Added: 4 years ago
From: KneesTease
Views: 77,678
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (270)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • I'm kind of suprised there's so many people interpreting this song as an anti-Kennedy song. I've always interpreted it to be a song in dedication to the Kennedys rather than against them. And I don't see how her dancing during sad lyrics is "uniquely ironic." If that's true, then pretty much every musician that ever existed is being uniquely ironic. Dancing during emotional lyrics doesn't have any deeper meaning other than to liven up a music video. Would you prefer she stand in place?

  • cia is recording i dont know you;-]

  • most hasome women ive ever seen

  • Female mullet FTWWW

  • This would be a cool punk cover.

  • what a pretty man

  • its a place in time that moved so many of us,We all seem to think the Keendeys where the USA royals they were young clean cut but not dull and sappy, the keendeys made us feel strong young and that we had a chance against the big companys, thats all gone now the free world is locked into globel control.any way we can still rem and dream of the good old days

    Sex drugs and rock and roll

  • I bought the 7 inch single of this when it came out, I still have it in my collection, great song.

  • eh u fellas all too technical blahh blahh blahh take a chill pill shona lang rocks!!!

  • I like it quite much. Remembers me back in mid-1987, not to compare to today-rubbish, i. m. h. o.

  • Truly an amazing song, I was a kid when this came out and I bought it. Her follow up hit "Drive Baby Drive" is also brilliant.

  • @theivd dont suppose you bought " dont tell me " ?? would love to hear that again

  • Wow. How can people fail so badly at misinterpreting this sorrowful, sympathetic song that is upbeat about what JKG stood for? And to try and say only US artists can sing about the Kennedy family utterly ignores the worldwide impact they have had.

    Really... *shakes head* ...get a clue and get over yourselves.

  • You need to be a Kiwi - born in Shona's time to understand her lyrics. . .Go NZ . . .We know . .

  • I have loved song ever since it was released over twenty years ago. Never until now has it even crossed my mind that the song is doing anything else other than empathising with the Kennedy family

  • Comment removed

  • Love this song.

  • jfk was probably the last real president in america....since then there have been puppet presidents controlled by shadow govt. to me personally this is a song about paying the price for standing up for what you believe in. Jfk was about to have a major investigation within the corrupt banking system. so yeah imagine having the guts to do that and the price one would pay for it. an upbeat tempo for the hope of achieving something good for the people with a melonchony feel for the price paid

  • Comment removed

  • I like this video and and I posted it on my channel. The death of our president is a deeply personal thing for Americans and a national tragedy. To sing an upbeat song about his death is a bit odd indeed from my viewpoint but maybe not a foreigner. The lyrics are odd and quirky to me. She thought it would be a good idea to sink her teeth into this subject matter to sell records? This is a controversial song with it's subject matter but she is entitled to sing about whatever she wants to.

  • Aren't there any New Zealand politicians worth singing out about Shona,or was there more money to be made for you by using the Kennedy name?

  • @Lookinland Maybe, I'm glad I'm not a Clark or for that matter i'm glad I'm not a Muldoon

  • Shona Laing will never be as famous as them

    As always happens,top ppl are always being slagged off by ppl who are nothing lololol

  • @Lookinland She's sympathizing, she's not criticizing.

  • Comment removed

  • @peecee1384

    It doesn't sound sympathetic

  • @Lookinland Right, including speeches by Kennedy talking about achieving world peace, fundamental rights to life, and future generations in combinatuon with that sad violin shows no sympathy.

    Don't they teacg critical analysis when you people live?

  • @Lookinland She. Is. Not. Slagging. Them. And her comment is that fame is part of the tragedy for the family. That their drive and ambition to contribute to society also make them targets for people who would see them dragged down. She's talking about that tragedy, not slagging the family.

  • The Kennedys are heros forever for what they did for black ppl in the 50s and 60s

    Some non black ppl don't appreciate that

  • Why are there arguments about this track. She is more so sympathizing with the family more than anything! Geez, so many bigots on here!

  • @TheNouveauxdecadence

    I don't get that she's sympathising

  • I ADORE and I mean ADOOOOOORE this track. Always been a great lover of it. The violins, lyrics and whole being of it is just immensely GENIUS!

