with America". Arguing for Blair to offer "calming and rational" advice to President Bush rather than servility, the London-born singer's musical outburst is said by a section of the music industry to be either "ballsy or commercial suicide", particularly if America starts burning his CDs and its Bible Belt bans him from shops. Downing Street officials have refused to comment. Michael, 39, whose early career as part of the hit band, Wham, kickstarted the climb to the staggering claim of 67 million record sales worldwide, says he "simply wanted to write a song that said to everybody, 'people let's be aware that there's some very pissed off people out there and that America - and us for that matter - need to start listening to them a little'." Critics said the new song's title appeared to derive inspiration from the film Wag the Dog, which satirised an American president's shameless war lust at a time of political crisis and intense domestic pressure. Shoot the Dog, which is being described as an extraordinary political statement, sneers at the post-September 11 American mood: Nine nine nine gettin' jiggy. People did you see that fire in the City? It's like we're getting fresh out of democratic. Gotta get yourself a little something semi-automatic, yeah... |
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