Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Whatever happened to '60's music?

Back in the 60's when the U.S. was fighting in Vietnam, musicians sang against the occupation and the war.  People protested while listening to these singers, the power of the people ended that war.

Where are these singers who empowered the people so?  Where are the people who listened to the artists and fought the government?  Did what they did then make any real difference to the future?  Is there something we can learn from that time and implement it now, and stop what's happening now?  I believe there is, all we need is people with guts to get started on it.  Could a true anti-war movement be struck again?

Everyone's heard of Simon and Garfunkel, and most people know the song "Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?", but, have you ever paid attention to the underlying lyrics?  I've always heard and understood the predominant words, but if you listen closely, there is a completely different song playing in the background.  It blends in so beautifully that most people don't pick up on it.  Hell, all I've ever heard of it was the odd word here and there, so I finally googled the song and dug up the lyrics.  Here they are, pay attention to the words in brackets.   They're the lyrics I'm talking about here:

Are you going to Scarborough Fair? 
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme 
Remember me to one who lives there 
She once was a true love of mine 

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt 
  (On the side of a hill in the deep forest green) 
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme 
  (Tracing a sparrow on snow-crested ground)
Without no seams nor needlework 
  (Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain) 
Then she'll be a true love of mine 
  (Sleeps unaware of the clarion call) 

Tell her to find me an acre of land
  (On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
  (Washes the ground with so many tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strand
  (A soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
  (War bellows, blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
  (Generals order their soldiers to kill)
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
  (And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine 

Are you going to Scarborough Fair? 
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme 
Remember me to one who lives there 
She once was a true love of mine


There were so many powerful songs written and perfomed during that era.  I really wish I hadn't missed it!  One artist that comes to mind from this era is John Mayer.  On his album Continuum, is a great piece called "Waiting On The World To Change".

I've linked the lyrics to the title.  If you can come up with some more powerful anti-war songs for me to listen to or lyrics to read, I'd appreciate the links, so thanks in advance.

17 comments:

  1. a reason I think there is not much anti-war music, is there is simply not enough of an anti-war movement.

    Thinking recently it seemed the metal bands were more inclined towards antiwar music.

    If I can recall eminem did quite a bush bashing anti-war song too

    I am not much for rap, but it was dark, it was ominous.

    Mosh

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  2. Thank you Penny, I'll check that out asap. Granted, I'm not much for rap either, but hey, it can't be all bad, right!?!

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  3. Penny, I couldn't understand the words half the time, so I googled the lyrics. Wow, I do love what these last 2 verses have to say!
    ___________________________________

    Let the president answer a higher anarchy
    Strap him with an Ak-47, let him go, fight his own war
    Let him impress daddy that way
    No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our own soil
    No more psychological warfare, to trick us to thinking that we ain't loyal
    If we don't serve our own country, we're patronizing a hero
    Look in his eyes its all lies
    The stars and stripes, they've been swiped, washed out and wiped
    And replaced with his own face, Mosh now or die
    If I get sniped tonight you know why,
    Cause I told you to fight.

    And as we proceed,
    To Mosh through this desert storm,
    In these closing statements, if they should argue
    Let us beg to differ
    As we set aside our differences
    And assemble our own army
    To disarm this Weapon of Mass Destruction
    That we call our President, for the present
    And Mosh for the future of our next generation
    To speak and be heard
    Mr. President, Mr. Senator
    Do you guy's hear us...hear us...[laughing]

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  4. the reason there is no anti war music movement is simply because the media i.e record companys won't publish or record it. You have to remember who it is that owns the vast majority of the radio stations as well.

    These same pieces of hook nosed shit learned from the last time that music can play a big part and they won't make the same mistake again. war is now and has always been their harvest.

    Ahh and yes the beloved Rap music, sadly it's always misspelled as the C seems to be silent as well as invisable, but it should not be.

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  5. DOH *insert forehead slap here*, yep Silv, I'm doing my best Homer impersonation again! Shit, even after reading up on the history of Woodstock, I just didn't clue in. I'll blame spending so much time with Grandma, can't think straight now. Yep, that's it, Grandma's senility is wearing off on me. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

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  6. Hey Guys, Silv is right of course. (Curse him! He's always right!) But then there's Dave McGowan. Have you read his Laurel Canyon stuff? Have a read and then wonder again at the 'anti-war' movement.

    And John Pilger in his documentary, Vietnam - The Quiet Mutiny, makes the case that the hippies and their protest movement paled in the face of the mutinies in the military and the subsequent complete degradation of the US forces. But Silv is the man to talk about that.

