Tuesday, November 17, 2009
*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Russian Poet Mayakovsky
Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.
*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky-On George Bernard Shaw
Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great British writer George Bernard Shaw. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.
*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Dostoevsky
Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian writer Dostoevsky. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.
*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Pushkin
Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian writer Pushkin. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Oppposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
*On The 20th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall- From The Pen Of Alan Woods- A Guest Commentary
Click on title to link to an "In Defense Of Marxism" article (via Renegade Eye)by Alan Woods on November 9, 2009 the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Markin comment:
This article by Alan Woods is a useful general commentary that does a fairly good job of highlighting the events of that period. Two weaknesses in the article though. A little too strong emphasis on the anecdotal evidence that some of those who thought that so-called "market socialism" would be better than the bureaucratized central planning system that they known. There is no, or little, evidence that this post-dated "buyer's remorse" noted in the article has led to anything stronger than some grumbling.
More importantly, there is no information in the article about what the International Marxist Tendency's policies were at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and what they were advising their co-thinkers to do. In short how to fight for the political revolution (or at least fight off the counterrevolution) For an article attempting to teach the lessons of history and to educate today's youth that is a serious shortcoming. Unless one believes that nothing could be done and that one should just follow the crowd. That would be worse.
Markin comment- November 16, 2009
This last point is of no mere academic interest. I am personally, painfully, aware of what an incorrect orientation, or rather a somewhat early studied indifference toward the events of 20 years ago surrounding the demise of the deformed and degenerated workers states signaled above all by the fall of the Berlin Wall had on future revolutionary prospects. I have noted elsewhere in this space (see "*On The 20th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall - The Defeated Fight To Save Socialism- The International Communist League View", Novemeber 2, 2009) what the demise of the Soviet Union and the other non-capitalist states of East Europe have had on the prospects for socialism. The learning of the lessons of that hard truth will be the subject for a future fuller commentary but for now here is an outline of my thinking on the matter.
Throughout most of the last half of the 1980s I (and here in this commentary I speak solely for myself), and some other political associates I was working with at the time, some in Europe although none directly in Germany, had our eyes and political antennae focused on what we consistently considered the alarming situation in the Soviet Union (and to a lesser extent China, the other important workers state). Frankly, the bubbling up of intensely pro-capitalism opposition from various East European countries caught me by surprise, at least its intensity. Moreover, toward the destruction of the Berlin Wall as anything other than a secondary symbolic gesture I was rather agnostic.
Why? Two basic reasons that bear directly on my comments on the Wood article above. First, I overestimated the commitment of the various Stalinist bureaucracies to preserving their own workers states (the desire to hold onto state power for their own personal or political reasons). If one of the prerequisites for revolution (or, as here, counter-revolution) is that the old ruling regime cannot, or will not, defend itself against popular mass action then this proved to be massively true in 1989. Above all I thought the East German bureaucracy, as pivotal as the DRG was to the military and political interest of the Soviet Union, would…hold out in the short term. I was ready to make, devoted Trotsky admirer or not, a tacit bloc with any wing of the crumbling Stalinist bureaucracies that would just not give up (at least until we could organize the pro-communist, anti-Stalinist political revolution against them).
Secondly, I underestimated the extent of the rejection of socialism among the populations, including the working classes, of the East European states as a whole. This view certainly underestimated the identification in the popular mind of Stalinism and socialism (a continuing one, by the way). For a whole bunch of historical reasons, including feelings of national oppression by the presence of Soviet troops, I knew that some sections of the population had always been hostile to socialism, in any form. Rather than cut across that clearly and cleanly with a call for a new Bolshevik Party to rally whatever pro-socialist forces were around and to fight against the counter-revolutionary actions unfolding I drifted along trying to deny reality. And that reality, from our pro-communist perspective, was that rather than an amorphous mass this situation was driven by serious counter-revolutionary impulses. The media images might have been wrapped up in “democratic” rhetoric but no Western imperialist was unhappy with what they saw unfolding among the “people”. I think, for now at least, these comments should buttress my case for the need to learn the lessons of the history of this period for our side. We already know their "death of communism" side. More, and I think much more, later.
Markin comment:
This article by Alan Woods is a useful general commentary that does a fairly good job of highlighting the events of that period. Two weaknesses in the article though. A little too strong emphasis on the anecdotal evidence that some of those who thought that so-called "market socialism" would be better than the bureaucratized central planning system that they known. There is no, or little, evidence that this post-dated "buyer's remorse" noted in the article has led to anything stronger than some grumbling.
More importantly, there is no information in the article about what the International Marxist Tendency's policies were at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and what they were advising their co-thinkers to do. In short how to fight for the political revolution (or at least fight off the counterrevolution) For an article attempting to teach the lessons of history and to educate today's youth that is a serious shortcoming. Unless one believes that nothing could be done and that one should just follow the crowd. That would be worse.
Markin comment- November 16, 2009
This last point is of no mere academic interest. I am personally, painfully, aware of what an incorrect orientation, or rather a somewhat early studied indifference toward the events of 20 years ago surrounding the demise of the deformed and degenerated workers states signaled above all by the fall of the Berlin Wall had on future revolutionary prospects. I have noted elsewhere in this space (see "*On The 20th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall - The Defeated Fight To Save Socialism- The International Communist League View", Novemeber 2, 2009) what the demise of the Soviet Union and the other non-capitalist states of East Europe have had on the prospects for socialism. The learning of the lessons of that hard truth will be the subject for a future fuller commentary but for now here is an outline of my thinking on the matter.
