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American Boy - 50 Years of Protest

by Bill White

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The Fishermen & the Priestess
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James Paul
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1.
The Old South Church 04:20
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2.
Five Seconds to Midnight 03:37
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3.
Trouble in the Street 03:23
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4.
Blood of the Poets 07:20
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Pino Pelosi murdered Paolo Pasolini Along with unnamed others Pino claimed he was assisting A man and two brothers But as it goes in political thrillersThe boy was convicted as the lone killer A teenage rent boy Who wasn’t worthy of his hire Who backed out of the act when it came down to the wire But pasolinis death w more complicated than that He was murdered by fascist rats the blood of a poet is not the blood of christ it doesnt promise salvation or eterna but it queches the thirst of the fascist stampde but they cant kill the words they just pake them bleed and the crowd is thirsty for blood and not afraid to show it but what do they gain from the blood of the poets Lorca was executd on government orders Taken from his house and shot Thrown into a ravine And left there to rot Some say he was a victim of the Spanish civil war Which is to say he was murdered because of what he stood for But his body has never been found Some say he was burned Spme say he was drowned But one thing is agreed He was murdered by Francos regme the blood of a poet is not the blood of christ it doesnt promise salvation or eterna but it queches the thirst of the fascist stampde but they cant kill the words they just pake them bleed and the crowd is thirsty for blood and not afraid to show it but what do they gain from the blood of the poets They said prostate cancer killed Pablo Neruda But that is a god damned lie The poet confided in his chaufferur Right before he died The doctor poisoned me he said Now nobody agrees on the cause of death But sure as Neruda was a communist and died two weeks after pinochets coup He was a victim of a facist conspiracy That had silenced President Allende too Victor Jara and the 6000 to the stadium were forced to go prisoners confined to the bleachers pinochets military in the arena below randpm fire from the machine guns like bells of death they tolled down the ailes into the field the slaughtered prisinors rolled victor walked into the arena 4 soldiers helf him down cur off his guitar fingers told him to sing to the crowd 6000 in the bleachers joined him in freedons song the machine guns opened fire again 6000 voices gone
5.
Unforgivably Dumb 03:57
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She kisses a million dollar bill Under a mistletoe wreath Then she has a yard sale But can't sell her teeth Now her tongue keeps rolling Out the side of her mouth And when she stands on her head Her eyeballs fall out Chorus: She sticks in her thumb And pulls out a plum Is she out of her mind Or just unforgivably dumb She's the princess of chaos The queen of the damned She's stuffing her face With potatoes and ham Now she's ordering cheese From the top of the shelf If she orders desert I'm going to kill myself Repeat chorus She cuts to the quick Eliminating red tape When she murders the women Her husband has raped She's an eminent lady Ideal for the job She can silence a country With one little bomb Repeat chorus She is silent but deadly Like a sneaky little fart She says, "What smells so good?" You say,"Don't even start." She softens your heart With the promises she makes Then bites you on the neck And blames it on the snake
6.
Waiting for America 03:11
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7.
Grey to Blue 02:38
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8.
White Boy 02:55
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9.
Pornography of Democracy 04:08
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this isnt fake news it isnt news at all its a global soap opera designed to enthrall you with teevee its the pornography of democracy anderson cooper such a silly priss on new years eve hes looking for a kiss from you and me fly translove airwaves with hillary and bill\ share teenage prostitutes with every senator on the hill arent you happy to be part of the pornography of democracy 500 billion for eugenics 500 trillion for defense for hea;th education and welfare a paltry 20 cents cant you see passing laws bt passing gas enacting them by kissing asses of fleas condaleeza rice plays footsie with george bush shes got a thing for powerful men be they cretins creeps or crooks its a disease this pornography of democracy you work a 40 hour week stil cant pay the rent if you quit your job you will lose your benefits but youll be free a college education is the ticket to higher pay but watch out for the taxman who will take it all away and leave you to freeze in the pornography of democracy richard quest is having a profitable day at least he has a sense of humor as his heart turns into gray feces amanpour is a media whore she takes the bait from heads of state who push her to her knees this dull panel of experts needs a good kick in the pants they scorn you as a hypocrite if you give a sinner a second chance they are rabid bees sucking at the the pornography of demccracy
10.
The Lies of Heroes 01:57
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11.
My Son, My Son 05:24
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my son, my son how far you have wandered you brave collector of shells from the war and when the lights go down i shall come down from the clouds to build you a shelter at the edge of the sky a man with roots though he die may yet live again while a wandering man goes to dust my son, my son never trust the police especially them with unusual eyes they are not always the good guys you have been staring at blue jays on your windowsill when time is moving faster that's when it seems to be standing still my son, my son when and where did this happen who paralyzed your limbs and cut away your heart Repeat verse
12.
Talkin Sunday School Blues 02:05
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13.
Mama Never Saw 02:54
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On a Sunday in December Mama saw the Japanese planes She watched them bomb the harbor And her daddy the admiral explained Why they had to zigzag to the mainland In a submarine Mama saw the start of world war two It was the worst thing shed ever seen Mama never saw the 100,000 Drowning in the sea Because no one would let them come ashore They were dangerous refugees Mama never saw Mama never saw I hope my baby never sees The things my mama never saw The missiles of October Were a terrible thing to see Children hid beneath their beds Just as scared as anyone could be Somehow nothing happened They were all alive at the end of the week But mama saw the world was in trouble And its future was looking bleak Mama never saw the wall of fear Running from sea to shining sea Mama never saw the radiated fish When the fire came out of the sea Mama never saw Mama never saw I hope my baby never sees The things my mama never saw Mama saw two depressions Mama saw the farms disappear When the bankers started taking the country She still believed it couldn’t happen here Mama got slapped by drunkards She was the victim of a naked kiss Mama saw the worst side of helltown But she ever saw nothing like this Mama never saw a war so profitable It couldn’t be allowed to end Mama never saw the land of plenty Become the land of Lets Pretend Mama never saw Mama never saw I hope my baby never sees The things my mama never saw
14.
Flirting Birds 07:21
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15.
Measure of a Man 02:22
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He turned away from the tree to feast upon the flesh of beasts Thrown down from the outer clouds into the gristle chorus What is the measure of a man Is he a soft machine for eating beasts Or is he a dainty meal for the beasts What is the measure of a man Drinking from a cemetary sewer why wont you let the dead rest in peace Intelligent people are fewer and fewer but there are more and more police repeat chorus Children fall from fairground rides orangatangs wear human hides women dress in bloody rags of skin and fins and fur repeat chorus your gunny filled with human skulls you creepers of the night youll find your inner darkness with a lantern of artificial light repear chorus
16.
Your Little Heart 02:42
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17.
Nobody Knows 03:57
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ou’re thinking I’m thinking I’m thinking I’m cute Marching down the street in my sailor suit You’re thinking I’m thinking I’m walking tall With my gun in the air but I’m so sick of it all Nobody knows (x3) How much I hate this uniform And everything it stands for Your’re thinking I’m thinking I’m standing proud With my sanitized brain and my feet on the ground You’re thinking I’m thinking I’m tougher than the rest Crawling through cemetery mud with medals digging into my chest Follow me to the river where the bloodlines flow And I’ll show you where the iron crosses grow Im sitting inside your church in my civilian clothes Where they are talking in the language of the holy ghost Taking no responsibility for what they say Or what they think when they steal a glance to look my way Nobody Knows (x3) How much I loved that uniform When my father wore it to the war The war that nobody knows
18.
All Fall Down 03:36
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The power of land in the land of power The cost of grain against the price of flour When a dollar isn’t worth a dime Money starts growing like a snake on a vine But we keep on dancing until we all fall down Freedom is found in obedience No matter what side you are on you are right While a scurrilous mob outside the law Refuses to be deputized The innocent man on the hanging tree Cannot prove what can never be If there is found in judgment a flaw People might refuse to be ruled by the law And we keep on dancing until we all fall down So put a cop on every corner Shine a light into every room Teach your children to shout for the toreador And they will grow into good soldiers soon Aint no need to believe in nothing When you’re holding all the bombs No hellion or saint can protect you As well as the threat of extinction does We keep on dancing until we all fall down We can’t stay in and we can’t get out So let’s raise the dead, make 'em twist and shout Let’s follow them until we all fall down Twist and shout spin around Carousing at the speed of sound Its silent night in tinsel town When we all fall down So keep on dancing until we all fall down
19.
Blame the Singer, Not the Song 03:55
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So many people that I know Are living in the past We travel through a passing dram Its not supposed to last The world changes completely With every century So why dont you all just calm down Step back and let it be chorus The days are short but life goes on If you think Ive got it wrong Take a look at the evening sky blame the singer, not the song We grew up in a racist world And struggle with it yet Not one of us is innocent We are all caught in its net Blinded by our cowardice somehow our kids are brave Like the children of the promised land Who never knew they once were slaves Repeat chorus We made a little progress But in the end we failed And left the road not taken to walk the paper trail Everything we know and love Passes into history So let the children rise and thrive Step back and let it be Repeat chorus

