The Ballad of Marshall McLuhan

This might be the most fun introduction to Marshall McLuhan you’ll find.

The song: The Ballad of Marshall McLuhan
The band: The Vestibules
The album: Radio Free Vestibule

Lyrics

Once upon a time there was a town
A town where chaos reigned.
Lawlessness was everywhere
And there was no cohesive theory existing which properly explained the mass media and their impact on society and man’s thinking.

And then one day a stranger came riding into town.
And all the townsfolk gathered around and asked his name.
Well he tipped his hat and he said “Marshall, Marshall McLuhan.”

Marshall
Marshall

Well they gave him a star and put it on his chest
And gave him his own office with his name on the door.
Well wouldn’t you know the very next day a fight broke out in the last chance saloon.
It was an argument concerning the externalization of the senses and its subsequent effect on on man’s psychological make up.
It was about to come to blows, when Marshall stepped in,
And he said, “Boys, a theory of cultural change is impossible without knowledge of the changing sense ratio affected by various externalizations of our senses.”

Marshall McLuhan
You’re such a groovy thinker and
We really dig what you say
Cuz you have the best insights into mass media
This side of the Rio Grande.

Well then came the fateful day
When a tall dark man all dressed in black came riding into town.
All the townsfolk ran inside and locked their doors and hid.
And the bad man stood in the town square and he called out for Marshall McLuhan.
He said, “Marshall, I don’t agree with your description of television as a tactile medium in the context of a visual notion of causality.”

So Marshall shot him.

Marshall McLuhan
You’re such a groovy thinker and
We really dig what you say
Cuz you have the best insights into mass media
This side of the Rio Grande.

Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan.

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About the Contributor

Benjamin Robertson

Benjamin Robertson
Benjamin Robertson is a founding editor at Second Nature. He has worked in advertising for the Chicago Tribune and Gannett, and now is a web developer at Mediacurrent. He studied Communications and Media Studies under Dr. Read Schuchardt at Wheaton College in Illinois. He has presented papers on Marshall McLuhan, media ecology, and Christianity at the Media Ecology Association, National Communication Association, and the McLuhan's Philosophy of Media Centennial Conference in Brussels. He lives with his wife, Ruth, in Greenville, SC. His personal website is benrobertson.io

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