We Don't Talk About Politics Here
by @toddnorem
Liner Notes
Song #6
This has not been easy lately. I'm coming up with ideas, just not ideas that really inspire me and I often really stress about what I want to write about. It's been taking me forever to record too, so my internal editor tends to veto a lot of things.
I do have a couple of songs in the works and was thinking about working on one of them, then I had a breakthrough this morning when I came up with this idea and paired it with a song title I had just come up with. Finally! I was excited about something. It took a long time to record and I ended up losing a bunch of tracks and then had to recreate it, and I could keep working on the recording/mix, but I think I'm good with it.
Oh, just so you know, we don't talk about politics here.
Lyrics
Took me forever to get here The traffic was unreal Are you staying warm today I hear a cold fronts on the way You take the highway or back roads I go wherever the gps shows So how's your day, you pulling through I can't complain, how about you
We don't talk about politics here We don't talk about politics here
See anything good lately? I saw a World War II doc on TV Seems crazy how quickly Europe caved And let that happen, so depraved
We don't talk about politics here We don't talk about politics here
The year is flying by Can't slow father time
Did you hear about the lottery These allergies are killing me Are you watching the game tonight I pray to god they get it right
We don't talk about politics here We don't talk about politics here
Comments
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Yes. I 100% relate to both the songwriting struggles and the existing-in-this-moment-in-history struggles. Both feel like a waste of time... So much urgency and so little viable direction for it. Songs like this help.
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I really feel this. The banality of small talk while the world is on fire and burning down around us. It’s not even about politics anymore, it’s about basic human rights and the fall of democracy. Oof. The “seems crazy how quickly Europe caved” line is particularly chilling given the current situation.
![[avatar]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2023/30.png){kind=avatar}
Oh yeah, this captures that cognitive distance - the idle chat that is the through line, even as there is that dread that lingers.
I love the performances on this and how you structured it!
Fantastic work Todd!
![[avatar]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2024/f5a36e89-9161-4f6d-8e4c-fd0b4595fb2c.png){kind=avatar}
Nice one! So difficult to avoid these days. Such tough times to navigate in conversation with people whom u don’t know that well. What’s safe to talk about? When half the folks in the country don’t feel the same or have a surprising worldview. I think the idea came across beautifully. Glad u found this idea and put it into a great song.
![[avatar]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2025/c28c96be-257a-404a-8d5a-8edfec851630.png){kind=avatar}
Oh, I like these lyrics a lot. So relatable, they just channel the everyday chitchat, but with the knowledge of what is going on right now, the line about the Europeans in WW II hits extra hard. Enjoyable music to go with it, the stoic straight drums underline the theme of the lyrics.
![[avatar]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2025/cc568bd9-73f0-443a-925e-250748ff815a.png){kind=avatar}
Oooh, a west-coast Todd ZONG! (I must be up late). Damn, this sounds exactly how I feel. This is quite an outstanding song, lyrically and musically, so cool musically, wow. Maybe we're both starting to figure this all out.
![[FAWM]](/static/img/slothcore.svg)
The not talking about politics here, but that verse about the war doc is wonderfully clever!