Oh Sinner Man, Where Are You Going To Run To?
contributed by Charles Lemos
Don’t Say It Can’t Be Done, the Battle Has Just Begun. –Pete Seeger
If There’s Ever A Time to Speak Out, Now Is the Time. –Ronnie Gilbert
When I reflect on why I am a liberal, there are so many reasons I can point to but few more poignant than the power of song. This past Sunday night was I reminded of that fact with a powerful documentary on the life and song of Pete Seeger, a founding member of one my favorite groups, the folk group from the 1940s and 1950s, the Weavers.
The song that launched their short commercial career in 1949 was Good Night Irene, the old Leadbelly standard. It was the B-side to their single of Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, an Israeli folk tune. Good Night Irene was the hit single of 1950 and the Weavers became an overnight sensation and sadly a force to destroy. In the McCarthy red scares, they were blacklisted.
Lee Hays, the baritone of the group, reflected on that experience with his dry Arkansas wit: "If it wasn't for the honor, I'd just as soon not have been blacklisted." Lee Hayes was also a Baptist preacher. Not like that other Arkansas Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee, but a tolerant and open-minded one. Lee Hayes could quote chapter and verse and tell tall tales with the best of them. It is hard not to enjoy homespun humour when it is authentic.
I have been fortunate in my life to catch many memorable performances: the Grateful Dead, Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Neil Young and Joan Baez among others. As a young boy, I was taken to a concert on the banks of the Hudson River on a sloop given by Pete Seeger in his efforts to clean up the pollution. That was my introduction to the Weavers. Years later in 1980, I attended the last reunion concert of the Weavers. Oh what a night.
With all the divisiveness amongst us all, I thought it appropriate to remind us of the task at hand by pointing to an old simple and yet powerful Negro spiritual and so we might not lose sight of our true objective. The lyrics are below and the video above so sing along and remember that we are all in this together despite our differences over Clinton and Obama.
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to?
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to?
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to?
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to all on that day?
Run to the rock, “Rock won’t you hide me?”
Run to the moon, "Moon won't you hide me?"
Run to the sea, "Sea won't you hide me?"
Run to the sun, "Sun won't you hide me all on that day?"
Lord says, "Sinner man, the moon'll be a bleeding."
Lord says, "Sinner man, the sea'll be a sinking."
Lord says, "Sinner man, the sun'll be a freezin' all on that day!"
Run to the Lord, "Lord won't you hide me?"
Run to the Lord, "Lord won't you hide me?"
Run, run, "Lord won't you hide me all on that day?"
Lord says "Sinner man, you should've been a praying."
Lord says "Sinner man, you should've been a praying."
Lord says "Sinner man, you should've been a praying all on that day."
So George W. Bush where are you gonna run to? Lord on that day. January 20th, 2009 at high noon. Judgment day awaits.
Comments
I hate to disagree on such an agreeable post, but
His term expiring is Judgement day? I think Kuchinich tried to bring judgement day a few months back. If Bush has taught me anything, it's that incompetence goes unpunished in this current culture.
Judgment day should have happened long ago, I don't disagree there. My point is that come January 20th 2009, the man should be hounded into oblivion.
On another, what the hell is the story coming out of Albany, New York today? Elliott Spitzer involved with a prostitution ring? The story is breaking now. Hard to see how he survives this if the reports are accurate.
Charles Lemos
Do watch the Sinner Man video, it does say it all.
Sorry but I MUCH prefer Nina's version. If I remember right, David Lynch does too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSasf8GBfV4
GREAT post, chuck. seems like you're learning to speak obamish. :)
it's been my experience that, irrespective of the musical merits or lack thereof of the grateful dead, people who like them are decent folks. i like 'em. the fact that you described their performance as memorable and placed them among other illustrious company in my eyes raises inestimably your stock in my eyes.
so, i'll make you an offer. a public conversion, if you will, since i honestly wasn't planning to vote anyway (for reasons i've explained elswhere on the blog).
a public victory, even. a living example of the effectiveness of your campaign for clinton against obama. here's my offer:
if you can dig up some evidence that hillary clinton appreciates the grateful dead- i mean, really likes them- i will vote for her. see, my criteria are even simpler and dumber than an "obamamaniac".
no, i'm not kidding. i will give you my word, here in this forum, that i will drag my sorry ass through whatever beauricratic nightmare devised by the americans and israelis in cahoots to make my life as an ex-pat as difficult as possible and VOTE.
an example of what i would consider as acceptable evidence: photos of hillary, at any age or stage of development, spinning ecstatically in a gauzy dress, arms upraised to show her unshaven pits.
or something like that.
I might add that ONE essential difference between liberals and conservative is the depth and breadth of our music. Apart from a few jingoistic songs or hymns in Church, have you ever heard conservatives sing?
Are they human? Do not humans sing for joy? for sorrow? Have you ever heard Dick Cheney sing? I haven't.
Charles
Oh how I wish we had video of this to accompany video of Let the Eagles Soar. I bet they'd sound good together.
Skynyrd! Wheeeew!And, McCain is having a hard time with musicians letting him use their music
I do too but it would have ruined my story line.