Throughout most of the last half of the 1980s I (and here in this commentary I speak solely for myself), and some other political associates I was working with at the time, some in Europe although none directly in Germany, had our eyes and political antennae focused on what we consistently considered the alarming situation in the Soviet Union (and to a lesser extent China, the other important workers state). Frankly, the bubbling up of intensely pro-capitalism opposition from various East European countries caught me by surprise, at least its intensity. Moreover, toward the destruction of the Berlin Wall as anything other than a secondary symbolic gesture I was rather agnostic.
Why? Two basic reasons that bear directly on my comments on the Wood article above. First, I overestimated the commitment of the various Stalinist bureaucracies to preserving their own workers states (the desire to hold onto state power for their own personal or political reasons). If one of the prerequisites for revolution (or, as here, counter-revolution) is that the old ruling regime cannot, or will not, defend itself against popular mass action then this proved to be massively true in 1989. Above all I thought the East German bureaucracy, as pivotal as the DRG was to the military and political interest of the Soviet Union, would…hold out in the short term. I was ready to make, devoted Trotsky admirer or not, a tacit bloc with any wing of the crumbling Stalinist bureaucracies that would just not give up (at least until we could organize the pro-communist, anti-Stalinist political revolution against them).
Secondly, I underestimated the extent of the rejection of socialism among the populations, including the working classes, of the East European states as a whole. This view certainly underestimated the identification in the popular mind of Stalinism and socialism (a continuing one, by the way). For a whole bunch of historical reasons, including feelings of national oppression by the presence of Soviet troops, I knew that some sections of the population had always been hostile to socialism, in any form. Rather than cut across that clearly and cleanly with a call for a new Bolshevik Party to rally whatever pro-socialist forces were around and to fight against the counter-revolutionary actions unfolding I drifted along trying to deny reality. And that reality, from our pro-communist perspective, was that rather than an amorphous mass this situation was driven by serious counter-revolutionary impulses. The media images might have been wrapped up in “democratic” rhetoric but no Western imperialist was unhappy with what they saw unfolding among the “people”. I think, for now at least, these comments should buttress my case for the need to learn the lessons of the history of this period for our side. We already know their "death of communism" side. More, and I think much more, later.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"-Herbert Manana
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances). I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances). I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
San Francisco Bay Blues
Words & Music by Jesse Fuller, 1954
Recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary, 1965
B7 E A Edim E E7
I got the blues when my baby left me down by the Frisco Bay;
A F#m Cdim E E7
An ocean liner came and took her away.
A B7 E G#m C#m
I didn't mean to treat her bad, she was the best gal I ever had;
F#7
She said good-bye, made me cry,
B7 F#7 B7
Made me wanna lay down my head and die.
Refrain:
B7 E A Edim E E7
Well I ain't got a nickel, and I ain't got a lousy dime–,
A F#m Cdim G#7
She don't come back, I think I'm gonna lose my mind.
A B7 E G#7 C#7
She ever comes back to stay, it's gonna be another brand new day,
A B7 E Cdim B7
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay.
Bridge:
E A Edim E A Edim E
Well, I'm sittin' here on the back porch, don't know which way to go;
A F#m G#7
The gal that I'm so crazy about, she don't love me anymore.
A Cdim F#m E G#m C#m
Think I'm gonna take a freight train, 'cause I'm feelin' blue,
F#7 C#m7-5 F#7 B7 F#7 B7
Gonna ride it to the end of the line, thinkin' only of you.
Refrain:
B7 E A Edim E E7
Well I ain't got a nickel, and I ain't got a lousy dime–,
A F#m G#7
She don't come back, I think I'm gonna lose my mind.
A B7 E G#7 C#7
She ever comes back to stay, it's gonna be another brand new day,
A B7 E Cm7-5 C#7
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay,
A B7 E Fdim(IV) C#7
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay,
A B7 E A7 Am7 E6
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay.
I've been playing this song for years, since Peter, Paul & Mary's recording of it, and I learned to enjoy it all over again when Eric Clapton included his version on "Unplugged." Recently I transposed it, just for kicks...and found that it became fun to play all over again because of the new chord progression.
Recent visitor Gordon Jackson forwarded me a short bio on composer Jesse Fuller, reprinted in part here:
In 1951, Fuller decided to devote himself entirely to his music, and over the next decade he built a small cult following. He often used a one-man band setup he had devised that allowed him to play guitar, harmonica, hi-hat with castanets, and his own invention, the footdella (a piano-string bass operated with a foot pedal). He wrote, 'San Francisco Bay Blues" in 1954, and five years later appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Fuller became popular in Europe and England, and toured the U.S. regularly throughout the Sixties. It wasn't until the mid-Fifties that he began recording, cutting his early tracks for Prestige (later reissued on Fantasy). In 1976, he died of heart disease. (From the Rolling Stone Encyclopaedia of Rock and Roll. 1983.)
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
San Francisco Bay Blues
Words & Music by Jesse Fuller, 1954
Recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary, 1965
B7 E A Edim E E7
I got the blues when my baby left me down by the Frisco Bay;
A F#m Cdim E E7
An ocean liner came and took her away.
A B7 E G#m C#m
I didn't mean to treat her bad, she was the best gal I ever had;
F#7
She said good-bye, made me cry,
B7 F#7 B7
Made me wanna lay down my head and die.
Refrain:
B7 E A Edim E E7
Well I ain't got a nickel, and I ain't got a lousy dime–,
A F#m Cdim G#7
She don't come back, I think I'm gonna lose my mind.
