Introduction:

1982's Swing to the Right saw Utopia dealing with wordly issues in a way tackled previously by the 'Oops! Wrong Planet' LP. Containing the popular Todd track 'Lysistrata', 'Swing' featured a more techno sound which would be carried on through the remaining Utopia LP's, most notably 1984's 'Oblivion'.

Credits:
All songs written by Utopia. 1982 Unearthly Music, Inc./Fiction Music, Inc. (BMI) except "For the Love of Money," written by Leon Huff, Kenneth Gamble and Anthony Jackson. Mighty Three Music (BMI)
Utopia's services provided by Aipotu Corporation.
Produced by Todd Rundgren and Utopi for Aipotu Corporation.
Engineered by Todd Rundgren and Chris Andersen.
Recorded at Utopia Sound Studios.
Mastered at Sterling Sound by Ted Jansen.
Album design and production: The Creative Directors, Inc., New York.
Cover: Walt Behnke
Art Direction: John Wagman
Design: Lisa Amowitz
Tinting: Geoffrey Thomas
Photo Credits: UPI, The Bettmann Archive
Management: Eric Garner.


Track Listing:

  1. Swing To The Right
  2. Lysistrata
  3. The Up
  4. Junk Rock (Million Monkeys)
  5. Shinola
  6. For The Love Of Money
  7. Last Dollar On Earth
  8. Fahrenheit 451
  9. Only Human
  10. One World


Discography:

LABELCat. NoTracks/TitleFormatCoverCountry
Bearsville50062One World/Special Interest7" singleNo PSUSA
Bearsville29947Lysistrata/Junk Rock (Million Monkeys) 7" singleNo PSUSA
BearsvilleKSS50062One World/Last Dollar on Earth7" SingleNo PSCANADA
AvatarAAB126One World/Junk Rock(Million Monkeys) 7" singleNo PSUK
Rhino8122-70875-2Swing to the Right CD Re-issueStandardGERMANY
Bearsville3666Swing to the rightalbumStandardUSA


Lyrics:

Swing to the Right

Swing to the right
Try to face the fact that I ain't that young no more
Hair's short again and a suit is in,
Better brush up on how to tie a Windsor knot
Swing to the right
Credit's hard to find and a dollar doesn't go so far
What's more important when the count comes in
A sell-out who's alive or a corpse that can't be bought?

Stop the hand of time
Think I see a sign
Tables turning 'round
Hear a different sound
Stop the hands of time
Looking out for mine

Swing to the right
Don't want to hear what the povertous expect from me
Let 'em eat cake if they feel that way
I gotta work why should I have to pay for that?
And I don't want to be left holding the bag for them
'Scuze me for living but I have to say,
I've got some worries of my own, like staying fat

Lysistrata

Lysistrata, open up the bedroom door
What is the matter, ain't you in love with me no more?
I enlisted in the army today,
One more time before I march away
Make me feel like a big strong man
You say you don't care about my pride,
You love me too much just to let me die,
And you won't let me come inside
unless I don't go to war no more

Lysistrata, little boys like to have their fun,
And you know I gotta put on my colors and get my gun
Every able bodied man that I know,
every patriot is packed to go
Won't you give me a last goodbye
I'll be sent off to a distant land,
to spill my blood upon some foreign sand,
And I may die by an enemy's hand
And then I won't go to war no more

Send the boys all back to the farm
Tell the troops it was a false alarm,
'Cause if I die I want to be in your arms,
And so I won't go to war, no I won't go to war,
said I won't go to war no more

The Up

I can't stand to watch the six o'clock news
It's enough to give an average, sensitive person the blues.
Can't get it up
I don't know about commercial appeal
But what you put in your head
just can't help affect how you feel
So lets keep it up
Prophets of doom try to capture you
They get around like the Asian flu,
But they can't get me
Because I go for the up

I'm on the up side
I look for the up (That down just ain't my style)
I go for the up
I'm hooked on the up
I'm on the upswing (I got my sights set high)
I go for the up

What's the point of standing out in the rain,
What's the sense of looking down,
it just gives your shoulders a pain
Can't get it up
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy
If you look for the worst then that's just
what it turns out to be
So keep looking up
The fickle finger just may point your way
It touches someone different every day,
But it can't touch me
Because I go for the up

And everybody's yelling at me to get back in line,
And they say I'm crazy,
But still they have their sessions of deep depressions,
But it can't get me
Because I go for the up

Junk Rock (Million Monkeys)

Can't be late, can't be late for work again
The boys can't wait, the boys can't wait to get started again
My name is music, I see that the music gets done
My name is music, I see that the music gets done
And the apes can't wait to get started again
Look over there, the monkey on a chair
He thinks he's as smart as a computer chip,
But he hasn't figured out how to work his mouth
Shorty by the door, beating on the floor,
You better not mess with the little thing
He's a real nice guy 'til you get him riled up
Can't complain, can't complain about working with them
My name is music, I see that the music gets done
My name is music, I see that the music gets done
They go insane, we give them drugs and they're normal again
There's a pretty face, the monkey plunkin' bass
All the lady monkeys wanna jump his monkey bones,
But he loses track and his work gets backed up
Monkey on a power trip, monkey with a lot of lip,
Thinks he's in charge of every other monkey,
But he still looks cool even while he's drooling
Lunch is fun, lunch is fun when you're eating wit them
My name is music, I see that the music gets done
My name is music, I see that the music gets done
Then back to work, it's back to work while the orders pile in
Is it live or is it Memorex?