Here's another version by Nina Simone. Powerful, ain't it? It runs over 10 minutes long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSasf8GBfV4&feature=related
oops, guess i should have done a quick google before i threw that out there:
http://www.relix.com/Features/Daily_News/Grateful_Dead_Members_To_Jam_Monday_For_Obama_200802012728.html
sorry charles, i honestly thought there might be a chance. i've met weirder (and straighter) deadheads than hillary.
btw, is your title for this piece a reference to, or a garbled version of the jimmy cliff tune, "downpressor man"?
One of your better posts, Charles.
And the BEST use of "Sinnerman" is in the climax of new version of "The Thomas Crown Affair" with Pierce Brosnan.
Conservatives have their music - Toby Keith comes to mind.
Oh, and I don't care if you are a crazy lefty or a nutjob righty... I think we can all agree that Lee Greenwood kicks ass.
Having attended over a 100 Dead shows in my day. I went to Stanford and have lived in the Bay Area on and off since 1981 so that's not hard to do especially one joined a fraternity that worshiped the Dead. If I ever write a book on Americans, I would have to include a chapter on Deadheads. They make up for the evangelicals.
Senator Pat Leahy is a Deadhead. So was Paul Wellstone. The surviving members of the band are supporting Obama. So is one of my closest friends from college and one of the biggest Deadheads I know. His wife isn't. She gets it. Still we all agree that Bush must be undone.
Charles
Sorry to be so contentious amongst this cozy little gathering of singing Kumbaya, but:
hmmmm...
Oh JoAnn, when we can take their words and throw it back in their faces to point hypocrisy, we win.
Their words, our music.
Just so you JoAnn know that last night I reflecting on the programme and on what I myself wrote, I tossed and turned through the night asking myself I can vote for Obama? No answer to that as yet, or perhaps still a no, but it does reflect that I am pondering the necessity of such. I am sure you and I will still have our battles but let's no forget we are trying to achieve the same goals. I forget that at times, so do others.
Charles
Funny thing is I have been tossing and turning and wondering if I can actually vote for Clinton.
Yes, we're working towards the same goals, but we have different ideas of how to get there.
How about a Hillary supporter?
Hah hah Little Mickey; maybe we can get Dinesh in on this too - and maybe they can try singing!!! (someone already beat me to the Ashcroft punch w/Eagles Wings above).
Music an be a powerful force, or part of a powerful force as you noted Charles. Mayhaps we should all come up with come good liberal tunes once the Democratic nominee is for certain. We gotta pull out all the stops that we can iffn we wanna be sure about a win over McCain.
(although, circling back, Ann ain't voting for him cause he's just not a true conservative...maybe that'll seal the deal, but he has a efw months to up his ne0-con cred)
You all did get me on a Nina search in youtune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckarOiWLLtY
everybody knows...
youtube
bbbb
sigh
Nice post!
Here's one for becker: Love Me, I'm a Liberal - Jello Biafra
and the original version for the fossils: Love Me, I'm a Liberal - Phil Ochs
(I recommend closing the window and just listening)
Charles & JoAnn, if tossing and turning is your thing, why not lose sleep over something that's really troubling?
Isn't "Downpressor Man" a Peter Tosh song? At any rate, I believe you are correct that "Sinner Man" is the inspiration for "Downpressor Man." "Sinner Man" dates to the late 19th Century. But to answer your question, I was only referencing The Weavers and their "Sinner Man" analogy to Bush.
I did not need to learn that Ann Coulter is a Grateful Dead fan. The thought that she and I might have been at some of the shows is rather disturbing. Of course that might explain a lot. Perhaps her goodies were laced.
I can't speak for JoAnn but yes that is part of my equation. Does my vote for Nader or the Socialist candidate enable that nightmare?
you're right, it's peter tosh. how embarrassing. but not as embarassing as reading about how much ann coulter loves the dead. that really is disturbing. little mickey, have mercy! kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya...
who would have thought, 5 years ago, that coulter would come out as a deadhead and a hillary supporter. maybe she finally got the words to "ship of fools".
thanks for the tunes, melpomenh. i do love the dk's too- humor with a bite. i didn't know phil ochs wrote that.
It was probably a pretty radical act to show a picture of a black performer like that in 1949. Remember that at the time, Washington DC was a segregated city.
Ahmet Ertegun of the new Atlantic Records had to put on concerts in the Turkish Embassy to allow mixed crowds to come.
http://www.pbs.org/previews/am-atlanticrecords/
I have to say that although the Weavers did an admirable job this version of Good Night Irene gives me chills every time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc68_eoSRoo&feature=related
My parents, once hippies, related a story to me that made me sad. They attend a coffeehouse open mic that has turned quite anti-war and liberal for their small rural town. Some "younger kids" (read 30's probably) got up to sing "Where have all the flowers gone" and they did not realize that the song is perpetual. To me, someone who loves these old protest songs that came before my time, it's sad. What have we lost when we can't make the connection between where the soldiers go and where the flowers come from.
When will they ever learn, indeed. Something in that story makes me understand why our country is in the state it's in. We haven't understood that connection as a country for too long a time.
jenshegg, Marlene Dietrich had one of the best versions of "Where Have all the Flowers Gone".
She also does it movingly in German.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsV59qnqZp0&mode=related&search=
Jonathan, I'm only a casual fan of a few of their songs and I found the news shocking. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for passionate Dead enthusiasts to hear.
You have my deepest sympathies. And I wish you (and your Dead brethren) strength and courage in this trying time.
Bush sucks at singing too.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vYJqSWLCB60
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