Surprise, Surprise ... The Government Lies

Earlier this week, I ran into a friend of mine on my way to work. I yanked out my earbuds to talk with him, and his first question was “what were you listening to?” I sheepishly responded “Cop Shoot Cop,” to which he laughed and rolled his eyes. “But of course,” he chuckled.

I hate reinforcing my own stereotypes.

Cop Shoot Cop stopped being a going concern in about 1996 – about two and a half decades ago -- when recordings for what was ostensibly supposed to be their fifth long player were abandoned in a fog of acrimony and the inevitable “creative differences.” I was preparing to distill that whole tale for that coffee table book that lost its funding some time back. Maybe it’ll see the light of day at some point.

In any case, I immediately wanted to earnestly follow up with my friend that – contrary to my own cartoony caricature – I do not listen exclusively to a steady diet of Cop Shoot Cop and Killing Joke. Honest.

The reason I was deafening myself with Cop Shoot Cop that particular morning, was that it was the first day of the Senate impeachment trial. Fresh off that morning’s headlines about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel’s efforts to block the introduction of any witnesses or evidence into proceedings, the caustic strains of “Surprise, Surprise,” the first track off of C$C’s 1993 opus, Ask Questions Later filled my head, and I felt compelled to listen to music that fit that fuckin' bill, so to speak.

Now, somewhat ironically, “Surprise, Surprise” was released in March of 1993. I’m not entirely sure when the band composed the `choon in question, but it was presumably in the year or so leading up to the release of that record. Was Tod [A] specificlly decrying the early months of the Clinton Administration? Clinton’s predecessor George H.W. Bush? Or was it simply a venomous indictment of the hypocrisy-laden American political system writ large?

I could ask Tod, actually, but he seems to get bored with Cop Shoot Cop-related questions this many years after the fact.

Anyway, in the seeming absence of any genuinely NEW biting, political protest songs that address the current circus – seriously, where is the outrage? – I dip back into the well for Cop Shoot Cop (and not just them … I made a playlist not too long back). But, really, where is TODAY’s version of “Surprise, Surprise” (or something stronger)? Is anyone making that music? Weigh in.

“Surprise, Surprise”

The lower they go, the higher they fly
There's more than one way to play
and I say an eye for an eye
It's been going too far, been going too far for far too long
I want to set it on fire, I want to set it on fire
drop the bomb

Surprise, surprise.
The government lies.

It's okay to kill in the name of democracy
And dictators are swell if they like the smell of American money
It's making me sick, I want no part of it Stop waving that flag
All you idiots bought right into it And who's left holding the bag?

Surprise, surprise. Surprise, surprise.
The government lies.

This capsized country's sinking fast
I've got leeches and landlords and lawyers
Crawling all over my ass
We've been playing along and they've Been playing the song we wanted to hear
But the melody's meaningless
Wasted on my ears

Surprise, surprise. Surprise, surprise.
The government lies.

Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off