Music

Tokyo Rose   Run Time: 4:02

Written by Bill Mallonee for CyBrenJoJosh (BMI) ©1997

well am i defecting
well i don't know
fell under the spell
yeah of tokyo rose
all those hot nights in the jungle
with the rockets red glare
i heard all of those bombs
yeah they were everywhere

come and check out my condition
honey i'm in love with your transmission
i waited up for you every night
i hear your voice and my jungle's bright

i once bought a magic marker
the kind with permanent ink
i wrote down all my bad thoughts
i've got 'em all i think
in every bathroom stall
on every vacant wall
highly classified information
yeah i exposed it all

everybody wants
to be unopposed
we leave the straight and narrow
for the lowest of roads
we all need somebody
to lie to us i suppose
that's why everybody needs
yeah a tokyo rose

Did You Know?

The following verse was included in the album lyrics for "Tokyo Rose," but was not included in the final recording. Bill does sing them, however, on the version included on My Year In Review.

when my papers came in
i did as i should
i got in my car
headed for hollywood
where those celluloid bodies
throw off all restraints
and her breathing's faint
and those sad complaints


Upon the release of Slow Dark Train, "Tokyo Rose" received a warm reception from radio, but the label release "Love Cocoon" instead, against the wishes of the band. Who was Tokyo Rose? There never was a person named Tokyo Rose. The Vietnam GI's used this term for a group of Japanese radio broadcasters. However, the Western press labeled Iva Toguri as Tokyo Rose after the war. Iva was pardoned by President Ford. Bill has said this is a song "about needing to be lied to."

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