It’s difficult if not impossible to determine which of Trump’s clown-shoed cabinet members is furthest out of his depth, but Pete Hegseth’s constant thumping of his Nazi-tattooed chest makes him most likely to get the bends.
It’s been widely noted that his macho boasting consists mostly of lines lifted from action movies, but he outdid himself yesterday when asked about the Strait of Hormuz. “The only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now,” Hegseth declared, “is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit should Iran not do that.” Do tell.
Iran putting the kibosh on shipping is causing a fertilizer shortage. Maybe farmers can compensate by using some of Hegseth’s bullshit.
When Barry Gibb was writing “Jive Talkin’,” he thought the expression had something to do with the Depression-era dance, the jive. According to brother Maurice, when they played a demo for producer Arif Mardin, “He went, ‘Do you know what jive talking means?’ And we said, ‘Well yeah, it’s, ya know, you’re dancing.’ … And he says, ‘No, it’s a black expression for bullshitting.’ And we went ‘Oh, really?!?”
Though they’re now a half-century old, their rewritten lyrics fit Hegseth to a tee.
It’s just your jive-talkin’, you’re telling me lies
Jive-talkin’, you wear a disguise
Jive-talkin’, so misunderstood, yeah
Jive-talkin’, you’re really no good …
Nobody believes what you say
It’s just your jive-talkin’ that gets in the way
The song is nowadays associated with the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack it appeared on, but it was never heard in the movie – the scene it accompanied was cut. Its release as the lead single from the group’s “Main Course” LP and its rise to No. 1 on the Hot 100 came almost two years before the 1977 film was released. Here are the Brothers Gibb performing it live on the “Midnight Special” TV show in December 1975, well before disco went mainstream.
