JFK Assassination Tunes

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This song is specifically about the JFK assassination This song expresses a conspiracy theory about the JFK assassination

"Less Than Zero (Dallas Version)"
Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Live at El Mocambo (1978)

During his infamous appearance on Saturday Night Live in December, 1977, Elvis Costello was supposed to play "Less Than Zero". He played a few bars of the song and then abruptly stopped, telling the audience, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. There's no reason to do this song here". He then launched into "Radio, Radio" instead, causing the show to run over time. Elvis Costello was then banned from Saturday Night Live for 13 years. Perhaps he did this because he thought "Less Than Zero" would mean little to an American audience. The "Oswald" in the song refers Oswald Mosley, who organized the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s. Within a few months of his appearance on Saturday Night Live, however, Elvis Costello performed "Less Than Zero" with alternate lyrics that would have much more meaning for an American audience. On March 6, 1978, Elvis Costello performed the "Dallas Version" of "Less Than Zero" at El Mocambo in Toronto. Though performing in Canada, Elvis Costello had changed some of the lyrics to refer to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, with "Oswald" now referring to Lee Harvey Oswald, a reference to JFK's motorcade through Dallas ("While her husband rides a bumper in the President's procession") and the Zapruder film ("Calling Mister Oswald, calling anyone at the scene/If you were taking home movies there's a chance you might have seen him"). Lyrics unchanged from the original version took on new meaning, hinting at a conspiracy ("A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor/Mister Oswald thought he had an understanding with the law").The "Dallas Version" of "Less Than Zero" is available only on the album Live at El Mocambo. Elvis Costello's El Mocambo performance was broadcast live on Toronto radio station CHUM-FM and later released as a promotional album for Canadian Columbia. The only CD release of Live at El Mocambo was in the Rykodisk box set 2 1/2 Years.

Jenny takes her clothes off in succession,
While her husband rides a bumper in the President's procession.
She's sees him on the screen as she looks up from giving head.
When he's had enough of that her lover throws her on the bed
to teach her she's alive and suddenly he's dead.
Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect,
even your mother won't detect it,
no your father won't know.
they think that I've got no respect
but everything means less than zero.
Hey, ooh hey, hey, ooh hey.

Calling Mister Oswald, calling anyone at the scene,
If you were taking home movies there's a chance you might have seen him.
They've got a thousand variations, every witness in a file.
Jenny puts on some coffee and she comes back with a smile.
She says, "I hear that South America is coming into style."

chorus

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor.
Mister Oswald thought he had an understanding with the law.
She's got rubies on her fingers, Jenny turns and looks away.
Her mind upon a basement out of the USA.
She says, "Let's talk about the future now we've put the past away."

The original lyrics to "Less Than Zero" (from My Aim Is true):

Calling Mister Oswald with the swastika tattoo,
there is a vacancy waiting in the English voodoo,
carving "v" for vandal on the guilty boy's head.
When he's had enough of that maybe you'll take him to bed
to teach him he's alive before he wishes he was dead.
Turn up the TV. No one listening will suspect,
even your mother won't detect it,
no your father won't know.
they think that I've got no respect
but everything means less than zero.
Hey, ooh hey, hey, ooh hey.

Oswald and his sister are doing it again.
They've got the finest home movies that you have ever seen.
They've got a thousand variations: every service with a smile.
They're gonna take a little break, and they'll be back after a while.
well I hear that South America is coming into style.

chorus

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor.
Mister Oswald said he had an understanding with the law.
He said he heard about a couple living in the USA.
He said they traded in their baby for a Chevrolet.
Let's talk about the future now we've put that past away.

Turn Me On, Dead Man

Turn Me On, Dead Man

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