StoneMtn Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 The following is a quote from a publication by the American Bar Association, as a result of a contest they ran. Anyone want to add their own suggestions?Two weeks ago, we mentioned a study that was done to see which songwriter’s lyrics could most often be found in legal opinions to illustrate or support a principle of law. It turned out that Bob Dylan’s lyrics had been most often co-opted by judges to give their rulings some pop-culture pizzazz. So we wanted to know whose music you thought would lend itself well to being used in a legal opinion. Responses ran the gamut, from Leonard Cohen to Jay-Z. Here are our favorites: Winner! In one of the early Talking Heads albums there is a song called Cross-eyed and Painless with lyrics that should be in an opinion. I tried to insert the following quote into a footnote in a 9th Circuit brief more than 10 years ago when I was a junior associate:Facts are simple and facts are straightFacts are lazy and facts are lateFacts all come with points of viewFacts don’t do what I want them to.Unfortunately, the senior associate struck out the quote. Coulda made new law. But we did win the appeal.Glenn ChernigoffWashington, D.C.Some issues that at one time seemed clear appear less so with the passage of time. The following is from Shades of Gray by Billy Joel:Now with the wisdom of yearsI try to reason things outAnd the only people I fearAre those who never have doubtsSave us all from arrogant menAnd all the causes they’re forI won’t be righteous again.Andrew OrensteinNew York CityLeonard Cohen’s later songs have some pointed social satire that could be useful in the more creative, persuasive portions of briefs or opinions. For example, from the song Democracy, a shareholder dispute could be likened to: The homicidal bitchin’That goes down in every kitchenTo determine who will serve and who will eat.Or the dissolution (or violation) of a pension plan could be summarized with these lyrics from The Future: "I’ve seen the future, brother, it is murder."Marla CarewDetroitYou can’t always get what you wantBut if you try sometimesYou just might findYou get what you need. The Rolling Stones, in an opinion explaining distribution of marital assets—or in any mediation, really.Claudia ReisHackensack, N.J.Several possibilities come to mind, but I think there’s a Jimmy Buffett song that sums up a good number of legal opinions: I Don’t Know and I Don’t Care.Michael MeunierWilliamsburg, Va.If a landmark criminal case is made of a person rightfully or wrongfully convicted of public drunkenness or disorderly conduct, the appeals judge should quote the poignant lyrics of Big Shot by Billy Joel:You had to be a big shot, didn’t youYou had to open up your mouthYou had to be a big shot, didn’t youAll your friends were so knocked outYou had to have the last word, last nightYou know what everything’s aboutYou had to have the white-hot spotlightYou had to be a big shot, last night.Andrew SindlerGermantown, Md.As a civil litigator, I’ve never had the chance to quote it, but I’ve long thought that the Grateful Dead got it right with Truckin’:If you got a warrantI guess you’re gonna come in.Siobhan MurphyChicagoThe best lyrics for an opinion on an illegal car search would be Jay-Z’s 99 Problems: Well, my glove compartment is locked, so are the trunk in the backAnd I know my rights so you gon’ need a warrant for that"Aren’t you sharp as a tack, you some type of lawyer or somethin’?""Or somebody important or somethin’?"Nah, I ain’t pass the bar, but I know a little bitEnough that you won’t illegally search my [car].Name withheld by requestAtlantaIn United States v. McPhee, the defendant appealed his conviction for possessing marijuana while on board a ship. He argued that the ship was outside U.S. jurisdiction at the time of his arrest because it was in the vicinity of Saint Vincent Rock, which he maintained was an island of the Bahamas. The 11th Circuit noted that the whole case turned on whether Saint Vincent Rock "is a ‘rock’ or an ‘island’ for the purposes of determining Bahamian territorial waters."The 11th Circuit also noted, "We can discern no reason why something could not be both a rock and an island at the same time." It cited Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s I Am a Rock. The court did point out, however, that "neither Simon nor Garfunkel has been identified as a nautical expert." The court affirmed the conviction.Name withheld by requestWashington, D.C.How about the lyrics of Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen for injecting some cynical realism into the kind of decision that elevates the interests of big business over those of the little guy with justice but nothing else on his side:Everybody knows that the dice are loadedEverybody rolls with their fingers crossedEverybody knows that the war is overEverybody knows the good guys lostEverybody knows the fight was fixedThe poor stay poor, the rich get richThat’s how it goesEverybody knows.Gillian TalwarSouthfield, Mich.I’d vote for W.S. Gilbert. A quick Lexis search shows some 230 