If you’re old enough to remember the classic old song “Dead Skunk In the Middle of the Road,” then you’re old enough to remember Loudon Wainwright III. If you need a refresher course, or are one of our Millennial readers, check out the video below.
A singer-songwriter, Wainwright got his start in the 1960s when political satire was at its height and music became a means of protest, according to Encyclopedia.com. Wainwright’s long career has included several novelty songs, and some tunes that poked fun at political figures.
Wainwright told Salon recently that as much as he hated to write a song about someone as reprehensible as Donald Trump, he decided he just had to do it, and said,
“Initially, I didn’t want to write a song about Donald Trump. But sometimes in the course of human events things get so weird that you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially if the horse has a real mouth on him.”
He went ahead and wrote a song called “I Had a Dream.” The song pictures what life would be like under a Trump Presidency. It’s an idea that is both funny and terrifying as Wainwright spins it.
The lyrics tell us that Trump made Jeff Sessions his Secretary of War,
“And just as promised, he built him that wall / He blew up Cuba and carpet bombed Montreal.”
To show how fearful so many of us are of a potential President Trump, Wainwright paints a completely distasteful image of the man sitting in the Oval Office.
“His face was bright orange and his hair was just weird / but we were made great again / Embarrassed and feared.”
“Locked up the opposition and the demonstrators too / That would be and it might be you.”
Wainwright’s pal, Judd Apatow listened to the song and, according to Salon, quipped:
“The only person who benefits from Trump now is you!”
The song was just released on iTunes, and is also found on SoundCloud; give it a listen here:
The following video is the classic is Louden Wainwright, III’s “Dead Skunk In the Middle of the Road.”
Featured image by Loudon Wainwright III via Facebook.
