Exhuming McCarthy

The lyrics criticize a culture in which loyalty to money, power, and national myths is treated as admirable. The speaker addresses someone who seems successful and respectable, but the repeated “sign of the times” suggests that this behavior reflects a wider social problem. As the song develops, it shifts from mock praise toward suspicion and alarm, ending with images of McCarthy and book burning that evoke the return of political persecution and censorship.

“Sharpening stones” and “walking on coals” suggest harsh effort or self-discipline, but here those trials are undertaken to improve “business acumen,” making ambition seem morally narrow. “Bought the myth” implies accepting a persuasive but false story, while “buy America” links that belief to commercial or patriotic slogans. The quoted appeal to decency interrupts the song like a reminder that public accusations can cross ethical limits.

“Exhuming McCarthy” can be read as digging up an old pattern of fear, accusation, and silencing—not necessarily claiming that the present exactly repeats the past. The repeated invitation to a book burning intensifies the warning, though its chant-like quality may also be deliberately unsettling or ironic. The song leaves open whether the person addressed is a specific kind of powerful figure or a symbol of a broader system; its criticism is clearest in the contrast between polished respectability and troubling political behavior.