Comments on: Country Joe's Rag

Country Joe's Rag

betobeto — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 14:25:13 -0800

Fixin'to Die after all these years Woodstock-era protest singer Country Joe McDonald still keeps an active pulse on today's events on his website. One of what eventually came to be perhaps his most famous song, the "I-Feel-Like-Fixin'-to-Die rag" has taken new life in light of current events, which is quite simple to deduct: just substitute all the Vietnam references with "Iraq" and there you have it - as many people have been happy to do by submitting their own lyrics versions to the site, somehow confirming that the world actually hasn't changed much in that respect 30 years after Vietnam...

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 14:45:16 -0800

Isn't it during the "Fixin to Die Rag" that one of those sublimely ironic moments of the 60s occurs, where the performer on stage says to the audience (something like) "You all can't expect to stop the war if you don't sing louder than that"? Then there's the famous "Give me an F, give me a U... What's that spell? Fuck!" cheer, which a high school teacher of mine once solemnly said was one of the greatest moments of public rebellion ever, man.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 14:52:10 -0800

Whoops... should have specified that I was talking about the Woodstock Soundtrack

By: sheauga

sheauga — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 15:09:16 -0800

Pete Seeger on the Folk Process. Sure beats intellectual property!

By: tweebiscuit

tweebiscuit — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 15:24:06 -0800

I saw Country Joe at Clearwater Folk Festival a couple of years -- at that time, he was singing, "Well it's 1, 2, 3, what're we dying for? Don't ask me cause I don't know Next stop is Kosovo." The rest of his songs were about how great nurses were, if I remember correctly. The man is a hack, unfortunately.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 16:21:02 -0800

Melodic Source: Muskrat Ramble - Louis Armstromg and His Hot Five.

By: HTuttle

HTuttle — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:47:33 -0800

Of course there was a draft then. I'd say that's a pretty big difference. Today you only go if you want to.

By: rolo

rolo — Thu, 30 Jan 2003 01:35:31 -0800

I remember seeing Country Joe at an English rock festival in the 70's when he got the whole audience, stoned and wallowing in mud, to sing, over and over again without a trace of irony, 'we love Chairman Mao.' Rock music, at its best, can be a celebration of dissent but don't expect much political insight.