Roaring 2020s [RenaiDance] lyrics

We never knew (we never knew)

the Spanish flu (the Spanish flu)1

of 1919.

But what we know not so far off,

and we are ready for pay off,

for the Roarin’ 2020s to kick in.2

If the history

repeats itself precisely,

you won’t have to be

casualty

of disinfo World War 3.3

You just have to figure out

your way to whistle through this,

whistle through the missiles,

duck but keep your stance,

you just have to figure out

your way to wiggle all the way

to the RenaiDance.4

The Roarin’ 2020s.

Oh yeah.

RenaiDance, the Roarin’ 2020s.

Oh yeah.

And like a salmon up the stream,

you work your fin, I work my fin

to the high hopes of blessed cretin.

And like a Hodja Nasreddin5

inside a crêpe de Chine machine,6

news cartel takes you for a spin7

And there is still a little chance,

a tiny tiny little chance

things are just like

what they seem.

And are you ready?

I am ready!

Are you ready?

Waxed and ready

for Roarin’ 2020s to kick in!

If the history

repeats itself precisely,

you won’t have to be

casualty

of DisInfo World War 3.

You just have to figure out

your way to whistle through this,

whistle through the missiles,

duck but keep your stance,

you just have to figure out

your way to wiggle all the way

to the RenaiDance.

The Roarin’ 2020s.

Oh yeah.

The Roarin’ 2020s.

Oh yeah.

The Roarin’ 2020s.

If you can keep

that beat inside your head

when everyone is losing theirs

from what they’ve heard and read;

if you keep on stomping grapes

of resilience;

hey, brother, sister,

we gonna need you

when it comes to that RenaiDance.

The Roarin’ 2020s.

Oh yeah.

Motherfuckin’ RenaiDance.

Hey

Who’s the bootleggers and the floppers of today?

More casualty

of disinfo World War Three.

The roarin’ 2020s. Oh yeah.

The roarin’ 2020s.

The roarin’ 2020, 2020 roarin’ RenaiDance.

And are you ready?

I am ready!

Are you ready?

Waxed and ready

for Roarin’ 2020s to kick in!

To… to… kick in!

1. The Spanish Flu was an influenza epidemic that hit worldwide in 1918-1920, causing an estimated 500 million cases, with 25-50 million deaths.

It has often been compared to the Covid-19 epidemic, which exploded in early 2020 (though early cases were from 2019).2. Reference to the Roarin’ 20s (1920s).3. World War 3 has not happened yet, at least not in a traditional military way. Another kind of "cold war" that has surged in the late 2010s is that which uses disinformation purposefully spread on social media and the Internet at large, to create chaos and division among the people of another country and thus weaken their socio-political structure.4. Reference to the Renaissance.5. Nasreddin Hodja (also known as Mullah Nasruddin; 1208-1285) was a satirist in the Seljuk empire (which spanned from modern-day Turkey to Afghanistan, and whose center was modern-day Iran). He is remembered for his funny anecdotes; for example, A Better Beard than Yours:

‘All true devotees wear a beard’, said the Imam to his audience. ‘Show me a thick and lustrous beard and I’ll show you a true believer!’ ‘My goat has a beard far bushier and longer than yours’, replied Nasrudin. ‘Does that mean he is a better Muslim than you?’6. Crêpe de Chine is a very fine silk fabric.

They are probably depicting themselves are non-conformists (like Nasruddin) that live inside a "crêpe de Chine machine" (a society that dresses up ugly truths in shiny clothes, so that people don't see them for what they really are).7. A drug cartel is a criminal organization that deals drugs. It's another reference to the spreading of misinformation through society (see before about social media; now it's about the traditional mass media, especially TV newscast or "infotainment" programs).

• Artist:Gogol Bordello