  • It seems people take things more literally than ever before. I think it's because of what I call the Internet generation. If the kids of the 80s were the Fast Food Generation, and wanted things fast, the youths of today want things NOW. And I have noticed they don't want subtlety or nuance in anything in their lives. They really react with knee-jerk reactions to most things. They seem incapable of figuring out how allusion or symbolism works. They want it all explained in black and white.

  • @TsugaruClan Interesting analysis.

  • @ksim43 It seems they're driven by an amoral apathy. They can't let anything (not other people's feelings or sensitivities, not logic or fact, laws or rules) get in the way of what they want. There's no reasoning with many of them. I scoffed when I heard some boss in her 50s say these millennials are positive and fearless. No, they're more shallow, juvenile (I think 30-plus is the new 21) and impatient than positive. They all think they're special by birth and blatantly lack respect for elders.

  • @TsugaruClan Keeping in mind the generalizations aren't going to really sum up any group, think it is interesting the effect of technology can have on a generation (as you pointed out) and there certainly is a shallow segment that I think does have a sense of entitlement on instant gratification without being able to apply a converse side of critical thinking. But there are also young people who as your boss describe who are looking to effect positive change. Ultimately, people are people.

  • kennedys 4 the win

  • (Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy HE WAS A COMMY!!

  • Damn, I'm Australian and asian and i find this offensive. there needs to be a fine line between free speech and plain insult.

  • @2013branth You have no idea what the song means.

  • @2013branth A) There is nothing insulting about this song. B) There does not need to be any line between free speech and insult or anything else for the very reason that you mistake this song for "insult". It's far too subjective a distinction and we would end up with very little to say because of the sensitivity and ignorance.

  • I would not want somebody singing about my family this way. The video images of Kennedy help soften the sting and slander of her words and yes I knew she was a New Zealander when she was singing the song. I'm sure the Kennedys are a proud family even though they have dealt with tragedies and dark times like all familes go through.

  • @strangeuniverse1 You have no idea what the song means.

  • @strangeuniverse1 Your last sentence, that's what the song is saying. Don't take the song title so literally. The line "Imagine being a Kennedy" is your first key to understanding what it's about. And your awareness can also grow with this line: "The world loves a sacrifice." She's singing of, and to, the tragedy that seems to follow the Kennedy family, and she wouldn't want to have to experience that pain, nor would she wish it on others.

  • @strangeuniverse1 This family was very much in the worldwide public eye. We felt every single tragedy that befell them. I was 12 yrs old hanging some laundry outside when my mother came running out to say JFK had been assassinated. I cried. I had just come home from school one day when my mother told me about Bobby. I cried. I was 12 yrs old and living in New Zealand. I for one, am glad Im not a Kennedy.

  • This does not seem like the kind of song an American would sing and write. I like the song, it just seems a bit odd to hear a song about an assasinated president of our country. I like the video clips of Kennedy, they are great for all those that were too young or not born yet during that time period.

  • @strangeuniverse1 Shona is not an American she is from New Zealand... and if you really understand the lyrics the song is talking about all the tradegic outcomes of the one family. Shona is known for her political songs...look at Soviet Snow as another great example of her political standings.

  • I knew a Kennedy, I hope things work out for him.

  • Could 'when we try too hard' be the Greek tragic hubris?

  • In the beginning, the dunes looks like she's walkin on the moon. A big JFK aspiration and another irony in the video

  • The irony of the dancing and tragic lyrics at 2'17" - 2'23" is stunning and unique. Maybe the best song since Sympathy For the Devil. Brilliant, better second time round. Anybody got a thought about the words, 'we laugh when we try too hard, we stop and start..'?

  • Fantastic song, great rhythm in the vocals! She must've been around for awhile to sing like that. "I love the look in your eyes, I can see your soul sometimes" the best line in pop rock since Eleanor Rigby. Great vibe from her appearance.

  • I heard this song in the late 80ties and before the internet-era it wasnt even possible to investigate the nz-context. OK its business to use the name of the american habsburgs for sale but the performance is still the same good.

  • NOW ALL WE NEED IS men at work lol

  •  (Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy

  • If you like this you'll like Soviet Snow

  • Wow this was Great Kiwi Music back in the 80's remember this growing up!

  • This brings back so many memories of the fall '88 during my last few months living in L.A. That song was played everywhere, and I hadn't seen the video until now.

  • eventually the truth will come out; when the FBI files are released. What did Lee Harvey Oswald say "I'm just a patsy"....he was.

