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Living With The War
April 28, 2006
Lennon is dead and there isn’t anyone who is capable of writing songs such as “Imagine” or “Give Peace a Chance”.
Bob Marley is dead too and there is no more “Get up, Stand up”
Dylan is old and mellow and songs like “Master of Wars”, “Blowing in the Wind” and “The Time They are A-Changin” will probably never come out of him again.
Madonna has gone back to the dance floor after she censored herself in “American Life”.
We have to rely on some punk bands like Green Day or Bad Religion or some girls from Texas (or “French Hens” as the Rev. Jerry Falwell called them) to help us regain our conscience in a Bush nightmare.
Compared to the ‘60s, the music world is surprisingly quiet at a time when we are living with the war. “Where have the riots gone?”. The lack of musical reaction to the chaos is disturbing – the materialistic world has finally conquered the mindset of our younger generation. As they always say, “Who cares?”.
I don’t know whether Young’s upcoming album “Living with the War” or Springsteen’s tribute to Pete Seeger in “We Shall Overcome: the Seeger Sessions” is able to make a difference. Let’s hope they do. After all, there is only so much an old rocker can do.
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And if “Where have the riots gone?” doesn’t strike a chord, “Where have all the flowers gone?” might just do.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
words and music by Pete Seeger
Posted to Life at April 28, 2006 08:29 PM :
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Comments
Sort of makes one wonder if all the folks who should be writing the protest songs are, I don’t know, blogging about it instead. I guess each generation speaks to issues in their own particular idioms. But to Jimi Hendrix’ quote above, Yes! I have yet to read a blog post of “protest” anywhere that moves me like Neil Young’s “Ohio” used to.
If anyone else out there actually still reads books, the one top of my stack for addressing the war issue is Last Flag Flying, by the author of The Last Detail, which was later made into a movie with Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and Randy Quaid. LFF revisits these three characters in the context of the Iraq War (as opposed to the Vietnam War setting of their first meeting). Word is it’ll be made into a movie with Jack and Randy, & Morgan Freeman taking the late Otis Young’s role. The book is listed at Amazon.com and wrightpress.com.
posted by: You Can't Call Me Al at April 29, 2006 11:59 PM
“Ohio” was written in the wake of the Kent State Shootings (its 36th anniversary will be on 4th May) which is, arguably the “moral equivalence” of Tiananmen (its anniversary also happens on the 4th but one month later on 4th June. This year will be its 17th anniversary).
Young’s talent is often measured in terms of “Harvest” or “After the Gold Rush” but like “Ohio”, “Living with the War” has demonstrated once again that he is a lot more than his commercial sucesses may imply.
posted by: China Doll at April 30, 2006 03:02 PM
Along the same lines is Midnight Oil. A great band, socially conscious, environmentally concerned. An Aussie band, made of lawyers and the like who have now and finally gone there own way.
Still listening to the disk “Blue Sky Mining” today it did make me wonder how we should say what we mean in for the public view.
In the end, I would forget about Bush, Cheney, and a long cast of paranoid Cold War Warriors who just don’t understand how the world has changed.
At least in the short run, the price and demand for oil by the U.S. will in my opinion diminish its place in the world. China, will of course, will demand its share of the oil. Funny, I was thinking that most first tier countries are also those with lots of bombs and guns. France, Russia,and the U.S. export their policy with a full clip in their guns. Iran,Iraq and pretty much all of the Middle East and Venezuela are using these weak moments to export their own views. Oil+Guns=Expression of philosophical intent. Who wrote that book on how to get ahead?
posted by: wickedtribe at May 24, 2006 02:33 AM
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