Phil Ochs
“There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply
into themselves and their actions, musical poetry is
perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every
newspaper headline is a potential song.”
Phil Ochs
Essential Questions
What impact do songs have on social
movements?
What is the historical context in which
these songs are written and performed?
What makes a song effective in a cause?
Role of Music
Music has been used to lift the spirits of
poor, oppressed and rebels.
Music has been used to communicate the
ideas of change and protest.
From different historical eras from slavery,
The Great Depression, Civil Rights
Movement and Vietnam, individuals have
shared their opinions of injustice.
Phil Ochs
Phil Ochs was born in El
Paso, Texas on Dec. 19.
1940.
His songs were humorous
and political.
He wrote about the
Vietnam War, Civil Rights
Movement and famous
people.
He committed suicide on
April 9, 1976 at the age of
35.
Bracero
Wade into the river
Through the rippling shallow water
Steal across the thirsty border
Bracero
Come bring your hungry bodies
To the golden fields of plenty
From a peso to a penny
Bracero
Oh, welcome to California
Where the friendly farmers
Will take care of you
Come labor for your mother
For your father and your brother
For your sisters and your lover
Bracero
Come pick the fruits of yellow
Break the flowers from the berries
Purple grapes will fill your bellies
Bracero
Oh, welcome to California
Where the friendly farmers
Will take care of you
And the sun will bite your body
As the dust will draw you thristy
While your muscles beg for mercy
Bracero
In the shade of your sombrero
Drop your sweat upon the soil
Like the fruit your youth can spoil
Bracero
Oh, welcome to California
Where the friendly farmers
Will take care of you
When the weary night embraces
Sleep in shacks that could be cages
They will take it from your wages
Bracero
Come sing about tomorrow
With a jingle of the dollars
And forget your crooked collar
Bracero
Oh, welcome to California
Where the friendly farmers
Will take care of you
And the local men are lazy
And they make too much of trouble
Besides we'd have to pay them double
Bracero
Ah, but if you feel you're fallin'
If you find the pace is killing
There are others who are willing
Bracero
Oh, welcome to California
Where the friendly farmers
Will take care of you
Love Me, I’m A Liberal
I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a
liberal
I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a
liberal
I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
as long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a
liberal
The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les
Crain?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a
liberal
I read New Republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and
Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like Korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a
liberal
I vote for the democratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a
liberal
Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a
liberal
Ballad of Oxford
(Jimmy Meredith)
I'll sing you a song about a southern town where
the devil had his rule
When marshalls faced an angry mob to send one
man to school
His name was jimmy meredith
The tide he helped to turn
For he chose to stay on that terrible day
The land was soon to learn
There was blood, red blood, on their hands,
Yellow dirt on their clothes
What they thought they were doing,
Only God and the devil knows
There was hate, cold hate, in their hearts,
Shot from their souls like a gun
And as they threw their stones and bricks,
They screamed, "see what you have done!"
The governor made a promise he would keep the
trouble down
But when the mob got ugly no troopers could be
found
And men were filled with hate and fear,
They screamed into the night
The rebel flag waved in the air
The symbol of state's rights
There was blood, red blood, on their hands,
Yellow dirt on their clothes
What they thought they were doing,
Only God and the devil knows
There was hate, cold hate, in their hearts,
Shot from their souls like a gun
And as they threw their stones and bricks,
They screamed, "see what you have done!"
Gas was fired into the mob after each attack
And though the gas was running low, they never
fired back
And when the smoke had cleared and the fury felt
it's pain
Two men were dead and a hundred bled
The south had risen again
So listen mr barnet, and mr walker, too
The times are changing mighty fast, they'll roll right
over you
But someday you'll head for the south, to the
southern tip of hell
And it's hot down there, white-hot down there
Let's hear your rebel yell!
There was blood, red blood, on their hands,
Yellow dirt on their clothes
What they thought they were doing,
Only God and the devil knows
There was hate, cold hate, in their hearts,
Shot from their souls like a gun
And as they threw their stones and bricks,
They screamed, "see what you have done!"
"see what you have done!"
