Music Monday ~ "Going to a town....."

Day after Christmas Day, while typing, I was listening "on demand" to a BBC 2 radio show: George Michael in concert. He sang a song I'd not heard before, written in 2007 by Rufus Wainwright: Going to a Town. George Michael had recorded a cover version of the song for his latest album earlier this year. The lyrics immediately grabbed my attention. The song is a lament about the USA, country of Wainwright's birth.

Lyrics:
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm going to a place that has already been disgraced
I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down
I'm so tired of America

I'm gonna make it up for all of The Sunday Times
I'm gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes
They never really seem to want to tell the truth
I'm so tired of you, America

Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead

Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having loved?
Tell me, enough of thinking everything that you've done is good
I really need to know, after soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood
I'm so tired of America

I really need to know
I may just never see you again, or might as well
You took advantage of a world that loved you well
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm so tired of you, America

Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead
I got a soul to feed
I got a dream to heed
And that's all I need

Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I'm going to a town
That has already been burnt down.

At the time the song was penned G.W. Bush was still president, wars raged in Iraq and Afghanistan, housing bubble, done with bubbling under, was ready to burst - loudly. "I'm so tired of America....." Wainwright wrote, and sang.

The song tells that the singer was going to Berlin, maybe for good - to a city "already burnt down" (in World War 2, its people let down and disgraced by their then leader).

In interview Wainwright had said, “We all love America.....but we have to admit that there’s just been too many mistakes made in the recent past over too many issues, and we’ve just got to deal with that fact.”

Seven years on, the song comes up as fresh as if it were written yesterday, in spite of the fact that Bush Jnr has been out of the White House for years.

I have a mild criticism, and it's of the spirit of this song. The singer is about to leave his native land because he dislikes what it has become - yet it is a country where a section of its population had been appreciative and generous enough to make a star of the singer-songwriter. This scenario doesn't seem particularly admirable. Staying, rather than leaving, leading or joining a struggle to help make the country more comparable to what it had once been (if indeed it had) would have presented useful and positive thoughts to fans.

Rufus Wainwright's version (sorry about the ad at the beginning!)



George Michael's version (sorry about the ad - again).

Protest Songs - Gone But Not Forgotten ?

Protest/political songs are fast becoming things of the past. A recent piece by Madeline Ostrander at Common Dreams: Dar Williams: Why the Music of Protest Is Still Worth Defending: "We can’t change the world if we can’t even sing together—a star folk singer on what happens if political music dies...." The essay brings up this topic once again.

Commenter Michael Leone hit the nail on the head for me:

As the author said, its not as simple as "political" music being dead. For one thing, the industry intentionally tried to KILL all political music. If you read commentaries and memoirs of some of the more mainstream acts, who at least had a reasonable conscience, whenever they tried to do something political there was pressure from the labels, if not the producers themselves. People like Eddie Vedder or take Springsteen, even though he's not very politically literate at least has his heart in the right place, have had to insert political commentary through "the back door" and it either pisses off the powers or they misunderstand it "BORN IN THE USA" YEAH!!!

Then there's the Billy Braggs of the music world, good, honest stuff, but mostly marginalized by the industry (though not completely, I mean, there's also the fact that people like what they like.) Most would like to remain relevant and get their stuff out to as many people as possible and that means walking a fine line in the climate the past 30 years............I could go on about this for hours, but it really comes down to corporate power and has nothing to do with the last few generations of artists. There are as many engaged, decent and even radical people writing and playing music as ever, its just that the corporations now have more power and more of a free hand to crush what they don't like than they did..............

An article from April this year by Luis Rivas was also relevant: Political music was once mainstream, so what happened?

Snip:

Peaking in the ’60s and ’70s, protest music, music based on social justice, a call to change, a righteous condemnation of the Vietnam War, a ballad in support of Nelson Mandela and against the apartheid government of South Africa, songs about overcoming racism, sexism, division—all this, all of it, was here in the U.S. And it was mainstream. It wasn’t some underground movement where DJ’s were rounded up and arrested for broadcasting subversive verse. Or a marginalized style of music that only appealed to a handful of people.

No, we’re talking about top 40 hits. Music that, even currently, is still listened to, their records are still being purchased (or downloaded as pirated mp3s). No, we’re talking about The Mammas and the Poppas, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Byrds, Phil Ochs, John Lennon, The Beatles, Pete Seeger, The Doors and a list long enough to bring any contemporary musician to his or her knees in shame and embarrassment.