about

I was 14 years old in 1965 when I heard my first Phil Ochs record. I knew little, if anything, about the subjects of his songs. Civil rights, labor unions, Southern injustice, racism, Vietnam, the draft. So when I heard his songs, I was not a choir member, but a typical juvenile delinquent with no social conscience. Were it not for Phil Ochs, I might have stayed that way. But his songs taught me about the world outside my own warped little sphere. I sung along all the songs off his first two albums, then wrote a song of my own. It was a naïve little piece of civil rights rabblerousing, titled “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone.” It wasn’t any good, but I kept at it for fifty years, and believe I wrote a few good ones along the way. They probably comprised about 20% of the 500 or so songs of mine that have survived the years. Now, there are some people who like those protest songs, but don’t care much for the other 80% of the songs I wrote, so I pulled this collection together so they can save themselves the time of searching through the database for the kind of songs that interest them. There are some who, because of the nature of my other work, don’t believe I am a political songwriter. Maybe they are right. My songs do not reflect the politics of any particular party or group. They are just my own particular feelings about things that provoked me. So I doubt if there are three people who will agree with the point of view of every song. But I hope you will listen to the songs and give some thought to them. I have heard lots people saying that nobody writes protest songs any more. A slight majority of the songs in this collection were written in the last ten years. A half dozen of them spent several months in the top ten of Neil Young’s songs of our times, a blog of his that kept track of all the current protest songs,which boasted over 3000 songs and over 700 videos that changed every week. So don’t let anyone tell you nobody is writing protest songs. There is just one big difference between the protest songs of the sixties and those of today. The old songs brought a lot of hidden things to light, while the new ones mostly run over the same territory as the stuff reported daily on CNN. People know a lot more today about what is happening in the world, so they don’t need a folksinger to tell them what’s what. Still, I am hopeful that some of the people who take an hour and listen to these 20 songs in sequence will come away with something that they didn’t have before investing that hour. If only the point of view of one person who has been struggling with these issues for the past 50 years.

credits

released May 26, 2018

all songs by bill white except white boy bill white and jim paul
Bill White vocals, guitar, harmonica
Brett Frechette vocals
Anna Presler violin
Taloa Toni Marus violin
Krista Gullickson cello
John Olufs guitar
Bill Bagley bass
Sean Barry bass
Shea Bliss drums
John Hanson drums

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