Erik S. Johnson
Music: an American Ballad

“It is neither Kings nor Presidents who are the keeper of my soul;
It is the simple, purposeful musician with no greater desire than to help me comprehend the blunders of kings and presidents”.
Erik S. Johnson

It was cold; dawn’s first light had brought little in the way of relief from the bitter October morning’s bone chilling grasp. With the exception of a dull ringing in his ears resulting from the massive exchange of percussion weapons, it was quiet; the kind of silence so void of sound Patrick’s brain struggled in vain to hear even the faintest sound. The spent black powder smoke from the now hushed cannons and muskets stung his nose and burned his lungs with each life giving breath he welcomed in. As he exhaled, the warm vapor rose to dance with the spirits lingering in agonizing purgatory.

Figure 1 Continental Army

In the short time since the war machines had fallen silent, the smoke had rolled down, pouring like water, pooling in the Earth’s fresh wounds gouged by man’s insatiable quest for land and power. It now lay before him like a giant blanket, covering all signs of the carnage beneath. From his elevated position, Patrick thought he would be able to quickly identify and rally with fellow militia members, but to his surprise and fear he saw no one; not American or British, French, German or Indian, not a soul.

As his faculties began to slowly recover, he heard music; drums and a flute, distant at first and seeming to come from no particular direction. He knelt down on one knee attempting to focus his energy on locating the music. As he listened, the volume swelled and location became known. To his great surprise, the music was familiar, American. Not

Figure 2 Spirit of 76'

a lifetime’s worth of angles harps could have provided a sweeter sound. It filled his wanting ears and battle fatigued soul in a climactic explosion of patriotic pride. It was the very same patriotic song that had beckoned him the day prior and guided him to his fellow colonists.

To add insult to the injury and expand on the defiance, they were playing with great exuberance, a song called America. A piece of music originally called “God save the King” and brought to the new world by British soldiers and others loyal to the king of England. It was one of many pieces of music sung at the time by the colonists in support of an independent nation and self ruling government.

God Save the king America
God save our gracious King My country ‘tis of thee
Long live our noble King Sweet land of Liberty
God save our King Of thee I sing
Send him victorious Land Where my fathers died
Happy and Glorious Land Of the pilgrim’s pride
Long to reign over us from every mountain side
God save the King
let freedom ring

Figure 3 Robert Duvall, Scene from Apocalypse Now

The year was 1970. Viet Nam was a festering wound on the American psyche threatening to erupt into outright societal upheaval at any moment. With the cohesive rallying cry of Woodstock, Kent State’s protests and the civil rights movement still close in the rear view mirror, an observer’s quick glance would lead to the conclusion that American’s had found a powerful tool to make their voices heard; and the tool was music.
The soldiers name was Daniel Ryan Kirkpatick. To his his friends and those who believed in his message, he was simply known as Derk. He was neither a self proclaimed hippie or an a political activist by choice. He was, however, a 25-year-old prophet to those he came in contact with.

Having been raised in an extremely affluent region of California, Derk had grown up never feeling the pressures of living without life’s basic necessities. He had been classically trained on the piano and guitar, earned his a black belt in Karate by age seventeen and spoke three languages (English, Spanish and French).
After graduating high school he spent two turbulent, seemingly useless years following his father’s bidding at Harvard. Derk could no longer keep his inner voice silenced. He left college and enlisted in the Marine Corps, ending up in the killing fields of South East Asia.

Figure 4 Troops Offload in a “Hot LZ"

If a human is truly capable of change as a result of outside stimuli, Derk had gone through a metamorphosis of biblical proportion. He had both witnessed
atrocities with horror and been swept up in the heat of human fervor resulting from combat, participating in events unfathomable by those fortunate enough never to experience the hells of war. Every day he avoided the long dirt nap, Derk’s hatred of America’s dirty little jungle war grew like a cancerous tumor reaching a crisis with his going AWOL while on R&R in Sydney, Australia. With a commercial flight back to the states, Derk joined a long list of AWOL and former soldiers and took up ranks with a well established anti-war, anti-administration movement.

Drawing on the tools of his youth, Derk joined forces with a group of passionate anti-war musicians, whose talent was eclipsed only by their hatred of the war, and began writing songs with a biting, anti-government message. They were catchy tunes with lyrical validity that could only come from someone who had walked in Derk’s shoes. To quote the film character Forrest Gump, “Momma says you can tell a lot about a person by the kind of shoes they wear. I’ve worn lots of pairs of shoes”.

Figure 5 Waiting for the bus Figure 6Lt. Dan’s warm welcome (Forrest Gump)

With the integral role music has played throughout history in mind, we are going to examine some of America’s most influential musical participants with one question in mind; does governmental policy and resulting actions have an effect on music of the period, or has music become immune to political pressure and become the voice of the masses. As with most issues of comparable magnitude, I believe we will find the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
As a rule, I learned at a very early age to not only find inspiration but truth contained in the lyrics of folk and blues music. For the most part, musicians engaged in folk and blues are not after million dollar record deals and operate with a higher calling. Often their music is in direct response to life’s day to day need to survive rather than thrive, and is a very accurate barometer to the human condition. A condition affected directly by government actions.

It is said that absolute power leads to absolute corruption, and even in our representative democracy there are vivid examples of this power being abused and even used for personal benefit. Although this great revelation is not a new one, and almost goes without saying, there are footprints left on the sandy pages of history by musicians who chose to shoulder the burden and capture the moment, sealing it in time for future generations both as a warning and an empowering inspiration.

At the height of the Viet Nam conflict, a popular San Francisco based musical group Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), like so many musical groups of the time, was composing openly and out from under the cloud of fear of retribution from influential powers.