So what happened? How did the Billboard top 40 of 1967—and well into the 70s, really — go from featuring groups that were known for their social commentary songs, such as The Beatles, the Mamas and the Poppas (three times), the Doors (twice) and Buffalo Springfield to the Billboard top 100 of 2012 including Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, One Direction, Drake and something called a Justin Bieber......

I've long found this issue disappointing too. Three of my posts from 2007 on the topic prove it:
Why So Subtle (August 2007).
Music In the News - Venus/Saturn. (Sept 2007).
John Fogerty's Revival (Oct 2007).

Once more, from the comment quoted above:

"....it really comes down to corporate power and has nothing to do with the last few generations of artists. There are as many engaged, decent and even radical people writing and playing music as ever, its just that the corporations now have more power and more of a free hand to crush what they don't like than they did."

Yet another way the people of the USA are being controlled and manipulated!

A reminder:

For What It's Worth written by Stephen Stills, performed by Buffalo Springfield and released as a single in January 1967:



And, from Pink Floyd: On the Turning Away written by David Gilmour and Anthony Moore, from Pink Floyd's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Read the lovely lyrics HERE.

John Fogerty's Revival

Late Tuesday evening, in front of the TV, semi-conscious, supposedly watching Letterman's chat show just ending, through the sleepy blur I suddenly heard someone singing "I can't stand any more of your dirty little war......" The singer really did sound pissed off. I opened my allergy-ridden eyes wide, poked HeWhoKnows in the side and demanded "Who's that?"

"John Fogerty...I've been trying to wake you!"

"Who's he?"

"Creedence Clearwater Revival" - remember - "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "Lodi"? He wrote 'em and lots more."

"Ahhh!" I sat up and took notice.

HeWhoKnows had noted that John Fogerty had been singing a different song, then right at the end of his performance discarded his harmonica and ripped into the song I'd heard... gritty, bitter voice rasping the words of a very brief snip from that song. We wondered if perhaps it had been slipped in - not been part of the approved script/schedule. We watched as Letterman walked across to greet Fogerty to note his reaction - but the camera moved away, and that part wasn't shown. Odd!

On further investigation, yesterday morning I discovered that John has just released a new CD "Revival", which contains the songs he sang on Letterman, and other songs of protest against the current US administration.

John Fogerty earned gold stars from me for this performance. I've been looking at his chart. He was born 28 May 1945, Berkeley, California, at (according to Astrotheme) 7.28pm.



Sun at 7 Gemini, Uranus at 12 Gemini - there's more than a hint of rebellion there, with Uranus flavouring his communicative Gemini Sun. Neptune (planet of imagination) and Sun are in harmonious trine, that has to be good for a songwriter. Venus and Mars conjoin in Aries bringing strength and a little aggressive edge to his nature. Mercury in sensible but stubborn Taurus trines Jupiter (publishing planet) in critical Virgo, squaring that Sun/Uranus combination - perhaps he struggles with himself at times, wondering whether his rebellious side goes a little too far?

Natal Moon in sensible, business-like Capricorn widely opposes Saturn in Cancer - not sure exactly how that manifests. We can only know as much as his publicity exposes.

A quick look at current transits shows that transiting rebellious Uranus at 15 Pisces is opposing John's natal Jupiter, and Jupiter, as mentioned above, links into a pattern in his natal chart.

From a good review of his latest CD"Revival" HERE

"And if you really want anger, and want to hear what John Fogerty would sound like auditioning for the Ramones, give a listen to "I Can't Take It No More." It's your basic scream of rage at George Bush, telling him that he (the singer) can't take any more of his lies, and calling him on how his daddy bought him his deferment from the Vietnam war and he's just another spoiled brat."

and

""Long Dark Night" on the other hand is a hard rock song, more reminiscent of Neil Young and Crazy Horse than anything that came out of the swamp. It's all about Georgie who wants your children so he can have a war, with all his little buddies taking what they can while the taking is good."

In a recent issue of Rocky Mountain News, Mark Brown interviews John. Here's an illuminating extract regarding his previous political songs on a CD released in 2004:

"When "Déjà Vu" was just out and was fresh and I was on tour, basically, in many places I would play that song and I would be booed. There would be quite a healthy group of people booing. A lot of noise and controversy going on.

I will tell you I was supposed to be on one of the morning network shows. At the last minute, the afternoon before we were going to go on ? the show called my management and said 'We don't want John to sing that "Déjà Vu" song.' (laughs). But they'd already invited me to be on this show. Just for a minute, just for an eye-blink, I looked at that. I thought 'That's not what were going to do. We're either doing the song or we're not doing the show.' As we all kind of discussed it we're sort of sitting in a pretty good spot here. If I don't do a show and it becomes known that they didn't want me to do "Déjà Vu" it's going to look pretty bad on them, not me.

