...And I Know You Wanna Dance
1966 | Rock
"Secret agent man, secret agent man. -- They've given you a number and taken away your name."
Trivia
- The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Was the theme song for the show Danger Man in the UK, Secret Agent in the US.
- P.F. Sloan wrote the song specifically for the show and Rivers was tapped through shared management.
- The song has been covered plenty, I recommend Devo's version...good luick:
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
I have no idea which one of you realized this song belonged on the list, but damn. This is not a connection I would have ever noticed. Taken from the libertarian angle, the lyric we should aim at is this one: "They've given you a number and taken away your name." The chilling separation of human and name, or identity. The state works in cold ways. If you die, they will act like you never existed. You should not make any connections with anyone, because you can trust no one. To become such an agent of the state is to reject a very critical component of being human. Of course, I think 99.99% of people have never really stopped to appreciate the meaning of those lyrics. This is just a fun song, and a classic. Read a 007 novel or two, if you haven't. Even the recent Daniel Craig James Bond movies don't get as graphic and severe as the books, when it comes to the suffering endured "for England."
Sherry Voluntary
This fun little song, tells the tale of a spy, a la the CIA. To me the CIA is one of the most nefarious and destructive agencies of any State that has ever existed. So many times they are the catalyst for doing things that undermine the stability and safety of other countries and communities in our own country. Often their interjection into foreign politics is the first step for the US to become involved in bloodshed. Perhaps even worse though, is their willingness to harm civilians in this country as well as others. CIA agents act solely in the interests of The State whose main job is to prey on people for its sustenance, and they do it in secrecy. Every American should be concerned about the abuses and interjections of the CIA. The blood on that agency will never wash off.
Nicky P
As i'm going over the lyrics there were a few interesting things I noticed that I never thought of before. Luke covered the one fairly well, but it actually raised some other notes in my head. We complain a lot about about the system as is and what it does to those in its wake but we don't often mention that it's as double edged as it is to those who buy in. There is a degree to which you're in more danger the closer to the beast you get. Seth Rich...hmmm. But seriously, the song talks as if the giving up your individuality is an involuntary act but more often than not it's simply a form of buy in. We can hate the people who take those careers in government but for all the vitriol we give them we need to point it tenfold at the system that brainwashed them from birth in its own superiority.