Sweet, sweet dissidence

When a kind-hearted, soft-spoken gentleman like Burt Bacharach confronts The Regime in song, a reckoning is taking shape somewhere in the infinite black ether.

Burt Bacharach unleashes his X-rated lyrics
Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

With the "explicit" version of his "Who Are These People?" song now hitting iTunes with his full approval, legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach is facing a fresh wave of controversy. This version of his anti-administration song features Elvis Costello wailing an expletive at the end.

Bacharach already won Grammy honors for his highly political "At This Time" album, which contains "Who Are These People?" However, the version of the song that went out on CD was "settling," says Bacharach, explaining that "there were mixed feelings in the record company (Columbia) about me, of all people, having something X-rated. "And the feeling was, 'You're already saying so much about your feelings, why keep the record out of Wal-Mart because of that line?' Not that it's in Wal-Mart."

He adds, "When I told Elvis, 'We're going to have to change it,' he was very upset because it's such a powerful moment. You've never heard that word like Elvis does it.' "

Bacharach insists the reason the second version is coming out now is that "things have gotten worse, with more lies, even in the last few weeks. People think we're doing it for sensationalism. No. I don't like to offend. My nature is to try to please everybody," says the septuagenarian music man, who reminds that all through the Vietnam War, he was writing love songs. "What's going on now caught me. I felt I had to say something."

Who Are These People?

Lyrics by Burt Bacharach and Tonio K.

Who are these people that keep telling us lies
And how did these people get control of our lives
And who’ll stop the violence cause it’s out of control?
Make em stop

Who are these people that destroy everything
And sell off the future for whatever it brings
And what kind of leaders can’t admit when they’re wrong?
Make em stop

This stupid mess we’re in just keeps getting worse
So many people dying needlessly
Looks like the liars may inherit the earth
Even pretending to pray
And getting away with it

Who are these people that keep telling us lies
And how did these people get control of our lives
And who’ll stop the violence cause it’s out of control?
We’ve got to make them stop

Who are these people that keep telling us lies
And how did these people get control of our lives
and who’ll stop the violence cause it’s out of control?
Make em stop

See things really have to change
Before it’s too late

[“we’ve got to make a change or we’re all fucked.” ]

And there's more where that one came from...