Irony is alive and well in San Salvador

Written by Kyle about El Salvador. Feelin' amused
Kyle_amused
There we were, doing our normal grocery shopping in a local branch of Super Selectos, looking to buy more paper towels.  This particular Super Selectos grocery store has a public announcement system that plays semi-recent music interspersed with Orwellian announcements proclaiming how satisfying it is to shop at Super Selectos.  It is usually the kind of music that you vaguely recognize and is pleasant to listen to, but not good enough that you would actually stop your shopping and intently pay attention.  It's kind of like elevator music but there's no substituting the vocals with pan flutes.  This day, however, we found a reason to stop and listen when we heard the song "Freedom isn't Free (It costs a buck o' five)" playing on the loudspeakers.  

For anyone who hasn't heard this song, it is from the movie Team America; a movie about puppets fighting terrorism.  Yes, in a public space, they are playing music from a movie that has puppets doing explicit sex scenes.  Anyway, the song is a tongue-in-cheek mockery of the patriotic country songs that came out after 9/11.  The chorus is something like this:

Freedom isn't free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don't all chip in
We'll never pay that bill
Freedom isn't free
No, there's a hefty fee.
And if you don't throw in your buck 'o five
Who will?       

While we're listing to this song, all I can think is "Does anyone else really know what this song is about?"  I mean, it's almost like hearing "Eat It" by Wierd Al Yankovic playing in place of elevator music.  Either the people who pick out the music for the grocery store 1) don't know English 2) don't get irony or sarcasm or 3) have an incredible sense of irony and are the funniest people in El Salvador. 

Whatever the reasons, the comedy gods were in full effect that day and turned a rather dull day into yet another unpredictable travel event.  Freedom may not be free, but comedy is.

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