citations to W.S. Gilbert, Gilbert and Sullivan, or common phrases from the Savoy operas. The list includes three U.S. Supreme Court cases. Some 56 law review articles cite Gilbert. Gilbert, though called to the bar, found that the bar was not his calling. Nonetheless, legal thought, situations and complications form the basis for the plots of the operas.Because Gilbert’s work both captures the majesty of legal syntax and parodies the complexities of our work, the plays are very appealing to lawyers. Junior associates might well think of Sir Joseph Porter as "polish[ing] up the handle of the big front door" when he was in their position. Most litigators have, after a bad day in court, been in the situation sung by the judge in Trial by Jury:Though homeward as you trudgeYou declare my law is fudge.Jeffrey DineNew York CityI always loved Jethro Tull’s Farm on the Freeway, a song dedicated to the potentially devastating effects of eminent domain. The lyrics underscore how "just compensation" doesn’t always compensate. In fact, it can destroy the American dream. The lyrics drive home the dangers of decisions such as the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision. In the song, what went from a generational inheritance plan set deep in a sublime valley left father and son with nothing more than a check, a pickup truck and a farm on the freeway. As the former farmer poignantly states, "I was a rich man before yesterday."Jason MassaroIndianapolis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. J Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 We walked in a cloud of smokeShe sold me over from the moment that she spokeWell they got me nowI'll see you laterTell my baby that i really don't blame her.I'm out back to answer questionsAnd with a gun they make suggestionsWhat I should doWhat I should sayTell my baby that I loved her anyway.Mafia Sting - The Spades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneMtn Posted December 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Well, now that Dr. J got the ball rolling (and good one by the way!) I think I'll add a short one of my own...The heat came round and busted me for smilin' on a cloudy day. That's It for the Other One ~ GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau. Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 My daddy told me of the comealongs And the time came for me to wear my own I swore I'd never wear them againBut it seems this here's my schoolin'So I furthered myself academicallyIn the local correctional facilityThe comealongsby Jimmy Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Good morning, Worm, your honorThe Crown will plainly showThe prisoner who now stands before youWas caught red-handed showing feelingsShowing feelings of an almost human natureThis will not doCall the schoolmasterI always said he'd come to no goodIn the end, your HonorIf they'd let me have my wayI could have flayed him into shapeBut my hands were tiedThe bleeding hearts and artistsLet him get away with murderLet me hammer him todayCrazyToys in the attic, I am crazyTruly gone fishingThey must have taken my marbles awayCrazyToys in the attic, he is crazyCall the defendant's wifeYou little shit, you're in it nowI hope they throw away the keyYou should've talked to me more often than you didBut no! You had to go your own wayHave you broken any homes up lately?Just five minutes, Worm, your HonorHim and me aloneBaaaaaabeCome to Mother, babyLet me hold you in my armsM'Lord, I never meant for him to get in any troubleWhy'd he ever have to leave me?Worm, your Honor, let me take him homeCrazyOver the rainbow, I am crazyBars in the windowThere must have been a door there in the wallWhen I came inCrazyOver the rainbow, he is crazyThe evidence before the court is incontravertibleThere's no need for the jury to retireIn all the years of judging I have never heard beforeOf someone more deserving of the full penalty of the lawThe way you made 'em sufferYour exquisite wife and motherFills me with the urge to deficateSince, my friendYou have revealed your deepest fearI sentence you to be exposed before your peersTear down the wall"Tear down the wall, Tear down the wall, ..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allison Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Now thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's houseOr covet thy neighbor's wifeBut for someMurder is the only door thru which they enter lifeTom Waits-Murder in the Red Barn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark tonin Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 "Victim Or The Crime"Words by Gerrit Graham and Bob Weir; music by Bob WeirCopyright Ice Nine Publishing (1988)Patience runs out on the junkieThe dark side hires another soulDid he steal his fate or earn itWas he force-fed, did he learn itWhatever happened to his precious self controlLike him I'm tired of trying to healThis tom-cat heart with which I'm blessedIs destruction loving's twinMust I choose to lose or winMaybe when my turn comes I will have guessedThese are the horns of the dilemmaWhat