Seamus got me thinking about a Don Henley song, I think it is relevant to this conversation plus the comments after the lyrics. Little Tin God
Song Title: Little Tin God
Credits: Don Henley, J.D. Souther, Danny Kortchmar
Album: The End of the Innocence
Mood:
Lyrics
A new age is dawning
On fewer than expected
Business as usual
That’s how the headline read
Some shaky modern saviors
Have now been resurrected
In all this excitement
You may have been misled
People want a miracle
They say oh lord, can’t you see us?
We’re tryin’ to make a livin’ down here
And keep the children fed
But, from little dark motel rooms
To six flags over jesus
How are the mighty fallen
So the Bible said
You don’t have to pray to a little tin god
Step out of the way for a little tin god
You might fear the reaper, you might fear the rod
But you never have to get down on your knees
You don’t have to holler, please, please
No, you never have to get down on your knees
For a little tin god
The cowboy’s name was jingo
And he knew that there was trouble
So in a blaze of glory
He rode out of the west
No one was ever certain
What it was that he was sayin’
But they loved it when he told them
They were better than the rest
But you don’t have to pray for a little tin god
Step out of the way for a little tin god
You might hate to system, hate the job
But you never have to get down on your knees
You don’t have to holler, please, please
No, you never have to get down on your knees
For a little tin god
Throw down a rope from heaven
And lead the flock to water
The man in the middle would have you think
That you have no other choice
But to wander in the wilderness
Of all the upturned faces
If you stop and listen long enough
You will hear your own small voice
But you don’t have to pray to a little tin god
Step out of the way for a little tin god
You might fear the reaper, fear the rod
But you never have to get down on your knees
You don’t have to holler, please, please
No, you never have to get down on your knees
You don’t have to holler, please, please
You never have to get down on your knees
For a little tin god
Commentary: If you were teaching a history class about the 1980s in America, Don's The End of the Innocence album would be a great study tool. The political and social commentary on this album captures the moods and attitudes of the 80s in a musical time capsule.
Little Tin God, while commenting on society, has its roots in some of Henley's core beliefs (at least the ones he's talked about in public). The overriding theme of the song is that you need to look to yourself rather than looking at leaders who are just as human and flawed as we are. The answers are inside. This is a theme that gets repeated both in Henley's Eagles work (Learn to Be Still) and more recent Henley solo recordings (They're Not Here, They're Not Coming). In the case of Little Tin God, his commentary provides some great Henley images.
What does it mean: (Symbols & Allusions)
Little Tin God -- According to several idiomatic dictionaries, a LTG is a self-important pompous person or someone or something held in excessively or unjustifiably high esteem.
Shakey Modern Saviors -- The 1980s were full of scandals involving popular televangelists (TV preachers) who got caught doing things men of god shouldn't get caught doing. There's a great list of these men and how they lost their way at the Wikipedia. Some of these guys are singled out, though in the song.
But, from little dark motel rooms...Jimmy Swaggert was caught on film taking a prostitute to a hotel.
To six flags over Jesus This is one of my favorite Henleyisms. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker of PTL had their huge religious empire crumple in the midst of financial and sexual scandals. One of the things that got sidelined was the Bakker's religious theme park, Heritage USA. Six Flags Over...is an American chain of Amusement parks. You can see photos of Heritage USA back when it was running and now that it has been abandoned.
How are the might fallen; so the Bible says: "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights.
How the mighty have fallen" (2 Samuel 1:19)
The cowboy’s name was Jingo: Jingoism is a term describing chauvanistic patriotism, usually with a hawkish political stance. In plain language it means bullying other countries, or, using whatever means necessary to safeguard a country's national interests. Since this is the 80s, the cowboy is none other than Ronald Reagan (take into consideration that Reagan acted in many cowboy movies and enjoyed riding horses on his ranch in California. The verse goes on to say that the cowboy "rode out of the West".
No one was ever certain / What it was that he was sayin’ / But they loved it when he told them /
They were better than the rest. Reagan's nickname was the Great Communicator and part of his appeal was to reconvince Americans of their greatness. Reagan reintroduced patriotism and flag waving after the 70s which President Jimmy Carter refered to as an American malaise. Reagan inspired optimism in Americans which one of the reasons he continues to be popular. Don, though, is saying that all of his pretty words covered up horrible destructive policies. So..in this song, Reagan is a Little Tin God not worthy of worship as well.
If you stop and listen long enough /You will hear your own small voice This is a common theme in Henley songs..in fact its the entire point of "Learn to Be Still". The verses that come before this line paint a picture of people looking for someone to lead them. This man in the middle...some sort of preacher acting as an intermediary between the people and God is supposed to lead them to water. Instead, Don exhorts people to look inside for leadership. To listen to their own small voice. This idea of an inner voice can be found in both the writings of Transcendentalists like Emerson (who Henley admired) and in the Bible (And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1 Kings 19: 11-13)
What Don Says:
'I was looking for the big questions: why are we here, where are we going, why do good people die early. The First Baptist Church wasn't working for me, so I found Emerson and Thoreau and transcendentalism. I could see God in nature rather than in the church, listening to someone yell at me about hellfire and damnation.'
"Yeah. I've got a hard-on for Jerry Falwell and those preachers. I just finished a book called God's Bullies about those guys. I grew up a Southern Baptist and I know what it is to be scared into religion ... all that hell fire and damnation."
" Believe me, these times are just as urgent, just as dangerous, as the Sixties, and there's just as much to rally behind. Especially with Reagan telling us how America is back on track. America is NOT back on track. Peopel are still homeless, peopel are still out of work, the farmers are going out of business and we're experiencing the biggest deficit in history. A large part of the nation ahs gone back to a narrow, fundamentalist way of thinking. We think God is an American"
This all sounds familiar, right?
? It should, it is still happening today almost thirty years later.
