ATLANTA, Nov. 6, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Red state, blue state, purple state. Finally, a piece of political video we can all laugh at is here. "Home on the Range," a biting, animated short from new political satire group The Freedom Toast, hit YouTube today, just in the nick of time.
Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZW9TxSkXYc early (and often) for other-worldly images of Condi on grand piano, a Ted Nugent-esque, bare-chested Bill O'Reilly factoring as never before (on guitar), and enough sideways Cheney sneers to last through the '08 campaign. It's all set to The Freedom Toast's tuneful take on our fearless leader's summer vacations, Crawford-style.
The song appears on The Freedom Toast's debut CD, featuring other Beltway-fueled ditties like Clinton is to Blame-O (to the tune of "Bingo Was His Name-O"), Strangers on the Right ("Strangers in the Night"), and Stoop Low, You Media ("Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"). Complete song listings and streaming samples are available at www.thefreedomtoast.com.
About The Freedom Toast
What's in a name (The Freedom Toast, that is)? As one may have already gathered, the group owes a debt of thanks to the Red State representative who led the drive to recast French Fries as "Freedom Fries" in Congressional dining facilities, protesting France's refusal to fall in line during the Iraq war run-up.
The seeds of The Freedom Toast were sown at the annual Renaissance Weekend gatherings, when Marc Emory, the group's muse and founder, was encouraged to record some of his just-for-fun musical efforts. "It just became this thing that we kept doing, that kept getting bigger. So this year I decided to get serious -- well, sort of -- and hit the studio," says Emory, son of longtime Washington newspaper correspondent and former Gridiron Club president Alan S. Emory.
The result? Two highly-produced (at times, orchestral) companion CDs -- "Sing Along with the Republicans," "Sing Along with the Democrats" -- that fire away, largely using American classics as melodic inspiration, bringing to mind the folksy genius of Alan Sherman (he of "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"), the razor-sharp wit of Tom Lehrer ("The Vatican Rag") and the timeliness of modern satiric masters like Weird Al Yankovic.
Those who would accuse The Freedom Toast of left-leaning myopia need only sample a few bars of "God Bless you Merry Democrats," where the party is taken to task for its seeming complacency while out of power.
The Freedom Toast is currently rehearsing talent for an inaugural tour. For more information about The Freedom Toast, visit www.thefreedomtoast.com.