As I mentioned in my previous post, Dylan was clearly not alone in his earlier folk-protest productions. We all know this. Who is not familiar with at least some of the names - Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Neil Young. Yet it was not until my teen years and involvement with more leftist circles that I became formally introduced to the work of the late Phil Ochs.
Ochs decided around 1958 that he wanted to be a writer, attending Ohio State for journalism. Here he was later introduced to the music of the protest icon Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and others. Campus publications soon began refusing the more radical political articles and essays that Ochs was writing, so he started his own underground newspaper, and soon enough began translating these stories and ideas into song.
Many of Ochs's songs can be translated into the topics we have covered this quarter, so let's look at a few:
Ochs decided around 1958 that he wanted to be a writer, attending Ohio State for journalism. Here he was later introduced to the music of the protest icon Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and others. Campus publications soon began refusing the more radical political articles and essays that Ochs was writing, so he started his own underground newspaper, and soon enough began translating these stories and ideas into song.
Many of Ochs's songs can be translated into the topics we have covered this quarter, so let's look at a few:
The first video is the song "The World Began in Eden and Ended in Los Angeles," but it very well could be "The World Began in Eden and Ended in San Francisco." The second video is "I Ain't Marching Anymore," one of Ochs's biggest singles that he famously sang aloud as he marched from a Chicago courthouse after testifying on behalf of the Chicago Seven.
In both of these songs, we can hear strong echoes of Brechin. There are pretty clear allusions to the myth of manifest destiny and the continual westward expansion all the way back to its roots in the ideas of the Renaissance. This perpetual march rolls on over the natives and anyone who might stand in its way. Los Angeles [San Francisco] is depicted as the product of this continual expansion - with air full of ashes and teeming with the destitute who must "beg, or steal, or borrow." In the end, Ochs is standing in the present day and taking his stand by refusing to take part in this ideology.
In both of these songs, we can hear strong echoes of Brechin. There are pretty clear allusions to the myth of manifest destiny and the continual westward expansion all the way back to its roots in the ideas of the Renaissance. This perpetual march rolls on over the natives and anyone who might stand in its way. Los Angeles [San Francisco] is depicted as the product of this continual expansion - with air full of ashes and teeming with the destitute who must "beg, or steal, or borrow." In the end, Ochs is standing in the present day and taking his stand by refusing to take part in this ideology.
And one of my favorite songs of all time ;) I can think of no better way to describe the modern day populace of the "far out city on the left" than with a song almost purely about them. And considering Christiana's post, I think we should all design a new city flag. I even have an idea - how about a Techie listening to jazz in a gentrified Fillmore.
But back to the topic at hand.
It would take way too long to go through all of the wonderfully applicable Phil Ochs songs here, but I will leave you all with one last taste. This time, let's look at a topic near and dear to us - the university. In light of the student protest movements of the last few years, Ochs's "I'm Going to Say It Now" is as beautiful and rousing as it was in the sixties at the height of the Free Speech Movement.
But back to the topic at hand.
It would take way too long to go through all of the wonderfully applicable Phil Ochs songs here, but I will leave you all with one last taste. This time, let's look at a topic near and dear to us - the university. In light of the student protest movements of the last few years, Ochs's "I'm Going to Say It Now" is as beautiful and rousing as it was in the sixties at the height of the Free Speech Movement.
~~~~~~~~~~BONUS~~~~~~~~~~
I couldn't help myself, so here's another little ditty about this fair twisted state:
Nice post. Phil was one of the good guys.
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DeleteTrying to forget Phil is like trying to forget JFK... impossible. Trying to end war is still possible if we fight for peace now like we can’t forget how.
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