If you didn't associate Phil Ochs with imagery, listen to "The Crucifixion" some time. Marvelous! The only place I know the recording exists is on the Glenn Yarbrough album "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her".
Crucifixion
One time, Phil began singing this song to Robert Kennedy. Robert suddenly snapped. "Is this about my brother?" Certainly was.
Crucifixion
By Phil Ochs
Em D
And the night comes again to the circle studded sky
G Bm
The stars settle slowly, in loneliness they lie
Am D G Em
'Till the universe expodes as a falling star is raised
Am D G Em
Planets are paralyzed, mountains are amazed
Am D G Em
But they all glow brighter from the briliance of the blaze
Am D Em
With the speed of insanity, then he dies.
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
Em C D
So dance dance dance
Em
Teach us to be true
C
Come dance dance dance
D Em
'Cause we love you
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
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.
To dance dance dance
Teach us to be true
Come dance dance dance
'Cause we love you
Then his message gathers meaning and it spreads accross the land
The rewarding of his pain is the following of the man
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 estatic, 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 (canons|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 sacreligious 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.
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 expodes as a falling star is raised
Planets are paralyzed, mountains are amazed
But they all glow brighter from the briliance of the blaze
With the speed of insanity, then he died.
Alabama Wild Man
Jerry Reed
Well alright! Watch out!
Now my daddy was a hard-shelled Alabama preacher
My mama was a dedicated Sunday schoolteacher
My brother went to college and got a PhD
Daddy said the only dud in the family was me
He said boy you ain`t never gonna amount to a thing
You sit around with that silly-looking guitar and sing
You hang around them juke joints all the time
Making music like some wild man done lost his mind
Going `Sock it to me!` well what`s that supposed to mean?
Boy you just a wild man
Well then one day Daddy told me boy I`ve had enough
Now you can pack up that guitar and you can just pack up your stuff
So I left home and organized myself a band
Called myself the Alabama Wild Man
Well I worked all them joints from the east to the west
Never making no money nearly starving to death
Living off coffee and cold sardines
Soda crackers and pork and beans
Well I finally went to Music City U.S.A.
Said I`m the Alabama Wild Man and I`m here to stay
Took my guitar and showed `em what I was talking about
So we made a little record and we put it out, with me going
Sock it to me honey, haha hook it boy, play that guitar, git it git it!
Well now I`m driving Cadillacs a city block long
And the Alabama Wild Man can do no wrong
`Cause I`m selling them records and I`m working them shows
And people love me everywhere I go
But a funny thing happened about a week or so back
I worked a show in my hometown and the place was packed
And guess who was sittin` on the front row seat?
Was my Daddy grinnin` up at me pattin` his feet, yellin`
Sock it to your daddy wild man, hook it, boy, hook it!
Play that guitar, show `em son!
Yeah that`s my boy all right
Taught him everything he knows
Bought him his first guitar
Oh sock it to your daddy son!
Go ahead put it to me put it to me!
Keep them checks comin` in boy
We gonna pave the drive next week!
this one's got everything edgar...
moonshine..pot...revenooers...DEA...Viet Cong...stock cars...you get the picture
Copperhead Road
(Steve Earle)
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
It's before my time but I've been told
He never came back from Copperhead Road
Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road
I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
And I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Well the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from ol' Charlie don't you know
You better stay away from Copperhead Road
That's a new one for me, panzade. Love it.
Stampede!
Lightning a flashin' everywhere
Thunder a rollin' through the air
Wind and rain, cattle look insane
This herd might stampede tonight
Clouds are drivin' cross the moonless sky
Cattle a rollin' frightened eyes
Keep em close and tight, cowboy pray with all you might
That this herd won't stampede tonight
There's lightning there's thunder
There's wind and rain, stampede!
Ten thousand cattle on the run
Pray for an early morning sun
Lightning stabs the skies
Cattle drop and never rise, stampede!
Ten thousand cattle in flight
The devil's ridin' herd tonight
The thunder of the hooves and the fury from the skies
Don't get out in front or every man dies
Cold black clouds like funeral shrouds
Roll down their icy threat
And we face to fight this raging night
With odds on the side death
For a stampeding herd
When it's panic is stirred
Is a thing for a cowboy to shun
For no mortal man ever holds command
When the cattle are on the run
Stampede!
The rising of the wind sends out its wail
Drivin' cattle down an endless trail
Rollin' thunder booms sending cattle to their doom
Stampede!
Stampede!
Stampede
Sons of the Pioneers
