Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well, you're over it now.

Yeah, nuthin' but sweetness and light outta me from now on...and obscure gear questions 'til the cows come home...

(...Doh! I had my fingers crossed!...)

Sweet Cherry Wine was another one that didn't really come across as a protest song until you paid attention to the lyrics. Then in "Draggin' The Line" Tommy James sings about "hugging a tree when you get near it". That boy was a lot more socially conscious than "Hanky Panky" would have indicated.

Until you discover that "tree" in this case is another word for "spliff"...

Heyyy...what's not socially conscious about hugging a spliff??? (Unless you're 'hogging' it: this is referred to as 'Bogarting', and represents the antithesis of being socially conscious...)

I and I loves me spliffs, man.

The protest song that comes to my mind is:

"One Tin Soldier"
by Lambert-Potter

Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.

Came an answer from the kingdom,
"With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people,
So they won their just reward.

Now they stood beside the treasure,
On the mountain, dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it...
"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

Although it's 70s protest song, CSNY's, "OHIO" also comes to mind.

Loggins and Messina "Same Old Wine" and CCR's "Fortunate Son."

Good choice Richard even though it hit the charts in 1970.

Peter, too close to call. The information that I had was that "One Tin Solider" was first released as a single in 69 by the Canadian group, The Original Caste.

http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/Mr-Monday/Caste.English.html

Excellent point Richard. Thanks for the additional research. All charts are not created equal.

I always found the melody and performance of this song to be much gentler than the lyrics.

Wow. Imagine if the Ramones or Black Flag had done it!

"Fortunate Son" is also the title of an unauthorized Bush Bio written by an Arkansasian, which was suppressed prior to the 2000 election and subsequently released under a private label...

A very good friend, John Zabrucky, was a staff photographer for the Kent State newspaper during the "Ohio" incident. He has shown me ALL the photos that he took from those two days on the KSU campus--many of which were never published.

It was the Kent State shootings and the subsequent shutdown of my own college campus in Illinois, which kept me from receiving my BS in Design when I was only a few credits short of graduating that June. I had a family and had to join the workforce. I then had an 18-month battle with my draft board before I finally received a hardship deferment in '71.

Huggin a tree is a drug reference? What will they think of next? I'm still going to view it as an eco-conscious song. I feel silly even saying the word "spliff". What a silly-sounding little word. I like "herbstalk" as used by Bob Marley much better.

The song "Ohio" may have been a great protest song, but it was lousy reporting/social commentary. The students at Kent State were killed by members of the Ohio National Guard who were called out by the governor. Nixon, although guilty of many other blunders, was in the clear on this one.

I pointed this out to a person once who considered himself to be extremely left-wing politically and his answer was "it doesn't have to be true if it hurts the other side". I've heard similar comments on the "integrity requirement" from the extreme right. And people wonder why the voter turnout in the US is as low as it is during a time when political participation should be on the rise.

Say, what are them "spliff" things anyway?

It took me a while to find them but, here are the lyrics to Same Old Wine.

Will we give them the election
That keep filling our heads full of lies?
Can we trust new direction
When the promises are in disguise?
Well, someday the truth will catch us,
I just hope it don't catch us by surprise.

It's the same old wine in a brand new bottle,
It's the same old wine in a brand new bottle.

Preach this thing religion,
But we show no faith at all.
Follow suit on Sunday
But on Monday forget it all.
If the time should find us needing Him
Then, my friend, Lord have mercy on us all.

Teach our children virtue,
Then we send them off to war.
Then we ask ourselves the question,
What in the hell are we fightin' for?
If you suddenly find the reason
Don't be afraid to open the door.