Talkin' 'bout my generation…and Americans like me that grew up during the heyday…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 9:00 AM Permalink

of rock and roll, listening to what I still believe to be the most socially relevant music of any era. Music that carried a message for the youth of America and sparked a generational social revolution among teens, young adults, and even those older guys who thought they were cool listening to rock and roll and suddenly discovered that they actually liked it, not just for the music and beats but for the lyrics that came to mean so much to so many.

Then the GOP came into power and the very group of society against which we rebelled acted swiftly to negate an individuals worth to society, whether they be rich or poor or somewhere in between, something which at my age, looking back, mystifies me as to how we lost our way and how or why we lost sight of what is truly important: the welfare of the whole takes precedent over the gathering of Midas-like wealth by the old monied million- and billionaires who would not stop to p*ss on you were you laying by the side of the road on fire, that would deny you medical care, food, and, if they could, the very oxygen you breath would be seized for their exclusive use.

And in large part the coming moral poverty and perversion by those wealthy enough to sway society in such ways as to not only encourage, but actually persuade, the poor, the elderly, the ill and infirm to vote against their own interests and for the pernicious agenda of a political party that would just as soon take them out to deep water and then scuttle the carrier ships to rid America of those whom the republicans despise simply for the fact of their existence is both cruel and inhuman.

All my life I have listened, grown, matured, and educated myself and everyone else around me that would listen to the lyrics and deeper meaning of those lyrics contained in so much rock and roll. Unfortunately I could influence only small circles of friends and family, but educate them I did and I'm proud to say that I did.

It's said that the tree of liberty needs refreshing from time to time with the blood of patriots. I disagree and fervently advocate teaching our children the values that made America great instead of asserting a need for regular and routine violence, whatever the GOP espouses and/or the fake reasons they create to commit war crimes of mass destruction and genocide by bombs instead of growing a better society here.

So, having expressed my penchant for the lessons we children of the 60s learned all by ourselves despite the hatred spewed by so many of our elders, I thought I would repeat here the words of a song called, appropriately, "Word Games" by Stephen Stills, one of the greatest artists of my lifetime and a song more socially relevant today than when first written. It's a little long, but I encourage all our readers to pour over every word, compare the meaning of those words to the political dribble and bigoted diatribes leveled against President Obama and realize that it is still possible, and not too late, to continue the change in America that started over forty years ago. For your enjoyment and edification:

Would you knock a man down if you don't like the cut of his clothes
Could you put a man away if you don't want to hear what he knows
Well it's happening right here people dying of fear by the droves
And I know most of you
Either don't believe it's true,
Or else you don't know what to do
Or maybe I'm singing about you,
Who knows.
It's incredibly sick, you can feel it, as across the land it flows
Prejudice is slick when it's a word game, it festers and grows,
Move along quick, it furthers one to have somewhere to go
You can feel it as it's rumblin'
Let emotions keep a tumblin'
Then as cities start to crumblin'
Mostly empty bellies grumblin'
Here we go
People see somebody different fear is the first reaction shown
Then they think they've got him licked the barbaric hunt begins and they move in slow
A human spirit is devoured the remains left to carrion crow
I was told that life is change
And yet history remains,
Does it always stay the same
Do we shrug it off and say
Only God knows
By and by, somebody usually goes down to the ghetto
Try and help but they don't know why folks treat them cold
And the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us just keep getting old.
You see one must have a mission
In order to be a good Christian
If you don't you will be missing
High Mass or the evening show
And the well fed masters reap the harvests of the polluted seeds they've sown,
Smug and self-righteous they bitch about people they owe,
And you can't prove them wrong, they're so God damn sure they know
I have seen these things with my very own eyes and defended my battered soul,
It must be too tough to die,
American propaganda, South African lies
Will not force me to take up arms, that's my enemies' pride,
Ands I won't fight by his rules that's foolishness besides,
His ignorance is gonna do him in and nobody's gonna cry,
Because his children they are growing up
And plainly tired of putting up
With bigots and their silver cups
They're fed up, they might throw up
On you

Peace, loving and helping one another, bettering our country by bettering ourselves, giving instead of taking, expressing kindness not hatred, building a lasting society rather than just another Roman Empire that will fade from history as yet another failure of man, sunk by the weight of hatred, bigotry, and the eternal war the GOP would prefer to be the norm.

Think about it, please. Our future and the future of our children hang in the balance.

Sailor: If you can find a good copy of this song to post with this I will be eternally grateful to you and will name a planet in another galaxy after you in your honor. I will further provide you with all the free tickets you need for passage to your planet. Bill

Labels: anarchy, bad cops, bad judges, bad laws, bad politicians, bad prosecutors, bad Religion, bigotry run amok, disinformation, propaganda