Mimi and Richard Farina – Sell-Out Agitation Waltz
Richard Farina was killed in a motorbike accident. He was the one most tipped to give Dylan a run for his money. I loved him. Mimi was Joan Baez’s sister. Together they were formidable rebels.
This song was written in the sixties when it was considered hip to drop out.
We were suspicious of society. We did not think they were making good decisions. We did not like conforming. We did not like the idea of wearing a suit, working all your life in a career, getting married and having kids and suddenly realising that you were old, hadn’t done anything and your life had passed you by.
We saw the older generation as already dead and did not want to be like them.
We wanted to have interesting, vital lives, to do things, think things, fun, travel, meet people, wonder, experience, find meaning, oppose madness and live.
We were not content to be cogs in the machine, neither did we want to be big wheels.
Yet the pressure was to sell-out, drop back in and take the money.
Mimi & Richard Fariña:Sell-Out Agitation Waltz Lyrics
you know the reason that nobody’s pleasin’
the one who’s been freezing him outThe times are unsteady
And nobody’s ready
To sleep in a bed full of doubtBut if you wanna fool around
And run around
All over town
There’s no telling where it will end
The teachers say you gotta stay
In school just another day
And study the logical trend
So cut your hair
And never stare
At people who ain’t aware
That every morning they wake up dead
Take off your boots
And find your roots
And join the ranks of the young recruits
Who have a collective idea
Well you’ve been a-gassin’
And you been harrassing
The one who’s been passing you by
The right time for groovin’
Is always improvin’
Provided you learn to comply
Society is never geared
To people who grow a beard
Or little girls with holes in their ears
They’re liable to hunt you down
And dress you in a wedding gown
And offer substantial careers
They’ll buy you a suit of clothes
And pay to get another nose
So no one will turn you away
You’ll wear a tie
And hope to die
If any more you try to buy
From people with nothing to say
So find a loose alternative
If that’s the way you wanna live
And give up unusual friends
There’s still time to straighten out
And learn how to beat about
And make your great plan of amends
So cut your hair
And never stare
At people who ain’t aware
That every morning they wake up dead
Take off your boots
And find your roots
And join the ranks of the young recruits
who have a collective idea…