I usually have a few books on the go, spread around the house, that I dip in and out of.
I’ve just finished reading Philip Roth’s ‘The Plot Against America’. That outlines the take-over of America by a far-right Nazi-sympathising President during the 1940s. A chilling novel that resonates strongly with the Trump take-over.
I have four books on the go right now:
James O’Brien’s – ‘How They Broke Britain’ – another chilling expose of the way the far-right has taken over the Tory Party and cynically broken Britain for their own selfish gain. Everyone should read it. I think if everybody did we’d have a revolution. The lies, corruption and greed are all laid out – the selling off of our assets and cynical abuse of power. Very scary!!
And they did it!! They deliberately lied about Brexit for their own gain knowing that it would ruin the country. They lied about privatisation. They lied about cronyism and nepotism. They gave away massive sums in tax relief for the wealthy. They gave away tens of billions to donors. They took over the media. It’s all corruption on a massive scale.
Another scary book that spells out how they did it.
I’m reading ‘Leonard Cohen Hallelujah’ a biography by Tim Footman. It’s a great read and very useful for the book I am writing about Leonard.
I’m halfway through Phil Och’s ‘I’m Gonna Say It Now’ – which, if I’m honest, I’m finding a bit patchy. I love Phil Ochs and was hoping that a book of his prose and reporting would be great. Some of it is very good, some isn’t. But I’m enjoying it. Phil is so important.
The other book is one on addiction – Understanding and Helping an Addict (and keeping our sanity) by Dr. Andrew Proulx . The operation of the human brain is a phenomenon. This book explains everything from the point of the physiology of the disease and the neurotransmitters to the behaviour. An insight.
Phil Ochs was a man with a social message. He wanted a better world, more equality, no war, social improvement. For Phil songwriting was all part of the cause. I respect that. I want to change the world too!
Ever remembered – a pioneer of protest, a man who was prepared to put his head on the block!
I was rewriting my Phil Ochs book when I came across this song that I had just described. It is about the Vietnam War. I couldn’t but look at what the Israelis were saying about the bombing of Gaza. They too seek no wider war. They are not bombing civilians; they are killing Hamas.
A home recording. Phil uses Lyndon Johnson’s own words from the Gulf Tonkin Resolution on 4th August 1964 to ridicule the whole venture. The whole carnage of the Vietnam War was based on this. Phil was sceptical. He recorded this using a twelve string guitar on a home tape recorder. The lyrics are scathing: ‘Over the ruins of the French fortress of a failure. Over the silent screams of the dead and the dying. Saying please be reassured, we seek no wider war.’
I have just sent off my book for the new series that Sonicbond are doing on albums. I had the honour of writing the first one for the series. Bob Dylan’s ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ seemed a very fitting one to me. That is due out in January!
I’m going to be playing a bunch of songs by the great Phil Ochs. Songs with meaning. How we need meaningful songs in this age of corruption, fake news and fascism.
We need to rebuild a compassionate world built on fairness and justice (not greed). We need the passion and idealism!
Phil Ochs was one of my heroes – a man who was prepared to speak out for what he believed. The establishment labelled him a Protest Singer. There is a lot to protest about. What they meant by their demeaning label was that he was a man who put meaning into his songs. They were not trite. They had feeling, passion and purpose. Phil sung to raise awareness and change the world. He wanted it to be better. He was an optimistic idealist. He believed you could change the world. I’m an optimistic idealist too. I want a better world and I believe you can bring that about through singing, writing and raising awareness. I believe we do change the world. The only problem being that there’s lot who want it just as bad as it is. They profit from it. They are pushing the other way. I believe if we don’t continue to push it will slide into being ven worse. But if enough of us believe in making it better we can change the zeitgeist. It’s that simple,. Phil believed that the warmongering of nations was wrong. There are better ways to deal with issues. Violence breeds violence. History proves him correct.
This is his most famous anti-war song:
I Ain’t Marching Anymore
Oh, I marched to the battle of New Orleans At the end of the early British war The young land started growing The young blood started flowing But I ain’t marching anymore
For I’ve killed my share of Indians In a thousand different fights I was there at the Little Big Horn I heard many men lying, I saw many more dying But I ain’t marching anymore
It’s always the old to lead us to the war It’s always the young to fall Now look at all we’ve won with the saber and the gun Tell me is it worth it all
For I stole California from the Mexican land Fought in the bloody Civil War Yes, I even killed my brothers And so many others But I ain’t marching anymore
For I marched to the battles of the German trench In a war that was bound to end all wars Oh, I must have killed a million men And now they want me back again But I ain’t marching anymore
It’s always the old to lead us to the war It’s always the young to fall Now look at all we’ve won with the saber and the gun Tell me is it worth it all
For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky Set off the mighty mushroom roar When I saw the cities burning I knew that I was learning That I ain’t marching anymore
Now the labor leader’s screamin’ When they close the missile plants United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore Call it, Peace, or call it, Treason Call it, Love, or call it, Reason But I ain’t marching anymore No, I ain’t marching anymore
Phil Ochs – Opher’s World pays tribute to a genius.
