“I Bend the Law Until It Breaks”

[[M U S I C]] * Art has often, through the centuries, served up forms of protest. And those traditions have been much in evidence during the Bush years. Performers from the Dixie Chicks and Bruce Springsteen, to Jackson Browne, Pink, and just the other day, Jodie Foster, have made their opinions heard on the subjects of America’s economic decline and warmongering. Now, add to that list actor-director Paul Hipp. His bitingly humorous adaptation of Hank Williams’ familiar 1949 song, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” satirizes the prez’s warrantless data-mining of domestic phone records and the willingness of major U.S. communications companies to fall to their knees before the administration’s requests for information. Hipp’s version is called “I’m So Loathsome I Could Spy.” Listen to it here.