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"First you cause a train wreck; then you put me in traction."
I'd like to think I'm pretty hip, but when I heard Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) give the GOP a tongue-lashing this afternoon while quoting the band White Stripes, I had no idea who she was talking about. I also wondered why she was quoting obscure song lyrics in order to bash Republicans about the budget (by the way, notice she's wearing a white-striped shirt):
So I did a little research. Apparently, the White Stripes are a Grammy Award-winning alternative rock group featuring female drummer Meg White and her now ex-husband and lead singer Jack White. In February, they ceased being a band.
The song Edwards referenced is "Effect and Cause." The lyrics, which seem to be about blaming others for your actions, are below:
I guess you have to have a problemIf you want to invent a contraption
First you cause a train wreck
Then you put me in traction
Well, first came an action
And then a reaction
But you can't switch around
For your own satisfaction
Well, you put my house down, then got mad
At my reaction
Well, in every complicated situation
You're the human relation
Makin' sense of it all
Take a whole lot a concentration
Well, you can blame my baby
For her pregnant ma
And if there's one of these
On the order for laws
It's that you just can't take the effect
And make it the cause
Well, you can't take the effect
And make it the cause
I didn't rob a bank
Because you made up a law
When you people robbin' Peter
Don't you blame Paul
Can't take the effect
And make it the cause
I ain't the reason that you gave me no reason to return your call
You built a house of cards and got shocked when you saw them fall
Well are you sayin' I'm innocent?
In fact the reverse
But if you're headin' to the grave
You don't blame the hearse
You're like a little girl yellin' at her brother
'Cause you lost his ball
Well you keep blamin' me for what you did
And that ain't all
The way you clean up a wreck
Is enough to get one pause
You seem to forget
Just how this song started
I'm reactin' to you because you left me broken-hearted
See, you just can't take the effect
And make it the cause
Can't take the effect
And make it the cause
I didn't rob a bank
Because you made up a law
Blame people robbin' Peter
Don't you blame Paul
Can't take the effect
And make it the cause
You can listen to the song below:
I wonder if the group ever imagined their song would be quoted on the House floor just hours before the budget shuts down.
(H/T: Buzzfeed)
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