Shinola

I have been ringing your doorbell,
But you left me standing in the hall
And you make love by the numbers,
That doesn't mean there's any love at all
Now there you go with a big explanation
Why do you waste your time?
And there you go, under estimation
Of the thoughts that cross my mind
This is your promise that you put up for sale
It's done like a picture from a fairy tale,
But still there's a difference, let me show it to you,
This is crapola, this is shinola

I see you're still in the headlines
You pegged the latest trend again this week
I'm not impressed by the outfit,
Or your revolutionary chic
And here it comes,
I see you forming the words, you're performing the exercise
And here it comes,
It's the feeling that I heard the same speech a hundred times
This is the jabber of a chimpanzee
The motion of your mouth looks much the same to me
The differentiation might be hard to see,
But this is crapola, this is shinola

Everyone's talking, few of them know
The rest are pretending, they put on a show
And if there's a message I guess this is it
Truth isn't easy, the easy part's shit

And here it comes,
Now I'm forming the words, I'm performing the exercise
And here it comes
It's the feeling that I've made the same speech a million times
These are your leaders, come on take a look
They'll lie and cheat and steal then sell the rights to the book
And these are your neighbors who have swung to the right,
But you don't have to worry just as long as you're white
And my generation is just waiting to die
We'll swallow anything if it would just get us high
I don't know who's a bigger fool,
But one thing I know
This is crapola, this is shinola

For the Love of Money

Money money money, money
Some people really need it (Oh, well)
Some people got to have it (in vain)
Listen here y'all, do things, do things, do bad things with it
So you will do things, do things, do good things with it
Talk about cash money, no help at all

For the love of money
People will steal from their mother
For the love of money
People will rob their own brother
For the love of money
People can't even walk the street
Because they never know who in the world they gotta beat
For that lean, mean, mean green

For the love of money
People will lie, Lord, they will cheat
For the love of money
People don't care who they hurt or beat
For the love of money
A woman will sell her precious body
For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight
Call it lean, mean, mean green

Almighty dollar

I know money is the root of all evil
Do funny things to some people
Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime
Money can drive some people out of their minds
Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Some people really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Lay down, lay down, a woman will lay down
For the love of money
All for the love of money
Don't let, don't let, don't let money rule you
For the love of money
Money can change people sometimes
Don't let, don't let, don't let money fool you
Money can fool people sometimes

Last Dollar on Earth

Yeah! Line up!
Step right this way to see the last dollar on earth
Sign up!
The bus leaves today to see the last dollar on earth
Behold the wonder of the modern age
Displayed resplendent in its gilded cage
There's not another in the world today,
And you just can't take it with you
All night!
There's a special tonight about the last dollar on earth
That's right!
And all the pundits were right about the last dollar on earth
It's always occupied a special space
We keep a guard around it just in case
Many have died to have its fleeting grace,
But you just can't take it with you
Get set!
Only one pint of blood
to see the last dollar on earth
No sweat!
Only one ounce of flesh to touch the last dollar on earth
When we lose exposure in its permanent enclosure
Then you can be sure that we'll take it on tour
So when it comes to call at your local shopping mall
Though the crowds may be large,
you can put it on your MasterCharge

Fahrenheit 451

Yeah
Fahrenheit four fifty-one
Ya
Fahrenheit four fifty-one
Smoke is in the air now
It's been spreading just like wild-fire all over town
Everybody wants to get in on the latest thing
Going down to the bookstore - burn that mother down
Ya
Somebody has to do what's right
Fahrenheit four fifty-one
Burning black and white
Well I got some education
I go down to the library every night
And I'm looking for somebody with a dream like mine
We could share a few pages 'round the fire so bright
Now it's spreading 'cross the nation
And it's time to seize the moment, that's what they says
'Cause it's all been well reported in the daily news,
You can read all about it before it turns to ashes

Only Human

It's only human to despise the weak
It's only human to despise yourself when you're weak
I don't know why
but that's the way that it's always been
And I play by the rules I don't understand at all

It's only human to be lazy and vain
It's only human to expect a world that's just as vain
I don't know why
I want to believe that it's not that way
But I'm Johnny come lately, it's not my place to say

There's no escape, tell me why do they try so hard?

And I pretend that I'm invincible, that I can go it all alone
But I'm only human, trying to get by
And praying to heaven I might find out why am I human
Mere flesh and blood
Afraid to go on without someone to hold me up

It's just a human thing to fear the unknown
But isn't it a tragic thing to live and die alone
Oh Lord look at the world,
have you ever seen so much misery?
Like a ghost ship of fools, lost and floating out to sea

And they climb and they fall
yet they struggle on the same fault
But they're only human, trying to get by
And praying to heaven they might find out
Why are we human
Mere flesh and blood
We're afraid to go on without someone to hold us up

One World

One world
Whoa, it's our world
Yeah, yeah, one world
Whoa, it's our world
Yeah, yeah

When I walk on the street I feel glad I was born
Music comes a'ringin' out of every door
I see faces I know and they give me a sign
We got something between us and it feels all right

I see Chrissy the clipper, she colors my hair
Micky and Margaret make the clothes that we wear
And there's Gene who runs the club where we dance all night
When you live in our world everything's all right

Politicians and dictators and the guys with the dough
They think they run the world but they just don't know
'Cause down here on the street we got it under control
From Berlin to San Francisco, from New York to Tokyo


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