We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

WAS IT REALLY THAT LONG AGO?

from Semantic Expansion by Bill White

/

lyrics

norman mailer was being heckled
by some international students at harvard
who asked him why he was there
and why they should listen to what he had to say'
he answered that he had been invited
to speak at this fundraiser
for the journal he had founded
when he was a student there

this is what freedom used to be
was it really that long ago
and are we (you and me) the last hope
for american literature

carol gilligan and harold bloom
were discussing hedda gabler
on the stage of the american repertory theater
gilligan claimed gabler
was the prototype of the modern femininst
while bloom saw her as a tragic negation
an embodiment of evil
on a par with king lear's edmond
and that every woman in that audience
should be glad
to have nothing in common with her
the audience applauded gilligan
and booed bloom
who walked off the stage in disgust

this is what freedom used to be
was it really that long ago
and are we (you and me) the last hope
for american literature

naked lunch was banned in boston
when a book is banned it is a crime
to publish it. read, it sell it, or mail it
and those who do so can go to prison
schools add to and remove books
from their curriculum with regularity
these books are still available
to buy and to borrow to publish and to read
they have not been banned
there are no court trials
people should be more concerned
about books being written today
that are deemed unpublishable
because they conflict with
community standards and party line morality
of the ruling elite
because such books will never exist
while the books these same people
claim are being banned
remain a vital part of our heritage
in american literature


this is what freedom used to be
was it really that long ago
and are we (you and me) the last hope
for american literature

credits

from Semantic Expansion, released August 20, 2023
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY BILL WHITE

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bill White image

Bill White Lima, Peru

contact / help

Contact Bill White

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Bill White, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now