Talking Cuban Crisis
It was just a little while ago I glued my ears to the
radio
The announcer was sayin' we'd better beware
A crisis was hanging - a wave from the air
Crawlin' on the ground
Swimmin' in the sea
Headin' for me
Well, I didn't know if I was for or agin' it
He was yellin' and screamin' a mile a minute
Well, he said "here comes the president
But first this word from pepsodent
Have whiter teeth
Have cleaner breath
When you're facin' nuclear death"
And then president john began to speak
And I knew right away he wouldn't be weak
Well, he said he'd seen some missile bases
And terrible smiles on cuban faces
Close pictures
Carryin' land reform too far
Giving land to the Ussr
Well, he said we mustn't be afraid
We're settin' up a little blockade
Put our ships along the Cuban shores
And if the Russian bear yells and roars,
We'll let him have it
From turkey and Greece, Formosa and Spain
The peaceful west European plain
From Alaska and Greenland we'll use our
means
And twenty thousand submarines
We're gonna teach the Russians a lesson
For trying to upset the balance of power
Now most americans stood behind
The president and his military minds
But me, I stood behind a bar
Dreamin' of a spaceship getaway car
Head for mars
Any other planet that has bars
Like gerde's folk city
Yes, it seemed the president's stand was
strong and plain
But some republicans was a-goin' insane
And they still are
They said our plan was just too mild
Spare the rod and spoil the child
Let's sink Cuba into the sea
And give 'em back democracy
Under the water
Well, the deadline was set for ten o'clock
For a cold war it was a-gettin' hot
Well, the Russians tried, the Russians failed
Homeward bound those missiles sailed
Mr. Khrushchev said, "better red than dead."
Ballad Of Medgar Evers
In the state of Mississippi many years ago
A boy of 14 years got a taste of southern
law
He saw his friend a hanging and his color
was his crime
And the blood upon his jacket left a brand
upon his mind
CHORUS: Too many martyrs and too many
dead
Too many lies too many empty words were
said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
And the boy became a man, the man
became a cause
The cause became the hope for the country
and it's laws.
They tried to burn his home and they beat
him to the ground
But deep inside they both knew what it took
to bring him down
*chorus*
The killer waited by his home hidden by
the night
As Evers stepped out from his car into
the rifle sight
He slowly squeezed the trigger, the
bullet left his side
It struck the heart of every man when
Evers fell and died.
*chorus*
And they laid him in his grave while the
bugle sounded clear
Laid him in his grave when the victory
was near
While we waited for the future for
freedom through the land
The country gained a killer and the
country lost a man
*chorus*
Talking Birmingham Jam
Walkin' down to Birmingham,
way down south in Dixieland.
I thought that I would stop a while
Take a vacation Southern style
Got some Southern hospitality...down there in a
Southern hospital.
Well, all the signs said Welcome in,
Welcome if you're white my friend.
Come along and watch the fights
While we feed our dogs on civil rights.
We believe in segregation...Negroes in one
mob...
Policemen, politicians, dogs in the other
Well I've seen travel in many ways
I've traveled in cars and old subways
But in Birmingham some people chose
To fly down the street from a fire hose.
Doin' some hard travelin'...from hydrants of
plenty.
Well a pack of dogs was standin' by
I walked up to them and I said "Hi"
Well I asked one dog what they all were doin'
He walked up to me and started chewin'
It was a black dog...seems everybody down
there is prejudiced.
Well I said there must be some men around
There can't be only you dogs in town
They said "Sure we have old Bull Conner
There he goes, walkin' yonder
Throwin' some raw meat to the
mayor...feedin' bones to the City Council"
Well I said "there's still something
missing here,
You must have a governor somewhere."
Sure, he's doin' his duty, he ain't no fool
He's blocking out kids from our schools
Standin' in the doorway...crackin'
jokes...gettin' re-elected.
So, I asked em' how they spend their time
With segregation on their mind.
They said if you don't like to live this way
Get outta here, go back to the U.S.A.
Live with all them Russians...New York
agitatiors...yeah.
Some say they've passed their darkest hour
Those moderates are back in power.
But listen close with open ears
They'll help us out in a couple a hundred
years.
But don't push 'em...whatever you do...
or else you get those extremists back in.
You see Alabama is a soveriegn state
With soveriegn dogs and soveriegn hate
They stand for the Bible, for the Constitution
They stand against Communist revolution.
