Can't Stop Listening to Phil

I know I've written about him recently, but I still can't stop listening to Phil Ochs. He was always there, he was always great, but it's almost like I didn't quite "get it" the first time around.

Maybe it comes with age. Whatever it is, I feel like I've been given a wonderful, very expensive diamond. All I can say is better late than never.

Phil Ochs is the consummate protest singer/songwriter. What's sad is that he's lumped, almost parenthetically, with every other singer/songwriter on the Village scene. And he's different.

I wrote in my earlier post that he was a topical songwriter who was not afraid to be topical, and did not strive to be timeless. Ironically, some of his songs have become timeless, because he was very attuned to human nature. His very best work is on par with Dylan's early work, something I can't believe I'm even writing, but I am, because I believe it's true. "Cops of the World" is such a relevant, biting song--it applies just as much today as it did then. Phil sings it with a crystal tenor and an out-of-tune guitar, and it's mesmerizing. There are many that I love, but two that are particularly captivating are "The Marines Have Landed On the Shores of Santo Domingo"--a very long title, but a poetic, poignant lyric and an eerily beautiful melody--and "When I'm Gone," an eerily prescient pondering that is sad without being maudlin or sentimental.


Here are the lyrics:

There's no place in this world where I'll belong when I'm gone
And I won't know the right from the wrong when I'm gone
And you won't find me singin' on this song when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't feel the flowing of the time when I'm gone
All the pleasures of love will not be mine when I'm gone
My pen won't pour a lyric line when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't breathe the bracing air when I'm gone
And I can't even worry 'bout my cares when I'm gone
Won't be asked to do my share when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't be running from the rain when I'm gone
And I can't even suffer from the pain when I'm gone
Can't say who's to praise and who's to blame when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
Won't see the golden of the sun when I'm gone
And the evenings and the mornings will be one when I'm gone
Can't be singing louder than the guns when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
All my days won't be dances of delight when I'm gone
And the sands will be shifting from my sight when I'm gone
Can't add my name into the fight while I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
And I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone
Can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
There's no place in this world where I'll belong when I'm gone
And I won't know the right from the wrong when I'm gone
And you won't find me singin' on this song when I'm gone while I'm here
So I guess I'll have to do it
I guess I'll have to do it
Guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

If you have not yet discovered Phil Ochs, drop what you're doing and go to Amazon.com. Buy the album There But For Fortune. Consider it an investment in beauty.