A song from my generation to the twenty-somethings of today

[carolinayellowdog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbHBLh1uImQ

Hey,

A friend has recently been transferring my old LPs (bought mainly from 1968 to 1972) to CDs. Just now I played this song from 1971 that expresses as well as any the way I (and all my friends) felt about Nixon and his corrupt warmongering administration. In light of the recent study showing that 52-year-olds have a higher rate of Democratic affiliation than any age above 24--and that the 24-and-unders have the highest rate of all-- this song speaks to me of today's youth and their perspective on the Bush administration.

May "this old world is gonna turn around, a brand new bell will be ringing" be as prophetic in the fall of 2006 as it was about the fall of Nixon.

CYD

Jonathan Edwards links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(music)
http://www.twin-music.com/azlyrics/e_file/songs/edwards_sun.html

[MindPilot]

1. Here's another that could've been written yesterday

Words and music by John Kay, Jerry Edmonton, Nick St. Nicholas and Larry Byrom

(Monster)
Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope
Like good Christians, some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon it went
And 'til the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end
While we bullied, stole and bought our homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

The blue and grey they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war over
They stuffed it just like a hog

And though the past has it's share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But it's protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey

(Suicide)
The spirit was freedom and justice
And it's keepers seem generous and kind
It's leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
And now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watchin'

Our cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin' the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can't understand
We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole worlds got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who's the winner
We can't pay the cost
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watching

(America)
America where are you now?
Don't you care about your sons and daughters?
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster

[carolinayellowdog]

5. That alone makes the thread worthwhile, thanks

One good thing about Bush is that he makes me feel young again.

[acmejack]

2. Nice to hear.

About the age group, that is. The song is ok, too...

[tk2kewl]

3. He can't even run his own life...

I'll be damned if he'll run mine!

FUCK BUSH! :grr:

[carolinayellowdog]

4. Cannon fodder for a heartless politician fighting a lost war

That's what I resonate to with the song. From 12 to 18 (which I turned in 1971) Vietnam hung over my head and from the beginning I knew it was doomed and wrong. "Some man's come, he's tried to run my life, he don't know what he's asking" resonates to the draft which by 1971 was extremely unpopular. The more it looked like an inevitable defeat, the more outraged people felt that Nixon kept up the killing in Vietnam four years after he announced his secret plan to end it. Some things do seem to happen in cycles.