As promised, a more serious take on student affairs, by one of my favourite singer/songwriters...
(Poem #1909) I'm Going To Say It Now Oh I am just a student, sir, and only want to learn But it's hard to read through the risin' smoke from the books that you like to burn So I'd like to make a promise and I'd like to make a vow That when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now Oh you've given me a number and you've taken off my name To get around this campus why you almost need a plane And you're supporting Chang Kai-Shek, while I'm supporting Mao So when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now I wish that you'd make up your mind, I wish that you'd decide That I should live as freely as those who live outside Cause we also are entitled to the rights to be endowed And when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now Oh, you'd like to be my father you'd like to be my Dad And give me kisses when I'm good and spank me when I'm bad But since I've left my parents I've forgotten how to bow So when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now And things they might be different if I was here alone But I've got a friend or two who no longer live at home And we'll respect our elders just as long as they allow That when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now I've read of other countries where the students take a stand Maybe even help to overthrow the leaders of the land Now I wouldn't go so far to say we're also learnin' how But when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now So keep right on a-talkin' and tell us what to do If nobody listens my apologies to you And I know that you were younger once 'cause you sure are older now And when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now Oh I am just a student sir, and only want to learn But it's hard to read through the risin' smoke from the books that you like to burn So I'd like to make a promise and I'd like to make a vow That when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now |
Student activism has a long and complex history; in the United States of the '60s it was a two-pronged affair, mainly concerning itself with the educational system, but gaining increasing political focus and prominence. Ochs addresses both these concerns in his typically edgy, sardonic style, setting the tone immediately with the hard-hitting But it's hard to read through the risin' smoke from the books that you like to burn and then throwing down the gauntlet with So I'd like to make a promise and I'd like to make a vow That when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now An interesting thing to note about today's song is the way that Ochs's lyrics combine deceptively simple word choices with complex metrical patterns and strong rhymes - a combination that suits both his music and the nature and purpose of the folk song almost ideally. Like most of the poems in the current "Bright College Days" theme, it has achieved a certain measure of timelessness; the song became one of the anthems of the 1960s free speech movement, but the problems it addresses are faced by students today no less than those of fifty years ago. martin [Links] A brief clip of Ochs singing the fourth verse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_D5yTGzACc&search=phil%20ochs Wikipedia on student activism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_activism An interesting discussion of the song: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0202d&L=ads-l&P=19728
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