- published: 03 Sep 2014
- views: 14774
Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) was a British surreal comedy group who created Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, spawning touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a stage musical as well as launching the members to individual stardom. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to The Beatles' influence on music.
The television series, broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974, was conceived, written and performed by members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach (aided by Gilliam's animation), it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons' creative control allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
Now there's no one left to vote for
And there's very rarely been
No more voices of the people
G (F#) Em
Who are not of the machine
And the giant public monster
Gathering summer's silent scream
Swearing blind he's not been seen
Hiding bones that everyone sees
[Chorus]:
And everybody knows
That everybody goes
G (F#) Em D
In - Sa - ne
The revolution's always over
The apocalypse is now
All hands are on the keyboard
Hardly any on the plough
The new government's the old one
Same old handbags at the helm
Lapsing back into religion
Letting voices overwhelm
[Chorus]
It got crazy on the frontline
Manning barricades to wait
On the motherboards of freedom
For the hordes of solid state
Long before the menu
Was having problems with the date
And the mice became the men
Far too late
[Chorus]
Now my church is in the dungeon
Down the fourteenth corridor
Virtual guards surround me
With electronic walls
We're at the level of playstation
Where the rich become the poor
On their bended knees they're praying
For more, so much more . .
[Chorus]
No there's no one left to vote for
Only fools to vote against
The refugees have all surrended
The perimeter's been fenced
Six billion dreamers are all banged up
By the screment of dough
And the new religion
of the W.T.O
[Chorus]
I have given up the memory
Of my years of dreaming on
To be as silent as I'm angry
About this trip through babylon
I feel the building of the final
Psyche of the snake
Make a killig every lunchtime
Sleep it off until I wake