Shut or Get Cut Up

 

 

 

Leon Golub
Bite Your Tongue #1, 2002
Ink and acrylic on linen
19-1/2 x 15-1/4 in. (49.5 x 38.5 cm)
Hall Collection

I saw this painting during an annual pilgrimage to the Hall Art Foundation in Reading VT. It resonated with me because of the connections it raised with my time at the Joe Big-Ass Corporation. The JBA Corp prided itself on fostering "out-of-the-box" thinking. Out-of-the-box thinkers were termed by the then-CEO as "wild ducks" and were to be treasured and nurtured.  In reality - at JBA Corp (and many, if not all, other companies in the Empire) - the most highly prized thinking was a strict hewing to whatever thoughts tumbled from your executives' mouths. People who dared think for themselves did so at their own peril. More often than not, they found themselves quietly sidelined and eventually disposed of or publicly ridiculed then publicly sidelined and (very) publicly disposed of.. The level of public shaming was inversely proportional to one's level on the JBA "leadership ladder."   As Elvis Costello wrote in his song "Radio Radio": You either shut up or get cut up, they don't wanna hear about it

  

 

I was tuning in the shine on the late night dial Doing anything my radio advised With every one of those late night stations Playing songs bringing tears to my eyes I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver When the switch broke 'cause it's old They're saying things that I can hardly believe They really think we're getting out of control Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason So you had better do as you are told You better listen to the radio I wanna bite the hand that feeds me I wanna bite that hand so badly I want to make them wish they'd never seen me Some of my friends sit around every evening And they worry about the times ahead But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference And the promise of an early bed You either shut up or get cut up, they don't wanna hear about it It's only inches on the reel-to-reel And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools Tryin' to anesthetize the way that you feel Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason So you had better do as you are told You better listen to the radio Wonderful radio Marvelous radio Wonderful radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio  ~ Elvis Costello ~

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