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"Political Science" is a song written and performed by singer-songwriter Randy Newman on his 1972 album, Sail Away.

Summary

In going along with the theme of the rest of the album, the song is a satire of a particular part of American culture and history, namely its foreign policies at the time. The unnamed narrator describes the state of the world, and suggests, "Let’s drop the big one and see what happens."

Background

Newman later said of the song, "I think I got into a character, this sort of jingoistic type of fellow. You know, it isn’t the type of song I wanted to write much of. Not that I didn’t love Tom Lehrer, but I don’t want to be, like Don Henley says, 'What’s this, another novelty song'. And I do write a lot of those, songs that are meant to be funny in a form that listeners take the people in it more seriously than literature."

Legacy

Newman performed the song on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1972. "Political Science" is prominently performed by Newman on the final credits of the 1999 film Blast from the Past. Newman also rerecorded the song for his 2003 release The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1. In October 2006, Newman performed the song on The Colbert Report after being interviewed by Stephen Colbert.

Artists including Don Henley, Pedro the Lion, Glen Phillips, Natalie Merchant, and Wilco have performed live covers of this song. The song is also performed in an episode of Ally McBeal by Jennifer Holliday.

References

1. Lydia Hutchinson. "Happy Birthday, Randy Newman". Performing Songwriter.
2. The Old Grey Whistle Test (DVD). Warner Home Video. 2003.
3. "The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1". Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
4. Don Henley Solo Tour 2004/2005 Archived 2008-01-12 at the Wayback Machine

• 1972 songs
• Jennifer Holliday songs
• Randy Newman songs
• Political songs
• Satirical songs
• Black comedy music
• Songs about the United States
• Songs about nuclear war and weapons
• Songs written by Randy Newman
• Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker
• Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman
• Songs about racism and xenophobia