Our National Anthem

Annotation — 1968 Chicago Seven / Eight Songs

Abbie Hoffman, born 30 November 1936 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, died 12 April 1989 in New Hope, Pennsylvania, USA, an American political activist in the 1960s/70s, who helped found the Youth International Party (Yippies), took an active interest in the Vietnam War during the period. Hoffman faced trial in 1969 for inciting riots, as one of the eight people arrested outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago in August 1968 (The Chicago Eight) The album Wake Up, America (Big Toe Records # 1) contained several references to Vietnam, such as the tracks "Our National Anthem" and "Texas Tweezers" (which referenced My Lai). The song "The Drug Company" contained the line "we came to Chicago...there isn't a court in this country where we could have put Mayor Richard Daley, and LBJ". It also included the song "Chicago", a 7-minute spoken-word / comedy sketch, with elements of song, about the 1968 demonstration and subsequent trial.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs

The album Wake Up, America (Big Toe Records # 1) contained several references to Vietnam, such as the tracks "Our National Anthem", "Chicago", and "The Drug Company". On the track "Texas Tweezers" Hoffman took a phone call on a radio show. The caller attacked Hoffman for being ignorant, an exhibitionist, and for criticising the country, which, according to the caller, would have got him killed in Russia. Hoffman responded by arguing that the US "killed a million people in Vietnam" which damaged her reputation. He then rhetorically ask the caller "what do you think My Lai was, a god damn Connie Island trip".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

Big Toe Records BIG TOE 1, stereo, pink labels, "Big Toe Records, Flat Edward, New York • Made in America", "Music by The Joint Chiefs of Staff". Side 1: Our Nat'l Anthem / Malachy's Bar & Grill / Texas Tweezers / The Drug Co. / Ave Maria / Jesus (total time 25:30); Side 2: Rubin / Flush Cool Water for Nixon / Chicago / Washington at Valley Forge / Religion of Sorts / Out of Doors / God Bless America / The Only Dope Worth Shooting (total time 25:04). The cover, "Abbie Hoffman sings on his friends The Joint Chiefs of Staff...", is a comic-strip drawing signed "p bramley": Hoffman in a stars-and-stripes shirt juggling a top-hatted baby, ringed by panels of a smog-choked city, an astronaut planting a flag on the moon, Uncle Sam with a hippie ("Lids?"), a haloed figure fleeing a boat ("Hey! Hippie!"), a fife-and-drum trio and the Statue of Liberty with a raised fist and a women's symbol.…

About the artist

Abbie Hoffman, born 30 November 1936 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, died 12 April 1989 in New Hope, Pennsylvania, USA. Political and social activist of the 1960s/70s who helped found the Youth International Party (Yippies), and took an active interest in the Vietnam War. Hoffman faced trial in 1969 for inciting riots, as one of the eight people arrested outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago in August 1968 (The Chicago Eight), all high-profile activists - Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin from the hippie movement, the Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, political activists Rennie Davis…

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

1968 Chicago Seven / Eight Songs · My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]