A B7 E G#7 C#7
She ever comes back to stay, it's gonna be another brand new day,
A B7 E Cdim B7
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay.
Bridge:
E A Edim E A Edim E
Well, I'm sittin' here on the back porch, don't know which way to go;
A F#m G#7
The gal that I'm so crazy about, she don't love me anymore.
A Cdim F#m E G#m C#m
Think I'm gonna take a freight train, 'cause I'm feelin' blue,
F#7 C#m7-5 F#7 B7 F#7 B7
Gonna ride it to the end of the line, thinkin' only of you.
Refrain:
B7 E A Edim E E7
Well I ain't got a nickel, and I ain't got a lousy dime–,
A F#m G#7
She don't come back, I think I'm gonna lose my mind.
A B7 E G#7 C#7
She ever comes back to stay, it's gonna be another brand new day,
A B7 E Cm7-5 C#7
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay,
A B7 E Fdim(IV) C#7
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay,
A B7 E A7 Am7 E6
Walkin' with my baby by the San Francisco Bay.
I've been playing this song for years, since Peter, Paul & Mary's recording of it, and I learned to enjoy it all over again when Eric Clapton included his version on "Unplugged." Recently I transposed it, just for kicks...and found that it became fun to play all over again because of the new chord progression.
Recent visitor Gordon Jackson forwarded me a short bio on composer Jesse Fuller, reprinted in part here:
In 1951, Fuller decided to devote himself entirely to his music, and over the next decade he built a small cult following. He often used a one-man band setup he had devised that allowed him to play guitar, harmonica, hi-hat with castanets, and his own invention, the footdella (a piano-string bass operated with a foot pedal). He wrote, 'San Francisco Bay Blues" in 1954, and five years later appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Fuller became popular in Europe and England, and toured the U.S. regularly throughout the Sixties. It wasn't until the mid-Fifties that he began recording, cutting his early tracks for Prestige (later reissued on Fantasy). In 1976, he died of heart disease. (From the Rolling Stone Encyclopaedia of Rock and Roll. 1983.)
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- The Reverend Gary Davis Holds Forth
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
"I’m on My Way"
Im on my way from misery to happiness today
Im on my way from misery to happiness today
Im on my way to what I want from this world
And years from now youll make it to the next world
And everything that you receive up yonder
Is what you gave to me the day I wandered
I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday
I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday
I took the road that brought me to your home town
I took the bus to streets that I could walk down
I walked the streets to find the one Id looked for
I climbed the stair that led me to your front door
And now that I dont want for anthing
Id have al jolson sing Im sitting on top of the world
Ill do my best, Ill do my best to do the best I can
Ill do my best, Ill do my best to do the best I can
To keep my feet from jumping from the ground dear
To keep my heart from jumping through my mouth dear
To keep the past, the past and not the present
To try and learn when you teach me a lesson
And now that I dont want for anything
Id have al joison sing Im sitting on top of the world.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
"I’m on My Way"
Im on my way from misery to happiness today
Im on my way from misery to happiness today
Im on my way to what I want from this world
And years from now youll make it to the next world
And everything that you receive up yonder
Is what you gave to me the day I wandered
I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday
I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday
I took the road that brought me to your home town
I took the bus to streets that I could walk down
I walked the streets to find the one Id looked for
I climbed the stair that led me to your front door
And now that I dont want for anthing
Id have al jolson sing Im sitting on top of the world
Ill do my best, Ill do my best to do the best I can
Ill do my best, Ill do my best to do the best I can
To keep my feet from jumping from the ground dear
To keep my heart from jumping through my mouth dear
To keep the past, the past and not the present
To try and learn when you teach me a lesson
And now that I dont want for anything
Id have al joison sing Im sitting on top of the world.
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- Wikipedia's List Of Performers
Click on title to link to a complete list of the performers (including a few that I could not find on YouTube) on the 38 episodes of Pete Seeger's 1960s classic "Rainbow Quest" folk music television show.
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"-Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train"
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Freight Train
Lyrics: Elizabeth Cotten
Music: Elizabeth Cotten
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know what route I'm going
When I'm dead and in my grave
No more good times here I crave
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all I've gone to sleep
When I die, oh bury me deep
Down at the end of old Chestnut Street
So I can hear old Number Nine
As she comes rolling by
When I die, oh bury me deep
Down at the end of old Chestnut Street
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all I've gone to sleep
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know what route I'm going
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Freight Train
Lyrics: Elizabeth Cotten
Music: Elizabeth Cotten
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know what route I'm going
When I'm dead and in my grave
No more good times here I crave
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all I've gone to sleep
When I die, oh bury me deep
Down at the end of old Chestnut Street
So I can hear old Number Nine
As she comes rolling by
When I die, oh bury me deep
Down at the end of old Chestnut Street
Place the stones at my head and feet
And tell them all I've gone to sleep
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Freight train, freight train, run so fast
Please don't tell what train I'm on
They won't know what route I'm going
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- The New Lost City Ramblers
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer(s)in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
“I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow”
I am the man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my days
I bid farewell to ol' Kentucky
The place where I was born and raised.
The place where he was born and raised
For six long years I've been in trouble,
no pleasure here on earth I've found
For in this world, I'm bound to ramble,
I have no friends to help me now.
He has no friends to help him now
It's fair thee well, my old true lover,
I never expect to see you again.
For I'm bound to ride that Northern Railroad,
perhaps I'll die upon this train
Perhaps he'll die upon this train
You can bury me in some deep valley,
For many years where I may lay.
