I went to college in the late 60s. It was a time of turmoil: JFK had been murdered, TV news was filled with images of war and death in Vietnam every night, the civil rights struggle was expanding, RFK and then Martin Luther King Jr. were killed, protests against the war and racism increased in size and frequency and then, in 1968, Richard Nixon was somehow elected president. What a mess.
I was a student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison - a hotbed of political activity for sure. We had marches and demonstrations, police and national guard troops - I loved not only the action but the feeling that we students had the power to foment change.
Once during that time, folk and protest singer Phil Ochs came to the campus. http://en.wikipedia.org/... He played at a building at the Ag (Agriculture) School; I think the place was called the Cow Palace or something similar. We sat in the loft, on bales of hay or benches covered with hay and watched him singing below. The air smelled of, well, of cow.
For those who don't know of Phil Ochs, he was a passionate, lyrical singer/songwriter. His beautiful voice, while heavy with conviction, also had a lilt to it. When he took his life in 1976 at the age of 36, I felt such sadness that I had not had a chance to tell him how much I appreciated him.
One of his songs came to my mind a couple of days ago, and, given what is going on in our beloved country, it is apt once again - poignant, beautiful, and apt. And it's a message to us all; we cannot afford to be only observers. Rather, we are all needed in the fight to reclaim our country.
When I'm Gone
by Phil Ochs
Capo 1st fret
Intro:D/Bm/G/Em/A/D/A/Bm/Em/A/D
There's no place in this world where I'll belong when I'm gone
And I won't know the right from the wrong when I'm gone
And you won't find me singin' on this song when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't feel the flowing of the time when I'm gone
All the pleasures of love will not be mine when I'm gone
My pen won't pour out a lyric line when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't breathe the bracing air when I'm gone
And I can't even worry 'bout my cares when I'm gone
Won't be asked to do my share when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't be running from the rain when I'm gone
And I can't even suffer from the pain when I'm gone
Can't say who's to praise and who's to blame when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
Won't see the golden of the sun when I'm gone
And the evenings and the mornings will be one when I'm gone
Can't be singing louder than the guns when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
All my days won't be dances of delight when I'm gone
And the sands will be shifting from my sight when I'm gone
Can't add my name into the fight while I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone
Can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here