3/19/09: The Bobs
                      “Please Let Me Be Your Third World Country” (1987)

This site could knock out ten entries a week if it was about conservatives bungling pop culture. We were reminded of that while listening to Sean Hannity the other day, as he proclaimed that it was crazy to imagine that a right-winger could also be a Led Zeppelin fan. Here’s something more fit for Hannity’s crowd, since The Bobs are a harmless musical comedy act originally out of San Francisco.

They’ve been around for over two decades with their a cappella antics. That’s particularly impressive since The Bobs were performing “Please Let Me Be Your Third World Country” as early as 1984. The crowds in San Francisco must’ve had a better sense of humor back then. Not that there’s anything particularly daring about this tune. It’s just a catchy look at the ordeal of trying to tolerate a Leftist love interest.

The tune’s written by Bobs songwriters Gunnar Madsen and Richard Greene, and the actual delivery is kind of irritating. A lot of good jokes get lost in The Bobs’ needlessly complex harmonizing. They might as well be trained seals honking horns. Still, “Please Let Me Be Your Third World Country” is a touching tale of exasperation best served by just reading the lyrics:

    I was sensitive before it was in style
    But that was never enough
    Every new philosophy that you’d adopt
    Seemed to make sense to me, too

    When we tripped together, I thought we were in love
    When I saw colors, you saw pigs
    Then you took me to the sit-in at the Pentagon
    How you opened up my eyes

         You got into knowing yourself
         I got into knowing myself
         Everything I did was
         Everything you did
         I always was one step behind
         In my personal growth

    When we pulled the last troops out of Vietnam
    I thought you’d have more time for screwing
    How could I have been so blind to women’s rights and such
    There's always so much to be doing

    It was so hard for me to give up wearing fur
    But in my heart I feel much better
    The whales are safe for now, but Nicaragua burns
    I just can't share your concern any more

         Just give some attention to me
         The world is okay, let it be
         Just give some attention to me
         Please let me be your third world country

    And I'll be:

    Politically Correct
         Donate all your co-op dividends to me
    Politically Correct
         Hold a benefit for me, a benefit for me
    Politically Correct
         You and Jackson Browne can write a song for me
    Politically Correct
         Honk if you love me
    Politically Correct
         I’ll build a wheelchair ramp to your heart
    Politically Correct
         I’m an endangered species, so save me
    Politically Correct
         I have 70,000 signatures demanding you go home with me tonight
    Politically Correct
         Taste me, taste me, I’m organic!
    Politically Correct
         Take off your hats, this is the climax

Make it your own: “Please Let Me Be Your Third World Country” is from The Bobs’ My, I’m Large. It was out of print for a while, but the CD was reissued last year. There was likely much new demand.

 

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