And you may learn to love another
while I am sleeping in my grave.
While he is sleeping in his grave
Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you never will see no more
But there is one promise that is given,
I'll meet you on Gods golden shore
He'll meet you on God's golden shore
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
“I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow”
I am the man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my days
I bid farewell to ol' Kentucky
The place where I was born and raised.
The place where he was born and raised
For six long years I've been in trouble,
no pleasure here on earth I've found
For in this world, I'm bound to ramble,
I have no friends to help me now.
He has no friends to help him now
It's fair thee well, my old true lover,
I never expect to see you again.
For I'm bound to ride that Northern Railroad,
perhaps I'll die upon this train
Perhaps he'll die upon this train
You can bury me in some deep valley,
For many years where I may lay.
And you may learn to love another
while I am sleeping in my grave.
While he is sleeping in his grave
Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you never will see no more
But there is one promise that is given,
I'll meet you on Gods golden shore
He'll meet you on God's golden shore
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- Mississippi John Hurt's Version Of "Good Night Irene"
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
"Good Night Irene"
Last Saturday night, I got married,
me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife are parted,
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown
Sometimes I live in the country,
sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion,
to jump into the river and drown
I love Irene, God knows I do,
I'll love her till the seas run dry
But if Irene should turn me down,
I'd take the morphine and die
Stop rambling, stop your gambling,
stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family,
stay there by your fireside bright
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
"Good Night Irene"
Last Saturday night, I got married,
me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife are parted,
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown
Sometimes I live in the country,
sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion,
to jump into the river and drown
I love Irene, God knows I do,
I'll love her till the seas run dry
But if Irene should turn me down,
I'd take the morphine and die
Stop rambling, stop your gambling,
stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family,
stay there by your fireside bright
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- Tom Paxton's "Buy A Gun For Your Son"
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Buy a Gun for Your Son
Words and Music by Tom Paxton
Hallelujah, Dads and Mommies,
Cowboys, Rebels, Yanks and Commies
Buy yourselves som real red blooded fun.
If you want to make the grade,
You've got to have a hand grenade,
And a fully automatic G.I. Gun.
[Cho:]
Buy a gun for your son right away, Sir
Shake his hand like a man and let him play, Sir.
Let his little mind expand, Place a weapon in his hand,
For the skills he learns today will someday pay, Sir.
Pound that kid into submission
'Till he's mastered Nuclear Fission
Buy him plastic warheads by the score,
Once he's got the taste of blood,
He's gonna sneak up on his buddies
Starting his own thermo-nuclear war.
[Cho.]
Buy him khakis and fatigues,
And sign him up in little leagues,
Give him calisthenics as a rule.
Once you've banished fear and dread,
Then pat his seven year-old head,
And send him off to military school.
[Cho]
Once he's grown to be a man,
He might get tired of blasting Granny,
Then you'll see a crisis coming on.
Don't get worried, don't get nervous.
Send that kid into the service,
Let him rise into the Pentagon.
[Cho]
At the Pentagon he'll rise.
The President he will advise,
His reputation growing all the while.
With his picture on the wall,
He'll get that long-awaited call,
And press the firing buttons with a smile.
[Cho]
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Buy a Gun for Your Son
Words and Music by Tom Paxton
Hallelujah, Dads and Mommies,
Cowboys, Rebels, Yanks and Commies
Buy yourselves som real red blooded fun.
If you want to make the grade,
You've got to have a hand grenade,
And a fully automatic G.I. Gun.
[Cho:]
Buy a gun for your son right away, Sir
Shake his hand like a man and let him play, Sir.
Let his little mind expand, Place a weapon in his hand,
For the skills he learns today will someday pay, Sir.
Pound that kid into submission
'Till he's mastered Nuclear Fission
Buy him plastic warheads by the score,
Once he's got the taste of blood,
He's gonna sneak up on his buddies
Starting his own thermo-nuclear war.
[Cho.]
Buy him khakis and fatigues,
And sign him up in little leagues,
Give him calisthenics as a rule.
Once you've banished fear and dread,
Then pat his seven year-old head,
And send him off to military school.
[Cho]
Once he's grown to be a man,
He might get tired of blasting Granny,
Then you'll see a crisis coming on.
Don't get worried, don't get nervous.
Send that kid into the service,
Let him rise into the Pentagon.
[Cho]
At the Pentagon he'll rise.
The President he will advise,
His reputation growing all the while.
With his picture on the wall,
He'll get that long-awaited call,
And press the firing buttons with a smile.
[Cho]
*Governor Patrick Hands Off The Ohio Seven's Ray Luc Levasseur- Free The Last Of The Ohio Seven -Jaan Laaman And Tom Manning!
Click on title to link to news article about Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's attempts to pressure the faculty and students at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst for permitting former Ohio 7 member Ray Luc Levasseur to speak at their campus.
Markin comment:
This is a simple democratic question. Brother Levasseur has a right to speak and the faculty and student at U/Mass/Amherst have the right to hear what he has to say about politics or whatever subject he is scheduled to discuss. Moreover, as a supporter of an organization, the Partisan Defense Committee, that supports class war political prisoners, which Brother Levasseur most certainly was, there is also the continuing issue of freedom for the last two imprisoned Ohio Seven members, Jaan Laaman and Tom Manning. They should not die in jail. Free them now!
The following is reposted from a 2006 entry in this space concerning the fate of the Ohio Seven.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Link
*Free The Last Of The Ohio Seven- Jaan Laaman And Tom Manning Must Not Die In Prison!
