Song 408: This week the playlist salutes Chicago by Graham Nash, who also wrote the song. Having mentioned the Windy City in last week's post, this hit seems like a natural followup. I arrived in that area in the fall of 1969, just as the aftermath of the demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic Convention unfolded. Early in the course of the Chicago Eight trial, the judge denied Black Panther Party activist defendant Bobby Seale his constitutional right to counsel of his choice, and then illegally denied his right to defend himself. When Seale vehemently protested the judge's actions, he was bound and gagged, which inspired Nash's opening lines. During this stretch, while evolving my own personal singer-songwriter style from a combination of various musical and lyrical influences (and singing in Chicago), I felt the RnR scene lacked songs that applied to current events, so Graham's deft single in the spring of 1971 helped to fill that void. Back then I truly believed that it was starting to get better, but now, nearly 5 decades later, we still have a lot to do, especially in regards to war vs. peace, which was the spark that lit the 1968 convention fracas (Viet Nam). In recent years, it seems that the threat of nuclear war has increased, so the world could genuinely be dying to get better, and if We can change the world, we should Open up the door, because Somehow people must be free. I would disagree with Nash on one line, though, and that's because we actually do need rules and regulations, particularly in order to keep some people from taking away the rights of others.
No comments:
Post a Comment