P OCHS (DEATH OF A REBEL)
(Jeremy Bolm)

You were a fan of the rebels Marlon Brando and James Dean kinda man
But it was Seeger and it was Guthrie
That taught you how to take a stand
You up and moved from Ohio
New York was the only place
You moved in with Bobby Dylan
Writing songs at an incredible pace
Now you're getting the hang of it
Singing songs for who needed a voice
Speaking out where it was needed
For anyone without a choice
A song for the draft dodgers
Vietnam was taking names
So you built the tallest soap box
And fought to make a change
You let Dylan get in your head
Called you a coward for not searching within
All you ever wanted was to be the hero
To be the hero that saved us
But when the Kennedys died and we got Nixon
California was calling and your depression set in
It was time to get away, (but you were attacked and lost your voice ?)
Would be the voice this world needed, or at least that's what you thought
You called yourself John Butler Train, said Phil Ochs had died, you'd gone insane
All you ever wanted was to be famous
The hero hung himself and no one saved us.

Notes: Recorded on an EP "Hesitation Wounds", by a hardcore punk group of the same name in 2013. The author Jeremy Bolm was also a member of the group Touche Amore.

RPAug2017