Click on title to link to the Partisan Defense Committee web site. The Partisan Defense Committee has defended the Ohio Seven, and particularly through the annual Holiday Appeal has provided stipends for Brothers Laaman and Manning over the years.
COMMENTARY
ONE OF THE OHIO SEVEN -RICHARD WILLIAMS- RECENTLY DIED IN PRISON. THAT LEAVES JAAN LAAMAN AND TOM MANNING STILL IN PRISON. IT IS AN URGENT DUTY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR MOVEMENT AND OTHERS TO RAISE THE CALL FOR THEIR FREEDOM. FREE ALL CLASS WAR PRISONERS.
The Ohio Seven, like many other subjective revolutionaries, coming out of the turbulent anti-Vietnam War and anti-imperialist movements, were committed to social change. The different is that this organization included mainly working class militants, some of whose political consciousness was formed by participation as soldiers in the Vietnam War itself. Various members were convicted for carrying out robberies, apparently to raise money for their struggles, and bombings of imperialist targets. Without going into their particular personal and political biographies I note that these were the kind of subjective revolutionaries that must be recruited to a working class vanguard party if there ever is to be a chance of bringing off a socialist revolution.
In the absence of a viable revolutionary labor party in the 1970’s and 1980’s the politics of the Ohio Seven, like the Black Panthers and the Weathermen, were borne of despair at the immensity of the task and also by desperation to do something concrete in aid of the Vietnamese Revolution and other Third World struggles . Their actions in trying to open up a second front militarily in the United States in aid of Third World struggles without a mass base proved to be mistaken but, as the Partisan Defense Committee which I support has noted, their actions were no crime in the eyes of the international working class.
The lack of a revolutionary vanguard to attract such working class elements away from adventurism is rendered even more tragic in the case of the Ohio Seven. Leon Trotsky, a leader with Lenin of the Russian Revolution of 1917, noted in a political obituary for his fallen comrade and fellow Left Oppositionist Kote Tsintadze that the West has not produced such fighters as Kote. Kote, who went through all the phases of struggle for the Russian Revolution, including imprisonment and exile under both the Czar and Stalin benefited from solidarity in a mass revolutionary vanguard party to sustain him through the hard times. What a revolutionary party could have done with the evident capacity and continuing commitment of subjective revolutionaries like the Ohio Seven poses that question point blank. This is the central problem and task of cadre development in the West in resolving the crisis of revolutionary leadership.
Finally, I would like to note that except for the Partisan Defense Committee and their own defense organizations – the Ohio 7 Defense Committee and the Jaan Laaman Defense Fund- the Ohio Seven have long ago been abandoned by those New Left elements and others, who as noted, at one time had very similar politics. At least part of this can be attributed to the rightward drift to liberal pacifist politics by many of them, but some must be attributed to class. Although the Ohio Seven were not our people- they are our people. All honor to them. As James P Cannon, a founding leader of the International Labor Defense, forerunner of the Partisan Defense Committee, pointed out long ago –Solidarity with class war prisoners is not charity- it is a duty. Their fight is our fight! LET US DO OUR DUTY HERE. RAISE THE CALL FOR THE FREEDOM OF LAAMAN AND MANNING. MAKE MOTIONS OF SOLIDARITY IN YOUR POLITICAL ORGANIZATION, SCHOOL OR UNION.
YOU CAN GOOGLE THE ORGANIZATIONS MENTIONED ABOVE- THE PARTISAN DEFENSE COMMITTEE- THE OHIO 7 DEFENSE COMMITTEE- THE JAAN LAAMAN DEFENSE FUND
Markin comment:
This is a simple democratic question. Brother Levasseur has a right to speak and the faculty and student at U/Mass/Amherst have the right to hear what he has to say about politics or whatever subject he is scheduled to discuss. Moreover, as a supporter of an organization, the Partisan Defense Committee, that supports class war political prisoners, which Brother Levasseur most certainly was, there is also the continuing issue of freedom for the last two imprisoned Ohio Seven members, Jaan Laaman and Tom Manning. They should not die in jail. Free them now!
The following is reposted from a 2006 entry in this space concerning the fate of the Ohio Seven.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Link
*Free The Last Of The Ohio Seven- Jaan Laaman And Tom Manning Must Not Die In Prison!
Click on title to link to the Partisan Defense Committee web site. The Partisan Defense Committee has defended the Ohio Seven, and particularly through the annual Holiday Appeal has provided stipends for Brothers Laaman and Manning over the years.
COMMENTARY
ONE OF THE OHIO SEVEN -RICHARD WILLIAMS- RECENTLY DIED IN PRISON. THAT LEAVES JAAN LAAMAN AND TOM MANNING STILL IN PRISON. IT IS AN URGENT DUTY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR MOVEMENT AND OTHERS TO RAISE THE CALL FOR THEIR FREEDOM. FREE ALL CLASS WAR PRISONERS.
The Ohio Seven, like many other subjective revolutionaries, coming out of the turbulent anti-Vietnam War and anti-imperialist movements, were committed to social change. The different is that this organization included mainly working class militants, some of whose political consciousness was formed by participation as soldiers in the Vietnam War itself. Various members were convicted for carrying out robberies, apparently to raise money for their struggles, and bombings of imperialist targets. Without going into their particular personal and political biographies I note that these were the kind of subjective revolutionaries that must be recruited to a working class vanguard party if there ever is to be a chance of bringing off a socialist revolution.
