Phil Ochs to Iraq War supporters - "I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fighting for?"

[ConsAreLiars]

On the Mike Malloy Show tonight (4/30) Kathy played this music by Phil Ochs. Addressed to those who advocated for war or were deceived into participating, it, sadly, it seemed very descriptive of where we are now, so I thought posting the lyrics might be another reminder that the fight we are in now is not a new one, and the liars in politics and the media are also not new.

What Are You Fighting For
By Phil Ochs

Oh you tell me that there's danger to the land you call your own
And you watch them build the war machine right beside your home
And you tell me that you're ready to go marchin' to the war
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Before you pack your rifle and sail across the sea
Just think upon the Southern part of the land that you call free
Oh, there's many kinds of slavery and we've found many more
I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fighting for?

And before you walk out on your job in answer to the call
Just think about the millions who have no job at all
And the men who wait for handouts with their eyes upon the floor
Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

{This verse is not in the sheet music}
Turn on your TV, turn it on so loud
And watch the fool a smiling there and tell me that you're proud
And listen to your radio, the noise it starts to pour
Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Read your morning papers, read every single line
And tell me if you can believe that simple world you find
Read every slanted word till your eyes are getting sore,
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

And listen to your leaders, the ones who won the race
As they stand right there before you and lie into your face
If you ever try to buy them, you know what they stand for
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Put ragged clothes upon your back and sleep upon the ground,
And tell police about your rights as they drag you down,
And ask them as they lead you to some deserted door,
Yes, I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fightin' for?

But the hardest thing I'll ask you, if you will only try
Is take your children by their hands and look into their eyes
And there you'll see the answer you should have seen before
If you'll win the wars at home, there'll be no fighting anymore

(edit because brackets made one note disappear, substituted these things "{ }.")

[Mojambo]

1. Damn. I love Phil Ochs

I've been thinking Another Country kind of fits our current time.

I wish Phil was around to write a verse about torture...

Oh, a rifle took its aim and a man fell to the ground.
He tried to stand again but everybody held him down:
A time of terror when the bullet pierced the air --
I know that couldn't happen here.
Oh, it must have been another country --
Yes, it must have been another land.
That couldn't happen in the U.S.A.
We'd never treat a man that way.

And a migrant worker sweats underneath the blazin' sun.
He's fallen on his knees but his work is never done.
He begs someone to listen but nobody seems to care,
And I know that couldn't happen here.
Oh, it must have been another country --
Yes, it must have been another land.
That couldn't happen in the U.S.A.
We'd never treat a man that way.

And a man is working steady, it's good money he receives
But he's thrown out of work for the wrong things he believes.
He didn't have the thoughts most everybody shares.
I know that couldn't happen here,
so it must have been another country --
Yes, it must have been another land.
That couldn't happen in the U.S.A.
We'd never treat a man that way.

And a man is sent to prison to wait until he dies.
He fights to save his life, for years and years he tries.
Even though he changed himself he dies upon the chair.
I know that couldn't happen here.
Oh, it must have been another country --
Yes, it must have been another land.
That couldn't happen in the U.S.A.
We'd never treat a man that way.
Oh, I know we'd never treat a man that way.

[ConsAreLiars]

2. And many more with the same dual sense of compassion and outrage at inhumanity.

Two favorites:

There but for Fortune
by Phil Ochs

Show me a prison, show me a jail,
Show me a prisoner whose face has gone pale
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune, may go you or I

Show me the alley, show me the train,
Show me a hobo who sleeps out in the rain,
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, may go you or go I -- you and I.

Show me the whiskey stains on the floor,
Show me the drunken man as he stumbles out the door,
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, may go you or go I -- you and I.


Show me the famine, show me the frail
Eyes with no future that show how we failed
And I'll show you the children with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I.

Show me the country where bombs had to fall,
Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall,
And I'll show you a young land with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I -- you and I.
You and I,
There but for fortune, go you or go I -- you and I.


Flower Lady
By Phil Ochs

Millionaires and paupers walk the hungry streets
Rich and poor companions of the restless beat
Strangers in a foreign land
Strike a match with trembling hand
Learn too much to ever understand
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

Lover's quarrel, snarl away their happiness
Kissed crumble in a web of loneliness
It's written by the poison pen
Voices break before they bend
The door is slammed
It's over, once again
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

Poets agonize, they cannot find the words
And the stone stares at the sculptor asks "are you absurd?"
The painter paints his brushes back
Through the canvas runs a crack
Portrait of the pain never answers back
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

Soldiers, disillusioned, come home from the war
Sarcastic students tell them not to fight no more
And they argue through the night
Black is black and white is white
Walk away both knowing they are right
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

Smoke dreams of escaping souls are drifting by
Dull the pain of living as they slowly die
Smiles change into a sneer
washed away by whiskey tears
In the quicksand of their mind they disappear
Still nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

Feeble, aged, people almost to their knees
Complain about the present using memories
Never found their pot of gold
Wrinkled hands pound weary holes
Each line screams out you're old, you're old, you're old
But nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

And the flower lady hobbles home without a sale
Tattered shreds of petals leave a fading trail
Not a pause to hold a rose
Even she no longer knows
The lamp goes out the evening now is closed
And nobody's buying flowers from the flower lady

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. For the young'uns, Phil Ochs ....

.....December 19, 1940–April 9, 1976) was a U.S. protest singer (or, as he preferred, a "topical singer"), songwriter, musician and recording artist who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and released eight LP record albums in his lifetime.

He performed at many political events, anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student events, and at organized labor events over the course of his career, in addition to many concert appearances at such venues as New York City's The Town Hall and Carnegie Hall. Politically, Ochs described himself as a "left social democrat" who turned into an "early revolutionary" after the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which had a profound effect on his state of mind.<1> He was often seen as a radical and also a patriot — though he was also interested in differing political philosophies as well as journalism, and was an avid fan of music and movies.

from wikipedia.org

[ConsAreLiars]

4. And to those for whom his voice is not already known,

do a search on youtube. Audience tapes, mostly, but you'll either get it or not. Start here, maybe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5pgrKSwFJE

The Wiki on Ochs is well worth reading.

(edit to fix typo)