Acknowledge the Troops

@ncrebelman wrote:

the troops are over there in harms way by no choice of their own

Ummm they signed up. that is a choice they made.

I registered so I could respond to Buddy’s post about Lucinda “getting political on us” and his contention that she needed to prove her patriotism by spouting platitudes about supporting the troops. I was at the show last night in Greensboro. Lucinda made it clear that she considers her position against the war to be a patriotic position. There was nothing she said all night that could be construed as being disrespectful of the men and women fighting this war.

Anyone coming to a Lucinda show should know that she has taken public positions on war and economics and other “political” topics. The lyrics for which Buddy professes admiration are often “political” – she did “American Dream” last night, a song that exposes the hypocrisy of our country’s most important economic myth – which is one of the things I most admire about Lucinda. I am sure she regularly hears different versions of Buddy’s criticism – the kind of criticism that chills “political” messages from too many artists – and she keeps on keeping on.

Lucinda said at the beginning of the show that she had received a letter from someone who was there last night. The writer told her that one of her songs – I believe it was “Are You Alright” – had made him think of a friend who was killed in Vietnam. She said that the letter had a real impact on her and she had changed up the set list to respond. Among other changes, they played Stephen Stills’ “For What its Worth,” with Lucinda saying the band had never tried playing it before – those guys are so good we would have never known – and they ended with Thievery Corporation’s “Marching The Hate Machines” and then Dylan’s “Masters of War.”

I think those of us in Greensboro saw something special last night. Lucinda said at one point that she thinks she is in the prime of her career. She then demonstrated what that means. In the middle of a grueling travel schedule, at one of the smallest venues, she did a lot more than go through the motions – she took to heart a letter from a local fan and gave him and us a heartfelt performance – with a largely political message.

Thank God Lucinda didn’t reassure us that she really does support the troops – she understands that she doesn’t need to give credence to the falsely manipulative argument that if you oppose the war you oppose the people on the ground fighting it – instead, as her songs made clear, you oppose the policies and the politicians who send them there.

thanks for posting that, rrsj

Yes, NC Reb, God bless those men & women; keep them safe.

Masters of War

First Release: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand o’er your grave
‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead

sadly, Tim is right…….about the relevance of those words….Bob still plays that song on a fairly regular basis, by no coincidence

this is so boring!

I realize this music is VASTLY different, but that intrepid New York guitarist Leslie West just put out a new album covering Dylan songs. He teamed up with Ozzie Osborne to do Masters of War – very powerful.

Have you ever noticed that when Lu and the band start jamming, sometimes they can get into a trance like heavy rhythm that would rival any metal band? Just one more thing that makes her so unique!