As the afternoon wore on and phone calls went back and forth I just stood by my guns. It was very clear. All of these broadcasting companies are owned by big corporate monolith corporations. They make most of their profits from a war in one way or another. They're very conservative by nature. Certainly most of these corporations give very hefty sizable donations to the Republican party. I was suddenly a persona non grata or whatever. I realized OK, we're not going to go on the show and by the way we're going to let everybody know why. That kinda made them say 'Oh well, never mind, everything's OK.'"

Go get 'em, John!!

Music in the News - Venus/Saturn

Recently a few articles relating to music, protest songs, and/or country music have appeared almost simultaneously.

Looking at the ephemeris I see that Venus (representing music and song) is edging close to Saturn (authority, rules & government). The two planets will exactly conjoin in critical Virgo in around two weeks' time. No doubt the arguments on these topics will continue until well after that.

These are the articles:

1. Country Music Deserts George Bush, by Tim Shipman
It appears that contemporary country music artist Toby Keith and others have started speaking out against the war in Iraq.

"No one has moved further than Toby Keith and Darryl Worley, two of the biggest names in country music.
In 2002, Keith had a huge hit with Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, which includes the lyric: “You’ll be sorry that you messed with the US of A, ’cause we’ll put a boot in your ass - it’s the American Way.”

Now, it appears that things have changed. A little late in seeing the light, pals - but better late than never, I guess.



2. "Joni Mitchell Lashes out at Catholic Church on New CD" by Roger Friedman
Joni's new CD contains a track "Shine". Lyrics include these words:

"Shine on lousy leadership
Licensed to kill
Shine on dying soldiers
In patriotic pain
Shine on mass destruction
In some God's name! "









3. "Two Musical Visions of America" by Howie Klein

Howie Klein discusses the differences between Woodie Guthrie's old song of protest, "The Land is Your Land" and the new lyrics put to "God Bless America" by the Church of God Choir from Springfield Ohio. Videos of both songs are included.




4. Loosely connected with music and authority:
"The Musicologist who wasn't allowed into the country" by Ivan Katz- Tells of a recent debacle by Homeland Security, who have denied a British music professor entry into the USA, and sent her back to London, visa torn up. No official help forthcoming to date. Whatever happened to that much quoted "special relationship" between UK and USA, one wonders.

Why So Subtle?

In this article "Subtle Songs of Protest hit a High Note" by Chris Macias
he discusses some current protest songs, compares them with protest songs of the 1960s and remarks:

"The difference between the protest songs of the 1960s - think “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire or Edwin Starr’s “War” - and today’s is that these newer messages tend to come in more subtle musical packages. And they can be so hummable that people may mouth the words and never know they’re dissing the president."

and later says

"More overt protest anthems may be coming soon. After the umpteenth song about partying and summer love - and with approval ratings for the Iraq war continuing to tank - the pop music landscape is primed for an even bigger swell of anti-war tunes."

In the 1960s when protesters took to the streets, and protest songs were "hard core", Neptune lay in passionate Scorpio. Now we have Neptune in cooler, though idealistic, Aquarius, and in mutual reception with Uranus in Neptune's home sign Pisces. This ought to be a good atmosphere for imaginative protest and rebellion. Will the writer's prediction of more overt anti-war tunes come true as Saturn moves into conscientious Virgo and Pluto mixes it up in stable, old fashioned Capricorn ? We shall see. I have my doubts, somehow the caring isn't universally passionate enough these days.

Here are the lyrics (written by P.F. Sloan) to Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" from 1965 - the good ol' days of REAL protest songs:
(On YouTube it's at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ESOKkU1ho

The eastern world it is explodin',
violence flarin', bullets loadin',
you're old enough to kill but not for votin',
you don't believe in war, what's that gun you're totin',
and even the Jordan river has bodies floatin',
but you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand, what I'm trying to say?
Can't you see the fears that I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away,
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave,
take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy,
and you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin',
I'm sittin' here, just contemplatin',
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation,
handful of Senators don't pass legislation,
and marches alone can't bring integration,
when human respect is disintegratin',
this whole crazy world is just too frustratin',
and you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama!
Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space,
but when you return, it's the same old place,
the poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace,
you can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace,
hate your next-door-neighbour, but don't forget to say grace,
and you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,
you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
no no you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.