Dylan accused Ochs of being a journalist. That was far from the truth. Phil, like Bob, did scout through the newspapers to find stories and causes that would resonate with his ideals. But that isn’t all he did. He chose his words and aimed them at their targets with honesty and craft.
Phil was a part of that early sixties Folk scene in Greenwich Village. He was the most political and outspoken of them all. He was a ‘Protest’ singer. There’s nothing wrong in being a protest singer. There’s a lot that needs protesting about. It got itself a bad name after Dylan popularised ‘Protest’ and made it a commercial success. The media coined the phrase, ridiculed it, pigeon-holed it and every Tom Dick and Harry jumped on the band-wagon. They all wanted a bit of that fame and fortune that Dylan had grabbed. We need our protest singers. We need to protest. If only we had our Och’s and early Dylan’s to high-light the woeful capitalist exploitation, global inequality, war and wanton of destruction of the environment we might be better placed to deal with it. Where are the singers writing songs about the butchery of the elephants, rhinos and apes? When are we going to hear songs about the crazy overpopulation crisis that is destroying the world? Surely the new generations have the talent but do they have the sensibilities, the compassion and idealism that Phil and Bob possessed? Can they create a zeitgeist to carry a whole generation along with them like Bob and Phil did?
Both Dylan and Ochs baled out of ‘Protest’ into more poetic expressions of artistic depths. Phil always seemed to walk in Bob Dylan’s shadow and was consumed with jealousy and destroyed by alcoholism before killing himself.
But should not detract from the work he produced. His early work was full of fervour and idealism. He tirelessly set about writing his songs of hope. He shone a searchlight on the issues going on around us and by highlighting them raised them up into everyone’s consciousness. He brought those issues to life and wakened the consciousness of a generation. We became enlightened to the atrocities going on around us and activated to protest about it.
Phil targeted the civil rights war that was being fought particularly in the Southern States where the Blacks were free but still kept in slavery, where they were denied votes, rights and equality and lived in poverty and fear. Where racism was endemic, the Klu-Klux-Klan ruled and people still got lynched, beaten and tortured for speaking out or stepping out of line, where there was no justice. He sang about the assignation of Medgar Evans, the murder of civil rights campaigners and the way the hierarchy supported the suppression of black rights. People had been killed for less.
Phil targeted the war in Vietnam and American foreign policy where they felt entitled to invade other countries with impunity and sanctimoniously set themselves up as Cops of the World, dishing out their gum, rape, casual violence and disdain.
Phil targeted injustice and fought for a strong union system to protect the rights of workers yet he felt free to criticise the unions in their stance to Blacks and Communists. He had no faith in government, the establishment or the legal system. They all had their snouts in the same trough.
Phil was a man of integrity who followed on in the tradition set by Woody Guthrie. He wasn’t afraid to put his face where his words were. His songs were full of intent yet he deployed humour and produced well-crafted works of art. He was unique and that was probably his downfall. He was a little too quirky and out of step with the times. He did not easily slip into the long-haired freaks of the sixties counter-culture. He was a bit too political, too extreme and too different. He did not adopt the same uniform of freakdom or produce music with the right instrumentation for the times. He did get heavily involved with the YIPPIE political group and all their antics but he was still a little left-field. He did espouse all the right causes but he did it his way and did not quite fit in to the zeitgeist of the time. Where Dylan easily slipped from Protest to an equally incredible stream of consciousness and mercurial new sound that rode the crest of the new consciousness Phil’s created a sound that was not so much of the moment.
In hindsight it is possible to appreciate the later songs and albums. They had depth and intricacy that was just as wonderful as his early protest material. You can sense his desperation and disillusionment seeping through. He deserved much more. If he had not been so ignored and put down he probably would have blossomed even more. Who knows?
Phil left us a legacy of greatness with songs like ‘Cops of the World’, ‘Links on the chain’, ‘Here’s to the State of Mississippi’, ‘Too many martyrs’, ‘I ain’t marching anymore’. ‘There but for fortune’, ‘When I’m gone’, ‘Changes’ and so many more, that still resonate to this day!
Phil was an outspoken genius. We are desperate for more like him. Perhaps he will inspire a new generation who will create a new positive zeitgeist, highlight the wrongs and put us back on the right road.
