The controlling image of Jackson Browne's dark anti-militarist song "Casino Nation," written as the Bush administration embarked on its so-called "War on Terror," is "the way the hammer shapes the hand." -- "Casino Nation" appeared on Browne's 2002 album, "The Naked Ride Home." -- Andrew Thomas calls his video tribute to the song an "animated editorial." -- With striking and cleverly presented images, he illustrates the themes of the song, whose lyrics are posted below the YouTube version.[1,2] -- The video also appears on Jackson Browne's web site....
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CASINO NATION
By Jackson Browne
From "The Naked Ride Home" (2002)
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jackson+browne/casino+nation_20173461.html
In a weapons-producing nation under Jesus
In the fabled crucible of the Free World
Camera crews search for clues amid the detritus
And entertainment shapes the land
The way the hammer shapes the hand
Gleaming faces in the checkout counter at the Church of Fame
The lucky winners cheer Casino Nation
All those not on TV only have themselves to blame
And don't quite seem to understand
The way the hammer shapes the hand
Out beyond the Ethernet the spectrum spreads
D.C. to daylight, the cowboy mogul rides
Never worry where the gold for all this glory's gonna come from
Get along dogies, it's coming out of your hides
The intentional cultivation of a criminal class
The future lit by brightly burning bridges
Justice fully clothed to hide the heart of glass
That shatters in a thousand Ruby Ridges
And everywhere the good prepare for perpetual war
And let their weapons shape the plan
The way the hammer shapes the hand