They say: "It's pinkos like you that freed the
slaves."
Too Many Martyrs
In the state of Mississippi many years
ago
A boy of 14 years got a taste of southern
law
He saw his friend a hanging and his color
was his crime
And the blood upon his jacket left a
brand upon his mind
Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies too many empty words
were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
His name was Medgar Evers and he
walked his road alone
Like Emmett Till and thousands more
whose names we'll never know
They tried to burn his home and they
beat him to the ground
But deep inside they both knew what it
took to bring him down
Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies too many empty words
were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
The killer waited by his home hidden by the
night
As Evers stepped out from his car into the rifle
sight he slowly squeezed the trigger, the bullet
left his side
It struck the heart of every man when Evers fell
and died.
Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
And they laid him in his grave while the bugle
sounded clear laid him in his grave when the
victory was near
While we waited for the future for freedom
through the land
The country gained a killer and the country lost
a man
Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
The War Is Over
Silent Soldiers on a silver screen
Framed in fantasies and dragged in
dream
Unpaid actors of the mystery
The mad director knows that freedom
will not make you free
And what's this got to do with me
I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over
Drums are drizzling on a grain of sand
Fading rhythms of a fading land
Prove your courage in the proud
parade
Trust your leaders where mistakes are
almost never made
And they're afraid that I'm afraid
I'm afraid the war is over
It's over, it's over
Angry artists painting angry signs
Use their vision just to blind the blind
Poisoned players of a grizzly game
One is guilty and the other gets the
point to blame
Pardon me if I refrain
I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over
So do your duty, boys, and join with
pride
Serve your country in her suicide
Find the flags so you can wave
goodbye
But just before the end even treason
might be worth a try
This country is to young to die
I declare the war is over
It's over, it's over
One-legged veterans will greet the
dawn
And they're whistling marches as they
mow the lawn
And the gargoyles only sit and grieve
The gypsy fortune teller told me that
we'd been deceived
You only are what you believe
I believe the war is over
It's over, it's over
Talking Vietnam
Sailing over to vietnam,
Southeast asian birmingham.
Well training is the word we use,
Nice word to have in case we lose.
Training a million vietnamese
To fight for the wrong government and the american
way.
Well they put me in a barracks house
Just across the way from laos.
They said you're pretty safe when the troops deploy
But don't turn your back on your house boy
When they ring the gong, watch out for the viet-cong.
Well the sergeant said it's time to train
So I climbed aboard my helicopter plane.
We flew above the battle ground
A sniper tried to shoot us down.
He must have forgotten, we're only trainees.
Them commies never fight fair.
Friends the very next day we trained some more
We burned some villages down to the floor.
Yes we burned out the jungles far and wide,
Made sure those red apes had no place left to hide.
Threw all the people in relocation camps,
Under lock and key, made damn sure they're free.
Well I walked through the jungle and around the bend
Who should I meet but president diem.
Said you're fighting to keep vietnam free
For good old de-em-moc-ra-cy (diem-ocracy).
That means rule by one family
And 15,000 american troops, give or take a few
Thousand.
American.
Troops.
He said: "i was a fine old christian man
Ruling this backward buddhist land.
Well it ain't much but what the heck
It sure beats hell out of chiang kai-shek
I'm the power elite. me and the 7th fleet."
He said: "meet my sister, madam nhu
The sweetheart of dien bien phu"
He said: "meet my brothers, meet my aunts
With the government that doesn't take a chance.
Families that slay together, stay together."
Said: "if you want to stay you'll have to pay
Over a million dollars a day.
But it's worth it all, don't you see?
If you loose the country you'll still have me.
Me and syngman rhee, chiang kai-shek, madam
nhu.
Like I said on _meet the press_
'i regret that I have but one country to give for
my life.'"
Well now old dien is gone and dead
All the new leaders are anti-red.
Yes they're pro-american, freedom sensations
Against red china, the united nations.
Now all the news commentators and the cia
Are saying, "thank God for coincidence."
