Roy Zimmerman
Thanks for the Support
Satirical songs in the Tom Lehrer tradition - funny songs about ignorance, war and greed.
Like any good candidate in an election year, Roy Zimmerman is trying to sell his record. “Thanks for the Support” is Zimmerman’s new CD, full of fiercely funny songs about this political season.
And Zimmerman’s made a “campaign promise” to perform in all fifty states before the election.
“Thanks for the Support” features twelve new original satirical songs. The tracks were recorded live over the last few months, capturing the infectious comedic energy of Zimmerman’s performance, his manic vocalizations and his virtuosity as a guitarist.
It’s the satirical songwriter’s sixth solo release, available at his website www.royzimmerman.com. The Los Angeles Times says, “Zimmerman displays a lacerating wit and keen awareness of society’s foibles that bring to mind a latter-day Tom Lehrer.”
Who is Zimmerman thanking for the support? “Well, I owe a lot to the Bush administration,” he says. “Political comedians are the only subgroup of the American workforce for whom Bush has provided job security.”
One song imagines George Bush on a date with the nation of Iraq. “I’ll Pull Out,” he promises.
But it’s not all Bush-bashing, or “Bush-banishing,” as Zimmerman calls it now. There’s a campaign anthem for the current Republican nominee, “The Man, the Myth, the McCain.” “Burn Goody Clinton” conjures up the witch hunt that followed Hillary throughout the primaries.
And his Obama song is sung to a popular melody by Mozart. “Eine Kleine Barackmusik” is already a favorite on YouTube.
The CD begins with the words, “A message of hope from the great Bay Area...” and ends with the words, “...I am.” This may have been unintentional, or it may be a de facto statement of Zimmerman’s purpose in creating “Thanks for the Support” and taking it to every corner of this country.
The title song is a bitterly ironic take on all those \"Support Our Troops\" yellow ribbons. “Irony is the arugula in the salad of satire,” Zimmerman explains.
Zimmerman shows his true political colors in the CD’s opening track. “Do you know how hard it is,” he mock-complains, “to be a Liberal?” The lyrics of his songs skewer all manner of political and social targets, but always from the Left.
He has vowed to campaign in all fifty states before the election Tuesday, November 4. He’s covered only ten states so far. Here’s his spin: “The touring schedule intensifies over the Summer, goes into hyperdrive in the Fall and takes a long, hot bath November 5.”
Part of the intention is to take his Progressive songs to some less-than-Progressive places, and find the Bluest people in the Reddest states.
In a bar in Arlington, Texas recently, Zimmerman was accosted onstage by a patron who took issue with his message, yanking the cord from his guitar and snarling, “This is over!” The man was bounced from the bar before Zimmerman could subdue him with cleverness.
Zimmerman has shared the stage with George Carlin, Ellen Degeneres, Arlo Guthrie, Bill Maher, Peter and Paul (but not Mary), Kate Clinton, Bill Clinton and Paul Krassner He’s played a series of shows swapping songs with The Pixies\' Frank Black.
He founded and wrote all the material for the satirical folk quartet The Foremen, who recorded for Warner Reprise throughout the Nineties.
Tom Lehrer himself says, \"I congratulate Roy Zimmerman on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs. And the rhymes actually rhyme, they don\'t just \'rhyne.\'\"
Joni Mitchell says, \"Roy\'s lyrics move beyond poetry and achieve perfection.\"
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Spoken Word: Satire