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“Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
and when the band plays "Hail To The Chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you,
Lord It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one”
John C. Fogerty
Coming of age in the late 60’s musicians used their voice to influence a generation. It was a time of change, a time of cultural revolution, America’s youth said “NO MORE”. The voice of a generation was never so loud than at the Democratic National Convention, in 1968 where protestors took to the streets with chants such as, ”THE WHOLE WORLDS WATCHING!”
“Though your brother's bound and gagged
And they've chained him to a chair
Won't you please come to Chicago
Just to sing
In a land that's known as freedom
How can such a thing be fair”
Graham Nash
The whole world was watching then as it is now, the question is, where are the voices? The people we relied on then no longer speak to this new generation, a generation of grunge, house, techno, and rap. America’s youth is willing to step up to this new threat known as the bush administration, they just need a leader. Thinking back, I remember the FM airwaves, and the 8-tracks giving us direction, it still sends chills up my spine.
“Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'”
Bob
America’s youth is under attack, the writing is on the wall for a draft. Soon, once again our best and brightest will be numbered, indexed, cataloged, and filed, only to be returned to us folded and mutilated. Some of us have seen this and remember the boy down the street returning home hobbled by the atrocities of war, once an athlete now he sits on the porch in his wheel chair watching cars go by, or worse the friend who came home in an aluminum box.
“Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.”
Country Joe
As I was writing this I saw a thread approaching the feelings I have, it was ALMOST a call for revolution. At this I step back, and think, “why the disclaimer?” Your not advocating change? It’s this fear of the “man” that’s keeping us down, the fear of some invisible G-man. It’s time to shed this fear, a new day is dawning and its time to take the fight back to the streets.
“There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn”
Stephen Stills
Once, along time ago we had hero’s in this fight, the anniversary of their fight is approaching. It was May 4th, 1970, Kent State where we lost four brave souls. I think its time we say their names here; Allison Krause, Jeffery Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder, you changed the world, and we miss you dearly.
“Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio Gonna get down to it soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been down long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know.
Gonna get down to it soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been down long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know.”
Neil Young
I will not be silent, nor will I serve a “crusading” government,
Michael Harris
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