In the absence of a viable revolutionary labor party in the 1970’s and 1980’s the politics of the Ohio Seven, like the Black Panthers and the Weathermen, were borne of despair at the immensity of the task and also by desperation to do something concrete in aid of the Vietnamese Revolution and other Third World struggles . Their actions in trying to open up a second front militarily in the United States in aid of Third World struggles without a mass base proved to be mistaken but, as the Partisan Defense Committee which I support has noted, their actions were no crime in the eyes of the international working class.
The lack of a revolutionary vanguard to attract such working class elements away from adventurism is rendered even more tragic in the case of the Ohio Seven. Leon Trotsky, a leader with Lenin of the Russian Revolution of 1917, noted in a political obituary for his fallen comrade and fellow Left Oppositionist Kote Tsintadze that the West has not produced such fighters as Kote. Kote, who went through all the phases of struggle for the Russian Revolution, including imprisonment and exile under both the Czar and Stalin benefited from solidarity in a mass revolutionary vanguard party to sustain him through the hard times. What a revolutionary party could have done with the evident capacity and continuing commitment of subjective revolutionaries like the Ohio Seven poses that question point blank. This is the central problem and task of cadre development in the West in resolving the crisis of revolutionary leadership.
Finally, I would like to note that except for the Partisan Defense Committee and their own defense organizations – the Ohio 7 Defense Committee and the Jaan Laaman Defense Fund- the Ohio Seven have long ago been abandoned by those New Left elements and others, who as noted, at one time had very similar politics. At least part of this can be attributed to the rightward drift to liberal pacifist politics by many of them, but some must be attributed to class. Although the Ohio Seven were not our people- they are our people. All honor to them. As James P Cannon, a founding leader of the International Labor Defense, forerunner of the Partisan Defense Committee, pointed out long ago –Solidarity with class war prisoners is not charity- it is a duty. Their fight is our fight! LET US DO OUR DUTY HERE. RAISE THE CALL FOR THE FREEDOM OF LAAMAN AND MANNING. MAKE MOTIONS OF SOLIDARITY IN YOUR POLITICAL ORGANIZATION, SCHOOL OR UNION.
YOU CAN GOOGLE THE ORGANIZATIONS MENTIONED ABOVE- THE PARTISAN DEFENSE COMMITTEE- THE OHIO 7 DEFENSE COMMITTEE- THE JAAN LAAMAN DEFENSE FUND
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- Hedy West
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Dying Cowboy: Lyrics
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
These words came low and mournfully
From the pouted lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the coyote howls and the wind blows free
In a narrow grave just six by three
Bury me not on the lone prairie
It matters not I’ve oft been told
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold
Yet grant oh grant this wish to me
Bury me not on the lone prairie
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the coyote howls and the wind blows free
In a narrow grave just six by three
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
He wailed in pain and o'er his brow
Death's shadows fast were gathering now
He thought of his friends and his home but nigh
As the cowboys gathered to see him die
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
These words came low and mournfully
From the pouted lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day
We took no heed of his dying prayer
In a narrow grave we buried him there
In a narrow grave just six by three
We buried him there on the lone prairie
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the coyote howls and the wind blows free
In a narrow grave just six by three
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Dying Cowboy: Lyrics
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
These words came low and mournfully
From the pouted lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the coyote howls and the wind blows free
In a narrow grave just six by three
Bury me not on the lone prairie
It matters not I’ve oft been told
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold
Yet grant oh grant this wish to me
Bury me not on the lone prairie
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the coyote howls and the wind blows free
In a narrow grave just six by three
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
He wailed in pain and o'er his brow
Death's shadows fast were gathering now
He thought of his friends and his home but nigh
As the cowboys gathered to see him die
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
These words came low and mournfully
From the pouted lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day
We took no heed of his dying prayer
In a narrow grave we buried him there
In a narrow grave just six by three
We buried him there on the lone prairie
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the coyote howls and the wind blows free
In a narrow grave just six by three
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"-Richard and Mimi Farina's "Pack Up Your Sorrows"
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
"Pack Up Your Sorrows"
No use crying, talking to a stranger,
Naming the sorrow you've seen
Too many bad times, too many sad times
Nobody knows what you mean
Chorus:
But if somehow you could pack up your sorrows
And give them all to me
You would lose them, I know how to use them
Give them all to me
No use rambling, walking in the shadows,
Trailing a wandering star
No one beside you, no one to hide you
And nobody knows what you are
(Chorus)
No use gambling, running in the darkness,
Looking for a spirit that's free
Too many wrong times, too many long times
Nobody knows what you see
(Chorus)
No use roaming, going by the roadside,
Seeking a satisfied mind
Too many highways, too many byways,
And nobody's walking behind
(Chorus)
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
"Pack Up Your Sorrows"
No use crying, talking to a stranger,
Naming the sorrow you've seen
Too many bad times, too many sad times
Nobody knows what you mean
Chorus:
But if somehow you could pack up your sorrows
And give them all to me
You would lose them, I know how to use them
Give them all to me
No use rambling, walking in the shadows,
Trailing a wandering star
No one beside you, no one to hide you
And nobody knows what you are
(Chorus)
No use gambling, running in the darkness,
Looking for a spirit that's free
Too many wrong times, too many long times
Nobody knows what you see
(Chorus)
No use roaming, going by the roadside,
Seeking a satisfied mind
Too many highways, too many byways,
And nobody's walking behind
(Chorus)
*Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Quest"- Theodore Bikel and Rashid Hussain
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
*In Pete Seeger's House- "Rainbow Quest"- Buffy Sainte-Marie's "My Country 'Tis Of Thy People You're Dying"
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Pete Seeger's now famous 1960s (black and white, that's the give-away)"Rainbow Quest" for the performer in this entry's headline.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
MY COUNTRY 'TIS OF THY PEOPLE YOU'RE DYING (BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE) (early 1960s)
Any copyrighted material on these pages is used in "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s)
"My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" is Buffy Sainte-Marie's statement-in-song about Indian affairs.
