Zuno Keisatsu (頭脳警察) - "Declaration of Revolutionary World War (世界革命戦争宣言)"

From 頭脳警察 1, Be-Witch Record, 1975

Zuno Keisatsu, AKA Brain Police, are one of the real treasures of the early 1970s Japanese rock scene. This song, from their once-suppressed first album, is probably my favorite of theirs. It's exceedingly simple on guitar - all open chords - but that lends it a nice anthemic quality which is only enhanced by the tankie barking and bongo lunacy. Anyway, I just thought I'd jot it down in case anybody wanted to play it.

Guitar chords

As I said, this is a very simple song. There's just five chords, and they happen to be the first five you're likely to learn on guitar. The whole song is:

(E) (G) (A) (C/D)...

Please note that I am borrowing the notation system used on the great loureed.it.That is to say, each parenthesis represents one bar (four beats here) of music. (C/D) isn't a slash chord or anything - it just means a regular C and then D which only take up half a bar each. Simple, right? I like writing out chords this way rather than haphazardly trying to place them in time with the lyrics, particularly for a song like this where the lyrics and guitar don't interact much. Anyway, for the whole song you're just ascending up in a circle, always with the same timing and everything. These open chords also lend themselves well to little hammer-ons, accents, additions and variations if you want to spice things up. Then just get your friend some hand percussion and you'll be Ashita no Joe in no time, ready to take that plane to Cuba!

It may also be worth noting that there are videos of later-day live performances of this song on electric guitar, in which PANTA plays most of it as barre chords. Sounds cool with distortion, but I like the way it's played on the original album better.

Lyrics

Supposedly, the lyrics for this song are based on (or maybe taken from) a tract of the same name by a guy named Katsuki Ueno, but I haven't found much information about them. Obviously, they're a little politically-charged. Thankfully, PANTA's voice is so raw in the recording, nobody could understand him well enough to be offended.

ブルジョアジー諸君
我々は世界中で君達を革命戦争の場に叩き込んで
一掃する為にここに公然と宣戦を布告するものである
君たちの歴史はもはやらわかりすぎている
君達の歴史は血塗られた歴史じゃないか
君たちの間での世界強盗戦争のために我々をだまし
互いに殺あわせてきた　嘘だとは言わせない
我々はもうそそのかされだまされはしない
君達にべてナムの民を好き勝手にこおす権利があるなら
我々にも君たちを好き勝手に殺す権利がある
君たちにブラックパンサーを殺し
ゲットーを洗車を押しつぶす権利があるなら
我々にも　ニクソン・佐藤・キージンガー・ドグールを殺し
ペンタゴン・防衛庁・警視庁・君たちの家々を
爆弾で破壊する権利がある
君達に沖縄の民を銃剣で刺し殺す権利があるなら
我々にも君達をナイフで突き殺す権利がある
いつまでも君たちの思い通りになると思ったら大間違いだ
君たちの時代は既に終わった
我々は最後の戦争に為に　最後まで戦い抜く
我々は自衛隊・機動隊・米軍諸君に公然と銃を向ける
殺されるのがいやならその銃を後ろに向けろ
君達をそそのかし　後ろであやつる豚共に向けて
我々邪魔する奴は　容赦なく抹殺する
世界革命戦争宣言をここに発する

Bourgeousie!
We will throw you into revolutionary war all over the world!
We hereby openly declare war to wipe you out!
Your history is well-known
Don't you know that it's stained with blood?
You lie to us to rob the world through war!
You made us kill - don't say it's a lie!
We will no longer be deceived!
If you have the right to do whatever you want to the people of 'Nam,
Then we have the right to kill you as we please!
If you have the right to kill the Black Panthers
And crush the ghetto,
Then we have the right to kill Nixon, Sato, Kissinger, and de Gaulle!
The Pentagon, the Ministry of Defense, the Police Department, and your homes
We have the right to destroy them all with bombs!
If you have the right to stab and kill the people of Okinawa with bayonets,
We have the right to stab you to death with knives.
You're wrong if you think everything will always go your way.
Your era is over.
For the final war, we will fight to the very end.
We point our guns at the SDF, the riot police, and US military.
If you don't want to be killed, turn your guns around
And aim them at the pigs who manipulate you from behind!
Anyone who gets in our way will be ruthlessly eliminated.
I hereby declare a revolutionary world war!

A few more Zuno Keisatsu songs can be found here. Unfortunately, videos of their shows where they'd masturbate on stage are unavailable. Bummer!

 

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