Figure 7. Creedence Clearwater Revival Figure 9 A Higher Calling

This occurred in the inviting wake of and in many cases directly in the path of a civil rights movement stampeding full speed like a snot blowing bull in a china shop.

Figure 8, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Figure 10, Kent State University May 4, 1970

CCR’s stance on America’s involvement in Viet Nam was not unique and needed no clarification, but their inability to remain silent in the face of great suffering was noble and they embarked on an honorable journey down a road traveled by kindled spirits seeking dignity and sweet liberty among all people. The brilliance of their music lies in its simplicity of message and pleasing chord progressions. It’s music that requires no interpretation and speaks directly to the heart.

Fortunate Son
(J.C. fogerty)

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they’re re, white and blue
And when the band plays “hail to the chief”,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord,
It ain’t me; I ain’t no senator’s son.
It ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no,
Yeah!
Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,
It ain’t me, It ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no.
It ain’t me, It ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one , no.
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, lord.
And when they ask them, how much should we give?’
Ooh, they only answer more! More! More! Yoh,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one.
It ain’t me, It ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no, no, no,
It ain’t me, It ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no, no, no.

By no means was the conflict in South East Asia the first time musicians had written out against political and military misappropriations. However, the war did come at a time when people; musicians included felt empowered to take on the establishment with a voice that could only have come from the masses. With groups like Buffalo Springfield singing “What’s That Sound” Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” CCR’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and The Kingston Trio’s version of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” compassionate, open minded, forward thinking individuals frustrated with an administration run amok found great inspiration for there cause in the lyrics of these songs.

Propaganda has always been a powerful tool used by governments for there means but now, the governed had a weapon in which to fight back and shake the dominion walls. Song like “Eve of Destruction” and “Phenomenon” became extremely prominent protest song during the Viet Nam War. They questioned many of the motives and decisions made by the American Government and questioned why people support the war and asked those who didn’t support it, why they were still going off to war.

In past conflicts there had been tremendous support for the noble cause undertaken by our government to rid the world of tyranny and free the oppressed. In WWI we sang Over There:

Over There

VERSE 1:
John-nie, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,
Take it on the run, on the run, on the run,
Hear them call-ing you and me, ev'-ry son of lib-er-ty
Hur-ry right a-way, no de-lay, go to-day
Make your Dad-dy glad to have had such a lad,
Tell your sweet-heart not to pine, to be proud her boy's in line
CHORUS:
O-ver there, o-ver there, send the word, send the word, o-ver there,
That the Yanks are com-ing, the Yanks are com-ing,
The drums rum-tum-ming ev'-ry where
So pre-pare, say a prayer, send the word, send the word to be-ware
We'll be o-ver, we're com-ing o-ver,
And we won't come back 'til it's o-ver O-ver There!
VERSE 2:
John-nie, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,
John-nie show the Hun you're a son of a gun
Hoist the flag and let her fly, Yan-kee Doo-dle do or die
Pack your lit-tle kit, show your grit, do your bit
Yan-kees to the ranks from the towns and the tanks
Make your moth-er proud of you and the old Red White and Blue
CHORUS:
O-ver there, o-ver there, send the word, send the word, o-ver there,
That the Yanks are com-ing, the Yanks are com-ing,
The drums rum-tum-ming ev'-ry where
So pre-pare, say a prayer, send the word, send the word to be-ware
We'll be o-ver, we're com-ing o-ver,
And we won't come back 'til it's o-ver O-ver There!

Figure 9 Album Cover for Over There, Figure 10 British Troops, WWI

In WWII it was the sounds of Big Band and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. It was supportive music helping us through the war years. These were also conflicts that once shots were fired, there was almost full support for.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrew Sisters
He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way
He had a boogie style that no one else could play
He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft
He's in the army now, a-blowin' reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam
It really brought him down because he couldn't jam
The captain seemed to understand
Because the next day the cap' went out and drafted a band
And now the company jumps when he plays reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
Chorus
A-toot, a-toot, a-toot-diddelyada-toot
He blows it eight-to-the-bar, in boogie rhythm
He can't blow a note unless the bass and guitar is playin' with 'im
He makes the company jump when he plays reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
He was some boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
And when he plays the boogie woogie bugle he was busy as a "bzzz" bee
And when he plays he makes the company jump eight-to-the-bar
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
Repeat Chorus
He puts the boys to sleep with boogie every night
And wakes 'em up the same way in the early bright
They clap their hands and stamp their feet
Because they know how he plays when someone gives him a beat
He really breaks it up when he plays reveille
He's boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B
Dat-da da-do-do da-dup
Dat-da da-do-do da-dup
Dat-da da-do-do da-dup
Dat-da da-do-do da-dup
ha-ha-hand the company jumps when he plays reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B


Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13Tip of the Sword Tuskegee Airmen Rosie the Riveter

Looking to the Sky
Who are we? This question first arises from a basic human need to establish identity and happens when a consciousness of difference begins. As a nation, our birth came through a unified struggle against a common enemy, The British Empire. In the new America, the issue of pluralism was a new concept in stark contrast to the majority of European countries.

Although America’s struggle for independence from a foreign power is long resolved the strength of our democracy is under constant siege by enemies both foreign and domestic. Liberty is only as strong and resolute as those defending it. A common assumption made about the defense of liberty is that it is achieved by men on the ground with guns. In truth, liberty and democracy are guarded by far greater forces than mortal weapons of wood and steel. It is musicians that take up the flag and charge up the hill of tyranny. Often over looked, and seldom found on a ballot at election time it is these patriots that ask us to look deep within ourselves and never to stop questioning our democratically elected public servants.
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