"My point in the song is that the American people haven't been given a fair share at learning the true history of the American Indian. They know neither the state of poverty that the Indians are in now nor how it got to be that way. I try to tell the side of the story that's left out of the history books, that can only be found in the documents, the archives and in the memories of the Indians themselves."
Nat Hentoff, liner notes for Buffy Sainte-Marie, Little Wheel Spin And Spin, 1966
Lyrics transcribed by Manfred Helfert
© 1966, Gypsy Music, Inc.
Now that your big eyes have finally opened,
Now that you're wondering how must they feel,
Meaning them that you've chased across America's movie screens.
Now that you're wondering how can it be real
That the ones you've called colorful, noble and proud
In your school propaganda
They starve in their splendor?
You've asked for my comment I simply will render:
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Now that the longhouses breed superstition
You force us to send our toddlers away
To your schools where they're taught to despise their traditions.
You forbid them their languages, then further say
That American history really began
When Columbus set sail out of Europe, then stress
That the nation of leeches that conquered this land
Are the biggest and bravest and boldest and best.
And yet where in your history books is the tale
Of the genocide basic to this country's birth,
Of the preachers who lied, how the Bill of Rights failed,
How a nation of patriots returned to their earth?
And where will it tell of the Liberty Bell
As it rang with a thud
O'er Kinzua mud,
And of brave Uncle Sam in Alaska this year?
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Hear how the bargain was made for the West:
With her shivering children in zero degrees,
Blankets for your land, so the treaties attest,
Oh well, blankets for land is a bargain indeed,
And the blankets were those Uncle Sam had collected
From smallpox-diseased dying soldiers that day.
And the tribes were wiped out and the history books censored,
A hundred years of your statesmen have felt it's better this way.
And yet a few of the conquered have somehow survived,
Their blood runs the redder though genes have paled.
From the Gran Canyon's caverns to craven sad hills
The wounded, the losers, the robbed sing their tale.
From Los Angeles County to upstate New York
The white nation fattens while others grow lean;
Oh the tricked and evicted they know what I mean.
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
The past it just crumbled, the future just threatens;
Our life blood shut up in your chemical tanks.
And now here you come, bill of sale in your hands
And surprise in your eyes that we're lacking in thanks
For the blessings of civilization you've brought us,
The lessons you've taught us, the ruin you've wrought us --
Oh see what our trust in America's brought us.
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Now that the pride of the sires receives charity,
Now that we're harmless and safe behind laws,
Now that my life's to be known as your "heritage,"
Now that even the graves have been robbed,
Now that our own chosen way is a novelty --
Hands on our hearts we salute you your victory,
Choke on your blue white and scarlet hypocrisy
Pitying the blindness that you've never seen
That the eagles of war whose wings lent you glory
They were never no more than carrion crows,
Pushed the wrens from their nest, stole their eggs, changed their story;
The mockingbird sings it, it's all that he knows.
"Ah what can I do?" say a powerless few
With a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye --
Can't you see that their poverty's profiting you.
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Markin comment:
This series, featuring Pete Seeger and virtually most of the key performers in the 1960s folk scene is a worthy entry into the folk archival traditions for future revivalists to seek out. There were thirty plus episodes (some contained more than one performer of note, as well as Pete solo performances. I have placed the YouTube film clips here one spot over four days, November 10-13, 2009 for the reader's convenience.
MY COUNTRY 'TIS OF THY PEOPLE YOU'RE DYING (BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE) (early 1960s)
Any copyrighted material on these pages is used in "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s)
"My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" is Buffy Sainte-Marie's statement-in-song about Indian affairs.
"My point in the song is that the American people haven't been given a fair share at learning the true history of the American Indian. They know neither the state of poverty that the Indians are in now nor how it got to be that way. I try to tell the side of the story that's left out of the history books, that can only be found in the documents, the archives and in the memories of the Indians themselves."
Nat Hentoff, liner notes for Buffy Sainte-Marie, Little Wheel Spin And Spin, 1966
Lyrics transcribed by Manfred Helfert
© 1966, Gypsy Music, Inc.
Now that your big eyes have finally opened,
Now that you're wondering how must they feel,
Meaning them that you've chased across America's movie screens.
Now that you're wondering how can it be real
That the ones you've called colorful, noble and proud
In your school propaganda
They starve in their splendor?
You've asked for my comment I simply will render:
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Now that the longhouses breed superstition
You force us to send our toddlers away
To your schools where they're taught to despise their traditions.
You forbid them their languages, then further say
That American history really began
When Columbus set sail out of Europe, then stress
That the nation of leeches that conquered this land
Are the biggest and bravest and boldest and best.
And yet where in your history books is the tale
Of the genocide basic to this country's birth,
Of the preachers who lied, how the Bill of Rights failed,
How a nation of patriots returned to their earth?
And where will it tell of the Liberty Bell
As it rang with a thud
O'er Kinzua mud,
And of brave Uncle Sam in Alaska this year?
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Hear how the bargain was made for the West:
With her shivering children in zero degrees,
Blankets for your land, so the treaties attest,
Oh well, blankets for land is a bargain indeed,
And the blankets were those Uncle Sam had collected
From smallpox-diseased dying soldiers that day.
