The decade of the 1960’s were turbulent times in America and
the rest of the world.
It was also the time of great music, culminating in the
Woodstock music festival in 1969 – and a lot that music is still being played
today.
For some reason, those old songs have a habit of creeping into
my head for no apparent reason, and today’s “hit parade” was “The Great
Mandella” a song that was released by Peter, Paul, and Mary in 1967, and was
track #6 on their album titled “Album 1700”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Album_1700
Here are the lyrics:
So
I told him that he'd better shut his mouth
And
do his job like a man.
And
he answered "Listen, Father,
I
will never kill another."
He
thinks he's better
than
his brother that died
What
the hell does he think he's doing
To
his father who brought
him up right?
Take
your place on The Great
Mandala
As
it moves through your brief
moment of time.
Win
or lose now you must choose now
And
if you lose you're only losing your life.
Tell
the jailer not to bother
With
his meal of bread and water
today.
He
is fasting 'til the killing's over
He's
a martyr, he thinks he's a prophet.
But
he's a coward, he's just playing
a game
He
can't do it, he can't change it
It's
been going on for ten thousand
years
Tell
the people they are safe now
Hunger
stopped him, he lies still
in his cell.
Death
has gagged his accusations
We
are free now, we can kill now,
We
can hate now, now we can end the world
We're
not guilty, he was crazy
And
it's been going on for ten thousand
years!
Take
your place on The Great
Mandala
As
it moves through your brief
moment of time.
Win
or lose now you must choose now
And
if you lose you've only wasted your life.
A
Florida musician named Joseph Hollen has provided a good analysis of the song,
which you can read at the link below:
We were fortunate to see Peter, Paul, and Mary in concert at
the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois a few times in the 1970’s. In
addition to popular music groups, Ravinia also had hosted the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra since 1936. It originally opened for concerts in 1904.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravinia_Festival
Peter, Paul, and Mary first started performing together in 1961,
and performed in public until 2009, the year that Mary succumbed to leukemia.
Peter Yarrow celebrated his 86th birthday on May 31
of this year – and he is still performing today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Yarrow
Noel Paul Stookey will be 87 in December, and he is also still
active. Here some thought that I wrote about him nearly 12 years ago;
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2012/12/his-name-is-noel.html
Since I work with teenagers most days of the week, I have to
admit that I don’t listen to music as often as I used to, and the drive to and
from school is normally with the radio off, since I really cherish that brief
period of silence on my trips to and from my destinations.
Having said that, though, I’ll have to admit that I still miss
the peaceful songs by Peter, Paul, and Mary, a group that brought a respite from
some crazy times in our history.
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