From the recording Passion Play
Make Up Your Own Mind was originally conceived and written in 1982 after reading Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I did a re-write of it in 2004 after Bush and Cheney were reelected – at which time I was not a happy camper. And now 21 years after that, the song seems just as relevant as ever, given our current state of affairs.
It is disconcerting how many are willing, even eager, to take on faith the lofty lies and inverted realities of the many politicians who have bought their way into our lives by way of the TV set and the so-called ‘smart phone’. Theirs is a world where black is white, up is down, wrong is right, where herd mentality runs rampant, where gaslighting is king, and where Winning is Everything. Those who would subdue us are only too happy to do our thinking for us – but for that to happen we first have to give them permission to do so.
The deception, the disillusion, the constant, exhausting, toxic barrage of media blitz – all bring their nefarious forces to bear on what’s left of us, the ‘Great Unwashed’ - and to get out of this conundrum we need to start thinking for ourselves and owning our own minds.
Lyrics
Make Up Your Own Mind
Speeding through the sleepy half-light
Towards another nightmare day
Screaming two lanes to the horizon
Gonna wire up today
Gonna find some place to believe in
Where oh where is the USA?
Where are the free and the brave
Out here on Interstate 80 West?
Scared, naked, needing a shave and a bed
Lay this head to rest
Up all night with Mr. Jack Daniels
Trying not to be so mad
Thinking how they’ve rigged the system
Miss America’s been had
You know the thing that really gets me
The dream that scares me bad
What if all of the Big Boys were found to be shrinking
And we woke up to the Media doing our thinking…
Make up your own mind
Whatcha gonna do with this
Make up your own mind
Can you imagine it
Owner of your own mind,
How ya gonna make it fit?
Because you don’t need me if your head is free
Make up your own mind
Clear across this frantic desert
In a Cad steaming antifreeze
Only looking for some action
When we crashed into a new disease
We couldn’t see the mountains for the valleys
Couldn’t see the forests for all the TVs
Hey what say kick some ass
Hit the gas, let’s get outta here
Such a noisy time
With the radio jerking off right into your ear…
Make up your own mind
Whatcha gonna do with this
Make up your own mind
Can you imagine it
Own your own mind
Or what is the sense in it?
Because you won’t need me when your head gets free
Make up your own mind
Now I’ve sworn off Mr. Jack Daniels
I NEVER make mistakes
I ALWAYS just say ‘thank you, no’
To the druggies and the fakes
I’m as straight as a jacketed C.P.A.
…and still my body shakes
It’s a Magically-Delicious-Wacky-Big-Balls -Event
C’mon EVERYBODY SING!!!
All juiced up for another round of
Winning Is Everything
Make up your own mind…
Music & Lyrics by George Wallace
© 2005 Celestial Songs (ASCAP)