And the tribes were wiped out and the history books censored,
A hundred years of your statesmen have felt it's better this way.
And yet a few of the conquered have somehow survived,
Their blood runs the redder though genes have paled.
From the Gran Canyon's caverns to craven sad hills
The wounded, the losers, the robbed sing their tale.
From Los Angeles County to upstate New York
The white nation fattens while others grow lean;
Oh the tricked and evicted they know what I mean.
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
The past it just crumbled, the future just threatens;
Our life blood shut up in your chemical tanks.
And now here you come, bill of sale in your hands
And surprise in your eyes that we're lacking in thanks
For the blessings of civilization you've brought us,
The lessons you've taught us, the ruin you've wrought us --
Oh see what our trust in America's brought us.
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Now that the pride of the sires receives charity,
Now that we're harmless and safe behind laws,
Now that my life's to be known as your "heritage,"
Now that even the graves have been robbed,
Now that our own chosen way is a novelty --
Hands on our hearts we salute you your victory,
Choke on your blue white and scarlet hypocrisy
Pitying the blindness that you've never seen
That the eagles of war whose wings lent you glory
They were never no more than carrion crows,
Pushed the wrens from their nest, stole their eggs, changed their story;
The mockingbird sings it, it's all that he knows.
"Ah what can I do?" say a powerless few
With a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye --
Can't you see that their poverty's profiting you.
My country 'tis of thy people you're dying.
Monday, November 09, 2009
*President Obama Talks To The Tribal Nations- Question: Where Is Leonard Peltier's Place At The Table?
Click on title to link to "The Washington Post" article about President Obama's meetings with various Native American tribal leaders. My question in the headline stands.
*Honor The World War II German Underground Revolutionary Fighter Martin Widelin- And Step Back Way Back
Click on title to link to the article, "From the Archives of Marxism- Martin Widelin: Martyred Trotskyist Leader in World War II German Underground".
Markin comment:
I had anticipated that I would feature the short but eventful revolutionary political career of the great martyred Trotskyist World War II underground fighter Martin Widelin as part of a series that I am planning for January with a working title of –“Heroes Of The International Labor Movement”. Comrade Widelin will certainly take his high place in that pantheon come January.
But I now feel compelled, after re-reading the above linked article “From The Marxist Archives…” to pay special honor to this heroic figure beforehand. Those of us who are latter day followers of the great Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky know that one of the reasons for the failure of the Fourth International to lead the struggle for socialism in the post-war period was the military decimation and defeat of its small cadre by Nazi, Stalinist and bourgeois forces alike. However, it was not for lack of dedicated cadre like Widelin.
That said, what I really want emphasize today is how extraordinary Widelin’s activities were. Every time you are depressed by the daunting tasks that we confront today in our struggle against world imperialism think of the German Martin Widelin and his attempts to organize revolutionary communist cells in the Nazi armies in France. Moreover, during war time in the middle of battle! Every time you think that you have done something special by passing out a few anti-war leaflets at some lonely downtown corner, or chanted a few anti-war slogans at some anti-war rally, or given a pro-socialist lecture in some college hall think of Martin Widelin and his clandestine underground newspaper, “Worker and Soldier”. Every bourgeois government, not the least the Nazis and their co-thinkers in France, will forgive many sins but not when you mess with their soldiers. No wonder the Nazis put a very, very high price on his head.
And every time you think that you have made a big leap in consciousness and are now a big-time revolutionary think of Martin Widelin. Step back, way back, in the face of the actions of this selfless revolutionary. Trotsky once mentioned that the Western socialist movement had failed, for a number of reasons, to produce the kind of dedicated revolutionaries that came out of the Russian experience. We can safety make an exception for Widelin. All Honor To His Memory!
Markin comment:
I had anticipated that I would feature the short but eventful revolutionary political career of the great martyred Trotskyist World War II underground fighter Martin Widelin as part of a series that I am planning for January with a working title of –“Heroes Of The International Labor Movement”. Comrade Widelin will certainly take his high place in that pantheon come January.
But I now feel compelled, after re-reading the above linked article “From The Marxist Archives…” to pay special honor to this heroic figure beforehand. Those of us who are latter day followers of the great Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky know that one of the reasons for the failure of the Fourth International to lead the struggle for socialism in the post-war period was the military decimation and defeat of its small cadre by Nazi, Stalinist and bourgeois forces alike. However, it was not for lack of dedicated cadre like Widelin.
That said, what I really want emphasize today is how extraordinary Widelin’s activities were. Every time you are depressed by the daunting tasks that we confront today in our struggle against world imperialism think of the German Martin Widelin and his attempts to organize revolutionary communist cells in the Nazi armies in France. Moreover, during war time in the middle of battle! Every time you think that you have done something special by passing out a few anti-war leaflets at some lonely downtown corner, or chanted a few anti-war slogans at some anti-war rally, or given a pro-socialist lecture in some college hall think of Martin Widelin and his clandestine underground newspaper, “Worker and Soldier”. Every bourgeois government, not the least the Nazis and their co-thinkers in France, will forgive many sins but not when you mess with their soldiers. No wonder the Nazis put a very, very high price on his head.
And every time you think that you have made a big leap in consciousness and are now a big-time revolutionary think of Martin Widelin. Step back, way back, in the face of the actions of this selfless revolutionary. Trotsky once mentioned that the Western socialist movement had failed, for a number of reasons, to produce the kind of dedicated revolutionaries that came out of the Russian experience. We can safety make an exception for Widelin. All Honor To His Memory!
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