Well, It Worked With Noriega, Didn't It?

[poliphilo]

I've been listening to some really early Dylan.

Blowing in the Wind has been sung into rags by all those pretty-pretty Peter Paul and Mary types, but Masters of War is as ugly and ornery as it ever was. Wouldn't it be cool if we could surround the White House with speakers and blast out Masters of War on a loop until the present occupant went away?

I guess there's some piffling little law or other that would stop us from doing that. Phooey!

Comments

[jenny_evergreen]

*chuckle* Oh, I wish!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

heh-heh-heh.

It's a timeless song- which is kinda tragic when you think about it.

[jenny_evergreen]

Very tragic. *sigh*

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Doesn't it ever bother the "masters of war" that all the cool, intelligent, creative people hate them?

[sovay]

"Masters of War" and Phil Och's "Cops of the World" have been on repeat in my head for about five years straight at this point . . .

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Seems like we haven't learned a thing over the past forty years.

[sovay]

Yeah. How's that for depressing?

It's always the old to lead us to the wars
It's always the young to fall
Now look at all we've won with the sabre and the gun
Tell me, was it worth it all?

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Especially this verse?

I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I'll follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
I'll watch while you're lowered
Into your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave till I'm sure that you're dead.

I never liked that song.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if I'm honest, especially that verse.

It's what makes it the powerful thing it is and not just another wimpy protest song.

It's art, not a programme for political action.

Dylan himself said the song shocked him. He wasn't normally in the business of wishing death on people.

But we all have moods when we're so angry we want to drag our enemies down and trample them in the dirt.

I hate violence, I'm almost a pacifist, but I get violent feelings towards violent people. I know it's self-contradictory, but there you go....

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

As you know, I support the war. I guess that means I'm not one of the Kool Kidz, despite being reasonably intelligent and arguably creative.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I accept that there's a case to be made for the war, but...

I never supported it. I never believed Saddam had WMDs.

I think war ought to be the last resort. Some wars you can't get out of. But this wasn't one of them. The Bush administration pushed and pushed for it.

In the early days, even though I thought the war wrong, I hoped that the speedy removal of Saddam would lead to the Middle East becoming a safer, more democratic place. This hasn't happened. The Bushies went in without a plan and what we have in Iraq now is chaos, moving towards a civil war which could well become a regional war.

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

well, apparently there's no law keeping the feds from blasting ridiculous sounds outside of places like ruby ridge and waco as a means of (disruption? psychological torture?) during a standoff, so...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's a well-tested strategy.