W.M.A question

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WashDirtyFrank
WashDirtyFrank Posts: 75
edited May 2004 in Words and Music...Communication
I understand that this song (white male american) was written about the view that white males are the only race to have any rights ("won the lottery when he was born"). But I don't understand the part about "Police stopped my brother again..." "Police man"? .... can anyone explain this part of the song?
"This is a public service annowncement... with guitars!!"
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • Mr Pyjama
    Mr Pyjama Posts: 253
    Hey yeah i am to puzzled bout that line.

    Please help me i have spent many bike rides to school
    pondering over that line when i hear it.

    Cheers
    Situations get fucked up and turned around sooner or later...
  • onejourney
    onejourney Posts: 285
    Straight from the sky I scrape.......


    1. "W.M.A. stands for White Male American. We're all just souls; everyone wants a chance, and everyone should have one, no matter what color they are" - Vedder

    2. W.M.A came about as a result of Eddie having seen some street people, mostly Indians and Blacks, hassled by cops right outside their studio.


    Hope that helps...
    "...just be glad you have the music and cherish it for yourself..." -stateoflove79
  • Heatherj43
    Heatherj43 Posts: 1,254
    Originally posted by WashDirtyFrank
    I understand that this song (white male american) was written about the view that white males are the only race to have any rights ("won the lottery when he was born"). But I don't understand the part about "Police stopped my brother again..." "Police man"? .... can anyone explain this part of the song?
    Because the writer of that song considers all races his "brothers" and sees that the police have stopped his "brother" again, due to not being white.
    Save room for dessert!
  • WashDirtyFrank
    WashDirtyFrank Posts: 75
    Thanks guys for clearing that up
    "This is a public service annowncement... with guitars!!"
  • WashDirtyFrank
    WashDirtyFrank Posts: 75
    I really love this song, the way Pj structured it musically, with the emphasis on the drum beat. It's a brilliant stop-gap in VS but the song is also very emotional as you can hear in EDs voice. I also love the way Ed sings it, almost in a sort of chant.
    "This is a public service annowncement... with guitars!!"
  • WashDirtyFrank
    WashDirtyFrank Posts: 75
    I always thought "rats" was always a comparisson of human behaviour to that of rats. Its how we think of rats as vermin and disgusting in their behaviour but in some ways its actually better than ours as humans. " don't take what's not theirs, they don't compare... they don't scam, don't fight." Its stating that just because we find rats disgusting doesn't mean that our own behaviours are so perfect.
    "This is a public service annowncement... with guitars!!"
  • StoneG82
    StoneG82 Posts: 806
    this song is about that black guy who the cops beat up, and he died, so its about police brutality and racism
    "What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." - Tom Waits
  • onejourney
    onejourney Posts: 285
    Originally posted by ad_rock
    i love the way the guitars breath and pulsate. jeffs bassline is superb, i love it when the hook is in the bass, kinda like in rats.

    anyone know much about that one?

    Again, from the same....


    1. This song compares the lives of rats and that of human beings. Eddie believes that rats actually behave a lot better than people do.

    2. The line, "Ben, the two of us need look no more," is an exact quote from a Michael Jackson song [written by Don Black (lyrics) and Walter Scharf (music)] called Ben's Song and from the 70's movie with the title Ben. The movie includes a killer rat named... yep, Ben.
    "...just be glad you have the music and cherish it for yourself..." -stateoflove79

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