truth is proof against all liesWhen sacred fails before profaneThe wisest man is deemed insaneEven the purest of romantics compromiseWhat fixation feeds this feverAs the full moon pales and climbsAm I living truth or rank deceiverAm I the victim or the crimeAm I the victim or the crimeAm I the victim or the crimeOr the crimeAnd so I wrestle with the angelTo see who'll reap the seeds I sowAm I the driver or the drivenWill I be damned to be forgivenIs there anybody here but me who needs to knowWhat it is to face this feverAs the full moon pales and climbsAm I living truth or rank deceiverAm I the victim or the crimeAm I the victim or the crimeAm I the victim or the crimeOr the crime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark tonin Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 One more submission to this thread from Talking Heads, from their Fear of Music album:Electric GuitarElectric guitar gets run over by a car on the highwayThis is a crime against the stateThis is the meaning of life.To tune this electric guitarAn electric guitar is brought in to a court of lawThe judge and the jury (twelve members of the jury)All listening to recordsThis is a crime against the stateThis is the verdict they reach:Never listen to electric guitarElectric guitar is copies, the copy sounds betterCall this the law of justice, call this freedom and libertyI thought I perjure myself, right infront of the jury!Is this a crime against the state? no!This is the verdict they reach:Someone controls electric guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timouse Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 Framed - Cheech & Chong version(Lieber & Stoller)I was sitting in the coffee shopJust minding my own affairWhen all of a sudden, thisPoliceman caught me unawareSaid, is your name PedroI says, yeah, I guess soSaid, then come with me causeYou're the man we been looking forI said, hey, manI been framedHey, no, really, manI was framedAw, I never do nothing wrong, manBut every time I get the blameI been framedThey put me in the lineupAnd let the bright lights shineThere was ten poor dudes like meStanding in that lineI knew I was the victimOf somebody's evil planWhen this scroungy looking dudeCame up and said, yeahThat's him, manHey, wait a minute, manI been framed, manAw, listen to me, judgeI was framedI never do nothing wrongBut every time I get the blameHey, I been framedThen the prosecuting attorneyStarted prosecuting on meThat dude gave me the firstSecond, and third degreeHe said where were youOn the night of July 29I said, man, I was home in bedHe said, judge, that man's lyingI said wait a minute, manI was framed, manHey, judge, listen to me, manReally, you gotta believe meI been framed, manI never do nothing wrongBut every time I get the blameOh, I was framedNow look, I deny the chargesOf having any weedAnd I also deny the chargesOf taking any speedI deny the chargesOf selling any grassBut when the judgeLooked down and said guiltyI said, judge, you can kiss myFramedJudge, I'm telling you the truthI was framed, manI never do nothing wrongBut every time I get the blameHey, I was framedOh, framed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 "Test me, test me, test me, test me... Why don't you arrest me? Throw me into the jailhouseUntil the sun goes down..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blurry Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 The Facts of LifeYou take the good,You take the bad,You take them both and there you have the facts of life.The facts of life.There's a time you gotta go and showYou're growin' now,You know about the facts of life.The facts of life.When the world never seems,To be living up to your dreams.And suddenly you're finding out,The facts of life are all about you.All about you.You-u-u-u,A-ll about you.It takes a lot to get em right,But you're learnin the facts of life.Learnin the facts of life.Learnin the facts of life.Learnin the facts of li-fe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bONES Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 Cold Blood - Peter Tosh Every time I see Babylon my blood runs cold Every time I see the wicked men my belly moves You say after me sir I solemnly swear That the evidence I shall give Shall be the truth The whole truth And nothin but the truth So help me God So help I Jah(3x)..Rastafari Every time I see the wicked men my belly moves You are brought before this court For having ganja in your possession Guilty or not guilty Not guilty your honor How could one man do such a thing...ganja It is totally impossible your honor I can remember yeah When I was framed and jailed, brutalized The grudge would find me guilty For an exhibit they could not find Every time I see Babylon my blood runs cold Every time I see the wicked men my belly moves When I see the condition I said it's a curse For the past 400 years ago Things get from bad to worse Every time I see Babylon my blood runs cold Every time I see the wicked men my belly moves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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