    So if you put Pilgers thesis together with McGowan's ideas of the hippy movement as a psyop, then you kind of have to wonder about the music.

    And sure, all those CSNY songs I used to love. What to make of them now? John Lennon, on the other hand was the real deal, completely incorruptable. They tried with Abbie Hoffman but Lennon pissed him off. Imagine if Lennon been around today? No surprises they killed him...

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  7. And sorry Skye, I didn't know you had a blog! I shall have to wander about and give it a scrute, as we say here...

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  8. No worries Nobody, it's not like there's a little link saying "check out my blog" with my handle...lol. It's nice that you popped in at all, thanks for that :)

    Thanks also for the link, I'll go and peruse it soon, and let you know what I think. From the sounds of it, it'll be a rather enlightening read.

    Cheers Mate

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  9. Ok, Nobody, I've read the first chapter, and yep, enlightening indeed! Thank you so much! Seeing as I'm reading the story about the guy in Africa (sorry, can't remember his name right now) and this, it'll take me some time to get through all my reading material. But no worries, I tend to read 5-10 books a month (depending on length of course, usually in the 600 page range).

    This and the afformentioned book are now given top priority. Again, thank you, I truly appreciate this!

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  10. well silv, that is true, remember when this latest attack on Iraq started and the major media/radio wouldn't play any anti-war songs.

    I know John Lennon's-Imagine was on that list.

    Then there was the whole ruckus over those country women singers, the three of them?? name????

    and nobody, I thought about telling Skye about the Laurel Canyon stuff, but then I thought, I won't overwhelm her, as it was such a disappointment to me.
    I mean I loved the doors and Jim Morrison, good looking.
    Total let down.
    Maggie liked Frank Zappa so she was bummed to see him in that.

    oh and skye: yah it was pretty good for a rap song.

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  11. Ahhh yes Woodstock I remember it oh so well, a mud field lots of garbage and no music. As Skye knows I missed it by TWO goddamn days. Just Two days.
    I was in the US military at the time and was on leave, so decided to go to the happening the biggest happening of all time but due to engine problems we got there late, two days late.

    Now I have talked to people of my age yuh know OLD people that were actually there, they tell me of how great it was, Oh how I hate them.

    Now when kids say to me gee mister your OLD do you remember WOODSTOCK? (they raise their voices cus they know I’m like OLD)

    The best I can offer them is” Well yes Youngen I remember WOODSTOCK I missed it by TWO FUCKING DAYS” Then they look at me and say gee Mister that’s too bad but they just don’t get it. They don’t get what it means to have been on the way to an historical event and missing it by TWO FUCKING DAYS. They just don’t get it.

    Oh how I would love to say “Yeah I was there” and it was cool and it was groovy, it was a Happening” but the best I can say is yes I was there and it was a mud field full of garbage.
    Sad Sad Sad

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  12. "Then there was the whole ruckus over those country women singers, the three of them?? name????"

    Would that be the Dixie Chicks,
    Penny? I seem to remember something about them being shunned for a song against that bushy shrub, now out of office. I can't remember the name of the song though, as I'm not overly big on country music.

    As for the story about Laurel Canyon, well, no worries there, although I like the music, that doesn't mean I have any feelings for the artists. For that matter, I know that a lot of them were fakes and fronts for others.

    What tickles me is that the whole Hippie movement backfired on the Jews who started it, creating a whole new life of it's own. *info compliments of Silver's whispering in my ear*

    I promise to read it with an open mind and to not judge too closely that which I read. :)

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  13. Yeah, my let down in the whole Laurel Canyon thing was Neil Young. I was at the internet cafe yelling NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    Actually I just made that up but you get the idea.

    As for the Dixie Chicks, I don't think it was a specific song that got them in trouble. As I recall, they were at a concert (in France perhaps?) and between songs said that they were ashamed to call the idiot son a fellow Texan. Or something near as dammit...

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  14. Thanks for the clarification on the "Dixie Chick" thing there Nobody.

    As for the rest, it's always a shock when the wool get's removed from one's vision, isn't it!?!

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  15. Here in the UK there are young people using music and yes rap music and doing something rather good with it. At the recent demo in London in support of Gaza this happened
    Lowkey at London demo on youtube

    and then there is Michael Franti and Spearhead from San Francisco

    bomb the world


    cheers for now.

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  16. Thanks John, I'll go and check that out!

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