  • So awesome haven't heard this for ages!!

  • Such a emotional song, such a waste of a fine young president in his prime.

  • How a fabulous song like this and her brilliant album 'South' simply disappeared into almost anonymity is a crime...

    A fabulous song and singer....rock on Shona... 

  • Shona Laing released this song in 1987

    She is one fantastic chick, just love her

  • yea gr8 song, the Kennedys are not cursed thats just a myth

  • im glad im not a kennedy

  • @atutahiwahanga

    hahaha my eldest son is named kennedy people used to sing this to him all the time lol

  • this song to me has always been the most incredible piece of Music. The words video everything still after all these years still hold nearly no1 to me.

  • Very compelling lyrics. I recall this song at high school. JFK was a very passionate visionary if somewhat delusional, especially regarding the space race to the moon. However, it was an obsession for the CIA and NASA in order to beat the USSR. You'd love this song if you're a Papist. I just like the historical context and a very good composition by Shona Laing.

  • Excellent song! Fine pop song indeed.

  • Loved this song years ago, did never get to know who sang it, till today. Internet is great, thank you youtube!!!!.

  • this was banned in the states

  • I bought this lower New York when just came out- still in original wrapper from overseas- was in Army and on leave- think it was around mid 80s

  • I LOVE mp3iffy it WORKS just google mp3iffy.

  • v v heartattack I meant which can be painful anyway v v

  • The way Kennedy died created the greatest public murder mystery of all time and just eternalised the power of the kennedy camelot mystique

    If he died from a boring heartache,he wouldnt be so memorialised

    Some of the other presidents are pretty much unspoken about.

    Kennedy and Lincoln will never be forgotten and arguably its thanks to a loaded gun!! :-)

  • @LookinIand you dumplin

  • What are these idiots talking about 'listen to the lyrics'

    I've read them she doesnt say anything and its repeated!!!

    Shes used jfk s speech more

    NZ obviously desperate for an idol

  • I don't think Bobby Brady gets the deeper meaning of this song.

  • @BluePedal

    Its quite shallow really

    She probably was sitting on a couch watching a news item or somethin and said to someone with her'ooh im glad im not a kennedy...hey i'll make that a song'

    yeah real deep hahahahahaa...stupid kiwis

  • jeez, calm down people. she is not saying anything like 'im glad im not a kennedy, because they were a bunch of whatever...' if anything she is empathising with, or at least trying to, the kennedys. ie 'imagine being a kennedy' would you trade all the money, adulation and fame for having so many members of your family die in such tragic circumstances?

  • @mattykuchar

    If what you read into it is the case,well they're not the only political leaders who were wealthy and famous to be shot

    Why focus/pick on the 2 Kennedy brothers?

  • @mattykuchar bullseye

  • @mattykuchar Her words in this song are very pointed and direct. Compare this song to U2's tribute to Martin Luther King which is a better written song than this one and a tune everyone knows. Maybe Shona Laing should take notes from Bono on how to write a better song about a fallen national hero.

  • @strangeuniverse1 Disagree. 'Pride (In The Name Of Love)' is anthemic, rousing yet simple in structure, conveying its message to the masses and taking them with it to the roar of a huge chorus. Laing's song sounds as if she's just read the Kennedy story and been flattened by it. It's totally different to 'Pride'. It's almost a stream-of-consciousness sonic collage, complete with a grieving violin and JFK soundbites. In no way is it singalong ... but both songs radiate empathy for their subject.

  • @mattykuchar plagued by bad luck _The Kennedys'

  • @mattykuchar What would be wrong about criticising the Kennedy's anyway - corrupt and immoral, associates of the Mafia and Nazis, and invaders of Cuba and Vietnam. Not nice people. No wonder they were all assassinated.

  • @royalcourtier er, BS

  • @royalcourtier Nothing wrong with criticizing the Kennedys Matty boy, but get your facts straight. Kennedy opposed the invasion of Cuba during the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and we we had been involved in Vietnam since 1945. RFK was a ruthless SOB in the beginning but evolved into a champion of the poor before he was assassinated. Joe Jr died when his plane blew-up on a bombing mission in

  • @royalcourtier Nothing wrong with criticizing the Kennedys Matty boy, but get your facts straight. Kennedy opposed the invasion of Cuba during the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and we had been involved in Vietnam since 1945, long before JFK took office. RFK was a ruthless SOB in the beginning but evolved into a champion of the poor before he was assassinated '68. Joe Jr died when his plane blew-up on a bombing mission in WWII, so they're weren't all assassinated.

