"Before the days of television and mass media, the folksinger was often a traveling newspaper spreading tales through music. There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply into themselves and their actions, and musical poetry is perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every newspaper headline is a potential song."
Influences
"It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life."
"When they show the destruction of society on color TV, I want to be able to look out over Los Angeles and make sure they get it right."
"Leaving America is like losing twenty pounds and finding a new girlfriend."
"A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit."
"And if there's any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there's any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara."
"The final story, the final chapter of western man, I believe, lies in Los Angeles."
Disclaimer & Et Cetera:
This is not by any means an official or legal representation of Phil Ochs or his estate. It's his songs and words available for anyone who's interested to hear or read them. It is not meant in any way other than a tribute to the last American Troubadour.
hey all you phil ochs adherents:
this is still not the time to go a step back from the confrontation between us and bush!!! better to beat the drums of rebellion to rouse up the masses to speak to the police state in the only language it can comprehend
