http://itunes.com/MichelGriffi n or http://www.MichelGriffin.com to download. A bikini sex-bomb in a thrilling exposé ... with a surprise ending.
YouTube chose to classify my previous 'Bikini' video as 'adult-only' thus slashing its audience from over 10,000 views per day to around 200. I decided to let that video reach a million viewers before uploading this version, which replaces the less than 8 seconds of contentious footage with the word 'censored'.
So I have replaced the nipple and the all-nude scene, while leaving in the real obscenities - the scenes of live animals being used to test the effects of radiation from an atom bomb, and children lying dead in a street in Iraq.
And while 'America, Come Weep' has lost some of its relevance, in the comparative enlightenment of the Obama presidency, it still has some resonance, I feel.
Here's how the video came about : In searching for video of an atom bomb, to illustrate my song, "America, Come Weep", I stumbled across the surreal Universal newsreel footage of "Operation Crossroads", the test of the first atom bomb in Bikini Lagoon. Curious, I then did some further research on the history of the Bikinian people (for which I would heartily recommend Jack Niedenthal's excellent site - http://www.bikiniatoll.com ) and the origin of the use of 'Bikini' for the swimsuit. I finally decided that it would make an excellent introduction to the film I had set out to make in the first place - which was an illustrated version of me singing the song, the lyrics of which are set out below. The song is © copyright M.J.C. Griffin [ASCAP] and may be downloaded from http://itunes.com/MichelGriffi n , http://cdbaby.com/cd/michelgri ffin or http://www.michelgriffin.com/A lbums.php .
America, Come Weep
It's a short step from the diner to the highway
It's a long haul from the mountains to the coast;
From the restless glance she flicked between the distance and the counter,
I'd say our laughter stirred a ghost.
Down the way, lights prickle at the edge of town,
As the cowboys gather, to watch the sun go down;
There's smoke and fire and laughter and hope for the ever-after
But I'd say that Destiny wears a frown.
America, come weep, for what's been lost and what's been stolen,
America, come weep, for all your pioneers of old;
For somewhere on the way, between dream and realisation,
I'd say you've gone and lost your soul.
With her elbows on the counter, and her eyes out on the highway,
The waitress in the diner watches the drivers come and go;
They all have destinations emblazoned on their faces,
Like the old heroes on horseback who made the horizon their home.
The evening news flickers from the TV in the corner,
Images of blood and death that'd make your stomach churn;
The waitress starts to wonder, as she polishes the glasses,
How a nation of refugees took to killing in their turn.
America, come weep, for what's been lost and what's been stolen,
America, come weep, for all your pioneers of old;
For somewhere on the way, between dream and realisation,
I'd say you've gone and lost your soul.
It's a short step from the diner to the highway
It's a long haul from the mountains to the coast;
From the restless glance she flicked between the distance and the counter,
I'd say our laughter stirred a ghost.
I have made use of footage available in the public domain, and extracts from films already posted to YouTube, and have named - where known - my sources. But I wish to make it clear that those sources were in no way involved in the making of this video. They do not necessarily partake of any opinions expressed or implied by the video. The girl at the begining is not Britney Spears, but Maya Sukura.
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