Rejoyce, Woodstock, Eden

Well, if you’re going to respond to my comments about patriotism, may as well have a current post to respond to.

Here is the song I was referring to. I didn’t post it yesterday simply because it didn’t fit the theme of the post.

Rejoyce – Jefferson Airplane

This song is typical Grace Slick, who I love partially because of how outrageous she can be at times. And this song had the beautiful “and I’d rather have my country die for me” line that is a perfect rejoinder to the standard line about dying for your country.

The fact is, all the standard brainwashing you get in school, the pledge of allegiance and such, never really took on me.

One of the reason why I avoided the military recruiters[1] like the plague when I graduated high school is just that: I can’t foresee a time when I’d be willing to die for my country.

So, no, not particularly patriotic, here. Which is ironic, because I believe in most of the things the founding fathers of the US were trying to establish. I just don’t believe that what we have now comes at all close to what they were trying to do.

You can really blame the current rash of politicians for this. I might have been patriotic, given a JFK, a George Washington, or Thomas Jefferson in office.

And, of course, a lot of things from the 60’s and 70’s did click. Free love, mind-altering drugs, peace protests; where is that all now when you need it?

And we’ve got Nixon; Where are Woodward and Bernstein?

In any case, with all this in mind, I feel like playing Woodstock today:

Woodstock – Joni Mitchell

This is the classic original version by Joni Mitchell. Caution; there is nudity in this video, which may warp young minds. Hopefully.

She has a beautiful voice, and the lyrics just resonate with me at some level[2]:

I came upon a child of god
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
I’m going on down to Yasgurs farm
I’m going to join in a rock n roll band
I’m going to camp out on the land
I’m going to try and get my soul free

And then there’s the version you are probably more familiar with:

Woodstock – Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young

And here’s the CSNY version, where the tempo’s been considerably sped up. I believe I actually heard this version first, and the changed tempo does make a big difference. Yasgurs farm, for anyone wondering, is where Woodstock was held.

As far as which garden they are trying to get back to, at a guess, it would be this one:

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Part 1) – Iron Butterfly

Part 2

Bet you didn’t realize In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (In the Garden of Eden) is actually a 17 minute song…

[1] And believe me; they wanted me. Taking the ASVAB test out of curiousity was a mistake. I scored high enough to attract their interest.

[2] Like “I feel to be a cog in something turning”. I’ve certainly felt like that before. Of course, these days I can say that is part of the “Vision of the Machinery of the Universe” that comes with exploring the sphere of Yeshod in the Kabbalah.[3]

[3] Which doesn’t mean a thing more then whar the lyrics I quoted said, really.