40 years ago, I knew everything . I certainly knew more than my Mum & Dad. Hey i was a teenager at the time Ok? I was part of what I thought was a world wide movement that was going to change the world. "Wait till our generation gets the reins of power ," I thought, we'll make a difference. Bullshit.
I remember the mental revelation I had when I first heard Dylan. I have always been a lyrics muso & his lyrics SAID something. They voiced the feelings of a generation that thanks to the media of TV could actually see the gritty realities of conflict & combat. Some of those scenes stay with me still. The thought kids just two years older than me were in a country called Viet Nam fighting an unremitting & merciless enemy that were fighting to retain their homes scared me. The fact that kids just two years older than me were prepared to stand up & tell the world that this was wrong awed me. It even happened here. Now one of the leading lights of the protest movement is a Lord Mayor.
Into this all came a myopic young Jew called Robert Zimmerman with his damning lyrics & relaxed midwestern drawly kind of singing. He was the man... Everybody tried to emulate...
Well, forty years on, we are there. We rule the world & look at it. I take no personal responsibility. I've done my bit to help my fellow man. Surely 16 odd years of firefighting & cutting people out of cars is enough to reasonably expect from any man. I never had any aspirations of power. I've never been a leader. I'm not a mindless sheep either. I just like to do my own thing at my own speed. All I want to do these days is love my wife, live a reasonably good life & be loved by my family & watch my grandchildren grow. I have a son in London. I have posted regarding him a little while ago. I heard on the news that the Government there has upped the terrorist alert level to one below their top level.
I have been listening to some early Dylan of late, & it has, as it always does, made me a little introspective. Check these lyrics..
"With God On Our Side"
Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.
Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.
I've learned to hate others
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It's then we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side
Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.
When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.
But now we got weapons
Of chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.
In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.
So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.
That message is still too relevant to be comfortable. I enjoy Dylans early lyrics. They are so much more hard hitting than for arguments sake the lyrics to "Wiggle Wiggle" I'm not saying that the old master cant turn out a good song. There are some good ones in his later music, but they are more commercial than protest. I think he has probably by now run out of ideas, not that I blame him. His lyrical outpit has been phenomanal, & I guess every well must eventually run dry. Thank goodness the old Master of Grunge , Neil Young can still turn out a bloody good raw & unpolished performance like "Days of Shock & Awe" 14 days from idea to album. Way to go Neil. Isnt it a shame though that there is still the need for protest songs
ENOUGH YOU GUYS ALREADY OK ????????
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I know those words are aimed primarily at the good ol' USA, and for good reason. We have been way too hawkish for way too longish. However, I wish the rest of the world knew that there are many, many peace-loving people still left here.
The problem lies in that the majority of those college-aged folks who protested Vietnam are now the mindless spoon-fed sheep who are being led to the slaughter by Jimmy Falwell, Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and most importantly, George Bush.
The Republican Party has manipulated the religious right to a level of insanity that ten years ago, I wouldn't have thought possible. It's the Republicans and the Religious "Fright" who are keeping this war going, my friend. Unfortunately, they are vastly in the majority in this country and will continue to be so until the Democrats and religious lefts and moderates find the courage of their conviction.
Kathy
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