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Review about Political Science ------Performed by Randy Newman | 07/16/2007 11:00:00 AM A song that Curtis LeMay would've liked 2 out of 2 Found the view helpful I can still recall seeing Randy Newman sing this song, while watching the old Friday night concert show, "Midnight Special," with a bunch of other members of the U.S. Navy at the barracks in the former National Parachute Test Range, El Centro, California, way back in 1973 or possibly '74. Hey, it was a while ago; but I know it was sometime before I mustered out in early '76. I was simply "blown away," as we used to say - no pun intended - by Randy Newman's entire performance. I remember also seeing him do the song, "Sail Away," which is another sardonic tune in which as he said, "This song is about a slavetrader talking people onto the ships." Anyone who knows much about Randy Newman will tell you that as much as the song he is singing ostensibly might seem to be siding with a group of people, or a particular pattern of thought, in fact, it's a spoof. Listen closely to his song, "Rednecks" if you get the chance. I myself went out and bought the album "Sail Away," with the song "Political Science" on it and kept that album proudly in my possession until the late Eighties. And for those who don't remember who U.S. Force General Curtis LeMay was, he was not only head of the old Strategic Air Command (SAC) at one time, he also ran as the vice-presidental candidate with the late George Wallace, as independents, in 1968. The general is famous - perhaps infamous - for saying that his solution to the stalemate involving American troops in Vietnam, during the Vietnam War, was to deal with North Vietnam by "bombing them back into the Stone Age." I believe the general had passed away by the time "Political Science" came out. But my hunch is Randy Newman was thinking about the general, when he wrote this song. Thanks to Terry Parkhurst for submitting the review.