  • @mattykuchar Running comeback reply for a long timein NZ for the word " Yes" was " Are the Kennedy's gunshy?"

  • @mattykuchar And also,what a lot of people dont know was that she got permission from the Kennedy's to use footage of him,and they approved the song before it was released...how many artists today would do that?

  • @saltydog45 wow, great info! man, this song ruled back then and it still kicks A today!!!!

  • Shona Laing is supercool

  • arrogant kiwi!!

    Kennedy was a King amongst men!

    i'M STILL GLAD i;M NOT A LAING!!

  • @LookinIand

    Look dick wad, listen to the lyrics, she wasnt having a crack at the Kennedys, just at the politics, and just because you dont agree with her you dont need to pass judgement on her charactor, and just for the record, the Kennedys were unfortunatly cursed, so who would want to be them

  • @LookinIand

    I'm glad I'm not Lookinland

  • @LookinIand

    You know the problem with you Yanks? you have on your money 'in God we trust' yet you make gods out of everyone.

    not to mention we all know what four letter word rythms with Yank

  • @screamandshout100

    jfk did a lot of good for example he worked for freedom for black ppl and if theres a God,he she it wouldve willed that

    He was working towards making this a better world as many ppl had a vision for back then

  • @LookinIand Foolish Olivia Newton John loving person you are. ;) And shallow too. Look a wee bit deeper lookinland....lolol

  • the Kennedys are world renowned public figures

    shona laing is nobody

    shona who?

  • Shona Laing always rocked. What a great role model for women in New Zealand. Shame her song didn't say "Glad I'm not an Indian Female". The 90 million aborted female foetus would scream out in accord. I am NOT anti-abortion, but selective Gender abortion makes me want to PUKE.

  • JFK,RFK,and Teddy were my heroes

  • @SearchForTomorrow YES!! and shona laingy waingy is from a menial island in the pacific and hardly anyones heard of her,tha stupid stuckup she male wanna be LOL

  • @LookinIand They say that misery loves company. There must be a group in your area you could join.

  • I'M GLAD I'M NOT A LAING

  • @Lookinland wanker

  • @SpencerStreetStation

    I'M GLAD I'M NOT A LAING

  • Good song this one. Shona Laing was great. Haven't heard from her in ages, anyone got any news?

  • Comment removed

  • I'm glad I don't have a bad mullet like that

  • An American president chewing gum.

    What an innocence the world has lost.

  • Great song, but it is weird how much she looks like Mel Gibson in Mad Max (the original, not The Roadwarrior) except he didn't have the duck tail! I like the Obi wan Kenobe look though.

  • i bet you would sniff her undies asshole

  • Good to see you're listening to what she's saying, rather than being superficial. She actually wrote the song after seeing some news piece on the Kennedys on the telly, and turning to her HUSBAND and saying "G.I.N.A.K." (hence the song of the same name).

  • she had no husband, she is a dyke so had a female partner!

  • Oh. OK. Well, that makes it EVEN MORE important to listen to what she's saying, rather than being distracted by her appearance or her sexuality. It's a great ditty.

  • Wow... wholesale abuse of Fairlight keyboards and women with mullets. Glad some things from the 80s aren't around 20 years later. ;)

  • fuck kennedys!!!thery are corrupts!!death usa!!long live communism!lLenin lives forever!

  • @Leninsicklehammer  FUCK YOU ASS LICKER

  • SOME people with the name Kennedy will take what you said as shit .watch your back commo pig rooter

  • what a loser

  • IM GLAD IM NOT A LAING HAHA...

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • I focus on the positve things the Kennedys have done and say thank god for their political presence then and now

  • We all will die oneday,even Miss Laing will,so we're all cursed!

  • @SearchForTomorrow:

    For old Joe Kennedy, dying wasn't a curse, it was an end to an exquisite torture he imposed on himself, and unto his seventh generation.

    Or maybe it wasn't the end?

    After all, he pretended to be a catholic?

  • Cathlocism is a pretence

  • Martin Luther King,John Lennon,Ronald Reagan and many non Kennedys all got shot

    Why she focus on Kennedys?