Here's To The State Of
Richard Nixon
Here's to the State of Richard Nixon
For underneath his borders the devil draws no line
If you drag his muddy rivers nameless bodies you
will find
And the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand
crimes
And the calender is lyin' when it reads the present
time
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Richard Nixon find yourself another country to be
part of
And here's to the schools Richard Nixon
Where they're teaching all the children they don't
have to care
All the rudiments of hatred are present everywhere
And every single classroom is a factory of despair
Oh, there's nobody learnin' such as foreign word
as fair
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Richard Nixon find yourself another country to be
part of
And here's to the laws Richard Nixon
Where the wars are fought in secret, Pearl Harbor
every day
He punishes with income tax that he don't have to
pay
And he's tapping his own brother just to here what
he would say
But corruption can be classic in the Richard Nixon
way
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Richard Nixon find yourself another country to be
part of
And here's to the churches Richard Nixon and
Billy Graham
Where the cross, once made of silver, now is
caked with rust
And the Sunday mornin sermons pander to their
lust
All the fallen face of Jesus is chokin' in the dust
And Heaven only knows in which God they can
trust
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart
of
Richard Nixon find yourself another country to
be part of
And here's to the government Richard Nixon
In the swamp of their bureaucracy their always
boggin' down
And criminals are posing as advisors to the
crown
And they hope that no one sees the sights and
no one hears the sound
And the speeches of the President are the
ravings of a clown
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart
of
Richard Nixon find yourself another country to
be part of
Crucifixion
And the night comes again to the circle studded
sky
The stars settle slowly, in loneliness they lie
'Til the universe explodes as a falling star is
raised
Planets are paralyzed, mountains are amazed
But they all glow brighter from the brilliance of
the blaze
With the speed of insanity, then he dies.
That beneath the greatest love is a hurricane
of hate
And God help the critic of the dawn.
So he stands on the sea and shouts to the
shore,
But the louder that he screams the longer
he's ignored
For the wine of oblivion is drunk to the dregs
And the merchants of the masses almost
have to be begged
'Till the giant is aware, someone's pulling at
his leg,
And someone is tapping at the door.
In the green fields a turnin', a baby is born
His cries crease the wind and mingle with the
morn
An assault upon the order, the changing of the
guard
Chosen for a challenge that is hopelessly hard
And the only single sound is the sighing of the
stars
But to the silence and distance they are sworn
So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you
So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you
Then his message gathers meaning and it
spreads across the land
The rewarding of his pain is the following of
the man
Images of innocence charge him go on
But the decadence of destiny is looking for a
pawn
To a nightmare of knowledge he opens up the
gate
And a blinding revelation is laid upon his plate
Crucifixion
But ignorance is everywhere and people
have their way
Success is an enemy to the losers of the
day
In the shadows of the churches, who
knows what they pray
For blood is the language of the band.
The Spanish bulls are beaten; the crowd is
soon beguiled,
The matador is beautiful, a symphony of
style
Excitement is ecstatic, passion places bets
Gracefully he bows to ovations that he gets
But the hands that are applauding are
slippery with sweat
And saliva is falling from their smiles
So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you
Then this overflow of life is crushed into a
liar
The gentle soul is ripped apart and tossed
into the fire.
First a smile of rejection at the nearness of
the night
Truth becomes a tragedy limping from the light
All the (|heavens) are horrified, they stagger from
the sight
As the cross is trembling with desire.
They say they can't believe it, it's a sacrilegious
shame
Now, who would want to hurt such a hero of the
game?
But you know I predicted it; I knew he had to fall
How did it happen? I hope his suffering was
small.
Tell me every detail, I've got to know it all,
And do you have a picture of the pain?
So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you
Time takes her toll and the memory fades
But his glory is broken, in the magic that he
made.
Reality is ruined; it's the freeing from the fear
The drama is distorted, to what they want to hear
Swimming in their sorrow, in the twisting of a tear
As they wait for a new thrill parade.
Crucifixion
The eyes of the rebel have been
branded by the blind
To the safety of sterility, the
threat has been refined
The child was created, to the
slaughterhouse he's led
So good to be alive when the
eulogy is read
The climax of emotion, the
worship of the dead
And the cycle of sacrifice
unwinds.
So dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you
And the night comes again to
the circle studded sky
The stars settle slowly, in
loneliness they lie
'Till the universe explodes as a
falling star is raised
Planets are paralyzed,
mountains are amazed
But they all glow brighter from
the brilliance of the blaze
With the speed of insanity, then
he died.