My Gen X Playlist: You Happy Puppet – 10,000 Maniacs

According to some, I’m a RINO. What the past eight years have taught me, I am now a man without a party. I began to feel this way immediately the moment Trump won the primary election for the 2016 presidential race. This was before the truly bat shit crazy hit the fan. I just couldn’t relate nor support a school yard bully. It’s progressively gotten worse by the day. Every time I said to myself It can’t get any worse than this, of course it did. I’ve stopped saying that altogether for fear my jinx will trigger the end of the world.

I’ve been a middle of the road moderate republican for most of my adult life. Some things lean left, other things lean right. No extremes, respecting and accepting all walks of life. But the pendulum has now swung so far out of view, I feel out of place. I am out of place. Am I ready to be a middle of the road democrat? When you think about it, it essentially is the same thing. The middle is the middle. The only thing that’s changed is the label and team colors. But it might take some time before I concede to wear the other team’s uniform, even though my voting record the past eight years says otherwise. So I’m not sure yet. Maybe I need to baby step it and hopscotch over to the independent side first. That may be a little more comfortable for now. I can balance myself in that hand drawn square as I try to choose the right pebbles to pick up and put in my pockets. In the meantime, I’m going to pray for normalcy and hope the pendulum swings back our way. On the other hand – wait. Maybe I shouldn’t. I don’t want to jinx that either.

My mind wandered from RINOs to rhinos to zoos. It settled on the 10,000 Maniacs album Blind Man’s Zoo. The album title was inspired by a game from a children’s book from Natalie Merchant’s collection. I’ve searched for more about the game, but yet to find a hint of it or how it’s played. As I read about the album, I discovered many of these songs followed the theme of betrayal. Betrayal in many forms – self betrayal, a nation betraying it’s citizens, nations betraying other nations, betrayal of race, to and from God. It’s a mixed bag of everything. From this collection, I chose You Happy Puppet for the playlist. It reminded me of many politicians blindly following their cult leader, abandoning decency and common sense. I often wonder if there will ever be some self-reflection on their part once the fairy dust is wiped away and they are forced to look at themselves in the mirror. Sadly, I don’t think they will care. If you are susceptible to stepping into the strings of a puppet, I think the odds for regret and redemption fall off a cliff. And that’s just sad.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string? 
How did you learn everything that comes along with slavish funnery? 
Tell me something, if the world is so insane, 
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your nodding head? 

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string? 
How do you manage to live inside this tiny stage you can't leave? 
Tell me something, if the world is so insane, 
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your nodding head? 

A dullard strung on the wire. 
When the master's gone you hang there with your eyes and your limbs so lifeless. 

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string? 
How do you manage to speak, your mouth a frozen grin? 

A dullard strung on the wire. 
When the master's gone you hang there with your eyes and your limbs so lifeless. 

Tell me something, if the world is so insane, 
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your empty wooden head? 

Your hollow head, your marble eyes, your wooden hands and your metal jaw pins 
all wait in limbo for the man who knows how to move you this way.