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"Cynicism is a sorry kind of wisdom."
Apr. 6th, 2008 06:09 pmI just found something I hadn't heard for a long, long time and thought I probably never would again, though I have looked for it.
I used to hear this on the radio when I was a kid, and even though I didn't have all of the necessary historical awareness to understand everything that was referred to, I was always moved and disturbed when I heard it.
Now I *do* have the necessary awareness, and some creative person has put the song to corresponding visual images on youtube, bless them, and it still wrecks me.
The late 60's were an incredible time, full of national tragedy, loss and anger. The assassinations of MLK, RFK, the Chicago Democratic convention riots, the Vietnam war... I was of course too young to be anything but oblivious to this, but I started figuring it out later on.
To some of my friends who might have been indoctrinated with differing opinions about the people this song is about; spare me. Read the subject line. JFK was a womanizer, so I understand was Martin Luther King at times. Bobby Kennedy was not perfect either, I am sure. Tom Clay, the DJ who recorded this compilation, was convicted of payola and was an occasional scam artist. All heroes have feet of clay. But these were strong, charismatic individuals who wanted to bring positive, valuable change to the country and to the society, and they were snuffed out before their time, and it was an incredible loss for all of us.
None of us is perfect, but we all sometimes get to have perfect moments. Theirs came more often and were longer than most, but they were not long enough.
This is a song about the sixties.
I used to hear this on the radio when I was a kid, and even though I didn't have all of the necessary historical awareness to understand everything that was referred to, I was always moved and disturbed when I heard it.
Now I *do* have the necessary awareness, and some creative person has put the song to corresponding visual images on youtube, bless them, and it still wrecks me.
The late 60's were an incredible time, full of national tragedy, loss and anger. The assassinations of MLK, RFK, the Chicago Democratic convention riots, the Vietnam war... I was of course too young to be anything but oblivious to this, but I started figuring it out later on.
To some of my friends who might have been indoctrinated with differing opinions about the people this song is about; spare me. Read the subject line. JFK was a womanizer, so I understand was Martin Luther King at times. Bobby Kennedy was not perfect either, I am sure. Tom Clay, the DJ who recorded this compilation, was convicted of payola and was an occasional scam artist. All heroes have feet of clay. But these were strong, charismatic individuals who wanted to bring positive, valuable change to the country and to the society, and they were snuffed out before their time, and it was an incredible loss for all of us.
None of us is perfect, but we all sometimes get to have perfect moments. Theirs came more often and were longer than most, but they were not long enough.
This is a song about the sixties.
