I have been listening to a lot of Phil Ochs lately, as well as reading about him and his music. So much of it is still so relevant. You may have to substitute Iraq for Vietnam, or George Bush for Richard Nixon, but other than that the songs still reflect so much of the insanity, injustice, and corruption that unfortunately still exists in the world.

The song "Too Many Martyrs" is specifically about Medgar Evers, but it makes me think of the endless lives being lost in places like Israel/Palestine every day.

"Love Me, I'm A Liberal" captures so perfectly the sold out, Republican-lite, corporate puppet Democratic Party. They have little to offer other than "we aren't the Republicans," and they slander people like Ralph Nader and the Greens who are actually trying to make the world a better place. Another good one along similar lines is "Days of Decision," which takes all mainstream polticians to task for their lack of action in the face of critical problems.

"The Crucifixion;" wow, this song just blew me away much like Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall." Such a powerful statement about how people tend to kill their heroes. Ochs does not mention anyone specifically, so the song can be about Jesus Christ, either of the murdered Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, John Lennon, or anyone else who stood up to the status quo and paid the ultimate price. It could even end up being about Ochs himself, driven to self-crucifixion by a cruel world.

Any other Ochs fans here in Arlo-land? Also, has Arlo ever covered any of Phil's songs?

Arlo covered "I Ain't Marching Anymore" on WHAT'S THAT I HEAR? THE SONGS OF PHIL OCHS
put out on Sliced Bread Records:
http://www.slicedbread.com/artists/catalogochs.html

"There But For Fortune" is one of my favorite songs.

Wow. I just went to the Arlo Guthrie concert tonight in Ithaca, NY. It was amazing.

I want my first post to be on this topic. Phil Ochs is my favorite singer of that era. Every song that he made was so thoughtful and powerful. I agree that so many of his songs could be applied today. In fact, I find myself playing his music all the time.

It's such a shame that he died so young. I'd have loved to see him in Ithaca tonight.

His non-political songs were great too. His songs should be performed more by folk singers these days. These are songs that need to be sung in marches on Washington and concerts. I find myself picking up the guitar and playing his stuff myself.

Nothing has changed... after all, we're still "the cops of the world".

Phil Ochs was the real deal. The end of his life is one of the saddest stories in music history. What always fascinated me about his music was the mixture of both anger and vulnerability. Phil Ochs never sang "down" to you. While I think folk fans and people who were around in the middle 60s know full well who he is, it is sad that his legacy has not crossed over into popular culture the way, say, Bob Dylan's has.

Billy Bragg wrote a song about him called "I Dreamed I saw Phil Ochs last Night" (to the tune of "Joe Hill"). I wish he'd gone a little bit further.

When Trent Lott made his ...inexplicable... comments, I found the ignorance with which he said them astounding (Though I gave him the benefit of the doubt on his intent; he was brown-nosing, but at first I didn't think he really meant what people accused him of). But then I watched the followup interview with him on BET, and the kind of arrogant ignorance he displayed ("I'm not even going to make an attempt to get to understand the Black southern experience.") brought to mind maybe one of the most strident, angry songs of the 60s, "Here's to the State of Mississippi." It was the first thing that I could think of; as he put his foot deeper and deeper into his mouth, I could all but hear that song playing in the background.

People seem to be full of ideas of what the world needs now, but one thing is for certain - it needs another Phil Ochs, and soon.

Man, how I miss him these days... with "all the news that fit to sing" today he'd probably tell the world once more that they could have brains instead of Big Macs...

Once again it's a time where the sensible, thinking people are threatend by a bunch of wannabe oil cowboys to take this world over. But where is the scream of rebellion ?????

Phil Ochs inspirational music becomes increasingly relevant as world events grow increasingly psychotic. The timeliness of his songs is amazing, change the names and tunes he sung in the 60's resonate issues relevant today. How we sure could use him now!