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.​.​.​And Shinola

from Leftoverwhelming by vonHummer

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"...And Shinola" seems a little quaint to me now, with its outrage at words that don't mean anything anymore. Things have come so much further down the line towards definitional oblivion since the late 90s when I wrote the lyrics.

The old insult, "He don't know shit from Shinola," is absolutely not heard anymore. (For the youngsters out there, Shinola was a brand of shoe polish.) To say that about somebody was to cast doubt on their judgement or knowledge. Now,however...There's no such thing as knowledge. We don't usually know what a fact even is anymore. We've got a written constitution and no one knows—or pretends not to know—what it actually spells out.

There's no judgement either. Everything is art. Everyone's a winner. Everyone is smart. No one is wrong.

On the Left side of the fence, anyhow. And as I look at the lyrics here again, I see the examples are all of the lefty realms: music, politics, art, education, public service, journalism, law...

But, hey, 's cool. 'S all good. No judgement. Reductio ad absurdum.

I was always particularly proud of the riff here, too. Very complex for me.

lyrics

"...And Shinola"
(vonHummer)

I can burp in a microphone and call it a symphony, Put some cash in a paper bag, call it diplomacy, I can fortify a cardboard box and call it architecture, Talk about how I was toilet trained and call it a history lecture,

Ah but once upon a time, the line wasn't so fine between shit and Shinola...

I can trip fall flat on my face and call it modern dance,
I can paint a so called masterpiece by soiling my underpants,
I can hold my breath until I pass out, call it philosophy,
Scatter garbage all over your street and call it charity,

Ah but once upon a time, the line wasn't so fine between shit and Shinola...

I wrote "Mary had a little lamb" fifty times and won a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Journalistic Twaddle, Here's my Olympic gold medal for swimming the butterfly which to the untrained eye very closely resembles the dog paddle...

I can do anything I like and you can too, We can all agree to disagree while we look for somebody new to sue,Love means never having to say anything to anyone, And so I love everybody everywhere just for fun,

Ah but once upon a time, the line wasn't so fine between shit and Shinola...

credits

from Leftoverwhelming, released July 31, 2002
vonHummer: vocals, bass drone, hi-guitar drone, drum guitar.

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vonHummer Portland, Oregon

vonHummer is a Portland music/cable access legend whose career spanned from Fall of 2001 to Fall of 2011, during which he recorded a hundred or so songs for use in his absurdist show (and feature film) and played only a handful of concerts. Currently retired, his work shines on for the ages. Or will he someday return...? ... more

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