General Lockjaw Briefs the British Media
20 years before this song was written, Leon wrote General Lockjaw into the lyric of "Hugga Mugga..." as the commander of the "smokescreen war". In 1991, the "first" Gulf War was in play (August 1990-February 1991), after Western Powers attacked Iraq. Television coverage was extensive and carefully managed to steer public opinion (lessons had been learned from VietNam!), earning the attack the nickname, "the video game war". Here, General Lockjaw is back as PR man/propagandist, impressing on the population the usual codewords for killings, such as collateral damage or surgical strikes, and pushing the right spin on events. Most of all - don't mention the oil.
Like a number of songs on Wo Sind Die Elefanten, history would amplify the significance of this song as a more savage war was prosecuted against Iraq just over a decade later. General Lockjaw and his smokescreen would be back, both on our TV sets and in Leon's music (see "General Lockjaw Briefs the Troops").
Like a number of songs on Wo Sind Die Elefanten, history would amplify the significance of this song as a more savage war was prosecuted against Iraq just over a decade later. General Lockjaw and his smokescreen would be back, both on our TV sets and in Leon's music (see "General Lockjaw Briefs the Troops").
"The reality of the [first] Gulf War, the first brutal consequence of the collapse of 'actually existing socialism', was camoflaged by the media. It was Orwell's Newspeak with a vengeance. A smokescreen of lies and euphamisms - 'collateral damage', 'surgical strikes', 'smart bombs' - hid from view the deaths of up to a quarter of a million Iraqi men, women and children (according to the Medical Educational Trust in London). General Lockjaw himself made a brief appearance in an earlier song, Hugga Mugga Chugga Lugga Humbugga Boom Chit." - LR (Turning Silence Into Song (songbook), p1)
Recordings
Version 1 (1991)