  • Because it was written years ago and she just wanted to sing about the Kennedy's. Perhaps you could write to her and ask her to do one about John Lennon but Imagine seems to do the trick in remembrance.

  • Because the Kennedy's are the closest thing America has to royalty and unthinkable tragedy has been visited upon them over and over again. The burden of having the name Kennedy and the fear that goes along with it must be enormous. Even members of the family started to believe in a Kennedy curse. Its not a song about someone famous who got shot it's about a much larger concept. Don't oversimplify it.

  • Thats my point again!!

    I mean,lots of familys have tragedies!

    JFK jnr isn't the only public figure to die in a plane crash

    Edward isn't the first person to crash whilst drunk and kill his passenger

    and the assassinations weren't the first political shootings.

    Drug addiction happens to anyone!

    I don't believe in no curse!

  • Comment removed

  • @SearchForTomorrow

    the song came out in the 80's it was a social commentary for that time period - still relevant now - great song then and still is

  • this song ddn't get the attention it deserved. such a sad song..."wearing the fame, like a loaded gun, tied up with a rosary...." simply tear jerking and heartbreaking.

  • Totally agree with you and couldn't understand why it didn't do more. Loved this song when it first came out and was wrapt to find it again here a few months ago.

  • this song reminds me of my trip to germany because it was one of 25 songs they played on the planes stereo...i would time it perfectly so that i could hear this song over and over on the head phones.

  • This song always makes me sad, especially around this time of the year.

    Beautiful melody, though.

  • I'm looking for downloadable versions of Shona's albums "Tied To The Tracks" (1982) and "Genre"(1985) if anyone has them. Thanks!

  • if u read this shit shona...i rekon ur fukin cool...im not as old or wrinkly as u but i know what ur on about...u hate black jelly beans rite???????me too!!!! hello

  • I love her lesbian mullet hair!

    I wonder if she cut herself walking through that pampas/toi toi?

    Great song!

  • lmao lesbian mullet hair isn't it just and the little toe jig dancing she does

  • RIP Teddy! We love you to Patrick! RI Resident

  • Dubs of Kennedy's great, great speeches ..

    .. good song.

    Intuitive lyrics ..

  • She got special permission from the Kennedy's when she did the song to use the dubs...with their approval . Yes,great song,and a he was a great visionary....there's not many that can say they prevented a nuclear war.

  • After lunch, Miss Nelson resumed her reading of 'The Yearling' but had only gone a few minutes into it when the principle (this was 6th grade) opened the door and said, "Miss Nelson. Something has happened," and said it with such worry that everybody responded in kind.

    I remember thinking that this was it, the nuclear war.

    But instead, they sent us home, because President Kennedy had been assassinated.

    Ashes in our mouths.

  • wow, great storytelling, Ark. well done.

  • .......

  • I am in love with this hairstyle.

  • It's has a beautiful, haunting melody.

    I remember the first time I heard this song in the 80's. I was totally entranced by the beauty of the music and her fantastic voice.

  • terrifying mullet

  • very sad - yes I too thought of this after Ted's death. Ted will be very much missed.

  • you're beached as!

  • This deserves more airplay. Thanks for posting.

  • in light of ted kennedy's death the family released a statement to the press today declaring their happiness that shona laing is not a kennedy. the baldwin family were not available for comment as to whether they would approve shona's request to write im glad im not a baldwin.

  • Comment removed

  • exquisite sadness. a lot like America: missed opportunities to be a fully formed, compassionate nation, until now with the redneck ruin we are behind every other modern nation in the world, and falling like the fallen. (Now let's have a shriveled pnis hick baboon waddle in here to squat and do what u freaks do so well....)

  • Funny thing.....Me Too !

  • after reading the news about Ted Kennedy, I thought about this song. Thanks for posting it.

  • just like me when I heard...the very first thought was this song....I remember watching RTR when I first came out...

  • know wonder the Dead Kennedy's (band) is famous

  • my god, another old almost forgotten high school song, thanks for posting! Great track.

  • Nice mullet, Shona!

  • Heard this once on the radio 20 years ago. Brilliant lyrics that made me weep. Tried to find it at the music stores but it was like nobody nobody else had ever heard of it. I thought of the song today for some reason, and the internet brought it to me in about 3 seconds. Still makes me weep for that poor blessed/cursed family.

  • That's exactly what I wanted to write - hart to get infos...

  • Great song!

  • burp