TAXI.com

I recently wrote a song that makes a political/religious statement. I asked myself from a spiritual standpoint, why God was lifting his blessings off of America. I came up with some ideas based on the bible. I asked myself what was America doing wrong in the here and now to anger God and cause Him to lift his blessings. Then I wrote a song about it called, "America. You Reap What You Sow." Here's the lyrics:America, You Reap What You SowYou were the home of the strong and the brave and the freeAnd that’s the way God wanted it to be.But you’ve turned from God to your evil ways.It had to catch up with you someday.Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know? All those kids on the streets without Daddies,Taking drugs and living violent TV.And the ones that were and never will be,God formed in the womb and you will see.Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know? When you tamper with God’s covenant Jews,Dividing Israel is trouble for you.The bible says you’re poking God’s eye.If you wanna be blessed, do think that’s wise?Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know?Bridge:If you turn back to God, Humble yourselves in prayer.God will forgive and He will heal this land. Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know?Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There IS a God, you know.I knew that it was unlikely that the song could ever go anywhere but everyone I sang it for loved it and thought I should do a demo in spite of that fact that it's not a commercial song. So, I put a cassette in an envelope and I sent it to a new demo service that I was trying out in the US...in hindsight, maybe not the best move. In my whole life I don't remember any mail of mine ever getting lost. That demo has not reached it's destination in over a month. It recently occurred to me that maybe it was held up indefinitely at the border. Maybe I'm just being paranoid or having an overly active imagination but I wonder if my song has been censored. Has anyone here ever had a similar experience? Have you ever come up against the thought police?

Applying a little Occam's Razor, here: It got lost in the mail. Seriously, the US mail is still private and constitutionally protected from searches without a court order, involving judges and lawyers, which costs money, which even the former administration preferred to use for stuff like hunting terrorists-of course, it's still possible you're being censored; the private entity you sent the piece to might not like the sentiments being expressed therein, and have every right to politely decline your business, but this seems very unlikely as it's widely known that we Americans are greedy and will do anything for a dollar, even a Canadian dollar, especially these days. [typing with tongue firmly in cheek]

Yeah, just email them an mp3. Should be fine. Stuff gets "temporarily" lost occassionally.

I like this saying:"When you hear hoofbeats approaching in Texas, expect horses, not zebras".It's usually a simple explanation, not something weird happening.

Why is it whenever I hear hooves approaching and I'm expecting horses, it's usually zebras? That's it! I'm moving to Texas! I thought that the mail was searched by customs officers for acts of terrorism, ie. bombs or Anthrax stuffed in things like cassettes. The policy of the new Obama government is to divide up Israel and split Jerusalem in half; half to the Jews and half to the Palistiinians. Within days of Condolisa (spelling?) Rice's announcement of this policy, the stock market crashed and the economy took a dive. (While Senior Bush was in a meeting to plan something similar for Israel, his house was destroyed by an act of God. Waves took it down. It would make me ask myself why if it happened to me)Anyway, I thought maybe my political statement was unappreciated under the circumstances, criticizing current government policy and all of that, albeit in a song. Mojobone: The company never got it so it's not them. I believe they are an honest company. If they got it and they objected to the lyrics, they'd just say so and give me my money back or apply it towards another demo. It just hasn't got there yet. So far everyone thinks it's lost in the mail. Maybe it is. I'm depressed because I needed it finished for this weekend. I was going to play it for a group of Christian musicians meeting this weekend in Ottawa. It would have been finished by now if this annoying delay hadn't happened.

It could have gotten lost in the mail...It could have been intercepted by the Government...of course, if we are exploring all possibilities, maybe God didn't like you speaking for him? *kidding*

Can we keep the Wrath of God stuff off this music site please? Even out of this general hangout area? I'm so completely not "offended", but I also so completely and fundamentally just don't want to know what people here believe (some of it is probably scary), and I think it is mildly insensitive to assume that anyone does. There are fantastic sites elsewhere on this here Interweb for that type of thing, and although it is not my prerogative to say this, I doubt that Taxi wants to be one of them.Pitterpatter, I've seen you post and you seem pretty cool but please think about what you're posting in this instance. No matter how fervently you believe whatever it is that you believe, you can be 100% sure that there are others who, equally as fervently, equally as convinced, and with just as much or as little proof, believe what they believe - and we don't want people unleashing their beliefs on each other here - that way madness lies (or at least Godwin's Law).

Mar 6, 2009, 2:50pm, toddt wrote:Can we keep the Wrath of God stuff off this music site please? Even out of this general hangout area? I'm so completely not "offended", but I also so completely and fundamentally just don't want to know what people here believe (some of it is probably scary), and I think it is mildly insensitive to assume that anyone does. There are fantastic sites elsewhere on this here Interweb for that type of thing, and although it is not my prerogative to say this, I doubt that Taxi wants to be one of them.Pitterpatter, I've seen you post and you seem pretty cool but please think about what you're posting in this instance. No matter how fervently you believe whatever it is that you believe, you can be 100% sure that there are others who, equally as fervently, equally as convinced, and with just as much or as little proof, believe what they believe - and we don't want people unleashing their beliefs on each other here - that way madness lies (or at least Godwin's Law). That's hilarious. You're worried that people might be offended by mentioning God? You post this, right after posting the Biggie vs Thomas vid? Are you out of your freaking mind? Who says you get to tell people how to behave? You're joking right? Any God is fine with me.

Steve, easy now - I'm not worried about people getting offended - especially by mentioning God. You don't know my religious beliefs, nor do I want you to. I just don't think it's a constructive thing to discuss here, and (though I did say it's not my place to speak for them) I think it neither befits nor merits the Taxi forum whatsoever to discuss things like who God wants to kill, help, harm, etc. What I should have said was "that way lies Westboro...".And I see your point with the biggie vs thomas thing - that was, unfortunately for me, properly ill-timed although I do thoroughly stand by my opinion that it is extreme comedy gold and brilliantly well done to boot (and in my defense, it was relevant to this music site and also came with a warning...). More importantly however, did you enjoy it?!

Mar 6, 2009, 2:50pm, toddt wrote:Can we keep the Wrath of God stuff off this music site please? Even out of this general hangout area? I'm so completely not "offended", but I also so completely and fundamentally just don't want to know what people here believe (some of it is probably scary), and I think it is mildly insensitive to assume that anyone does. There are fantastic sites elsewhere on this here Interweb for that type of thing, and although it is not my prerogative to say this, I doubt that Taxi wants to be one of them.Pitterpatter, I've seen you post and you seem pretty cool but please think about what you're posting in this instance. No matter how fervently you believe whatever it is that you believe, you can be 100% sure that there are others who, equally as fervently, equally as convinced, and with just as much or as little proof, believe what they believe - and we don't want people unleashing their beliefs on each other here - that way madness lies (or at least Godwin's Law). eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwThis is censorship