William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park And Escapes Unscathed

Annotation

On this Phil Ochs album featured the song "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed", which also had the song "Where Were You in Chicago" tagged on at the end, although it's not credited, both of which referred to the 1968 Chicago demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention, and thus related to the Chicago Seven / Eight. Ochs famously performed the song "I Ain't Marching Anymore" outside the convention. Ochs appeared at the trial of the Chicago Seven as a witness, where the judge requested that he recite the song. (2) The song recalled the confrontation in Lincoln Park, where the Festival of Life was held, attended by MC5, and Ochs. At the end of the song, Ochs criticised the protest movement, for the lack of people who attended the demonstration: "I didn't see you there, I didn't see them crack your head". The song contained several references to the use of tear gas by the police. See the list: Among the other Vietnam-related songs on this album was the track "Another Age", which referenced the conflict between police and students on College campus. It also mentioned a US soldier who fought in Vietnam in the intro, reference to the Vietcong…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — 1968 Chicago Seven / Eight Songs

Phil Ochs, a leading protest / topical singer, born 19 December 1940 in El Paso, Texas, USA, and died on 9 April 1976, in Far Rockaway, New York, USA. He often played songs at anti-war and civil rights rallies in the 1960s and early 1970s, including outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968. (1) He released many anti-Vietnam War songs during the era, which included "Talking Vietnam", one of the first Vietnam songs released, on his 1964 album All the News That's Fit to Sing. Other prominent songs included "I Ain't Marching Anymore", "Draft Dodger Rag", and "Days of Decision" on I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965), "White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land" and "The War Is Over" on Tape From California (1968), "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed", "Where Were You in Chicago" and "Another Age" on Rehearsals for Retirement (1969), "What Are You Fighting For", on Sings for Broadside (1976), the single Here's to the State of Richard Nixon (1974), and spoken-word tracks on the album Interviews With Phil Ochs (1976). He also recorded the song "We Seek No Wider War" in 1965, which appeared on the compilation The Best of Broadside 1962-1988 (2000). On this…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

born 19 December 1940 in El Paso, Texas, USA, and died on 9 April 1976, in Far Rockaway, New York, USA

Themes

Anti-War · Chicago Seven · Demonstration

In collections

1968 Chicago Seven / Eight Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs · Phil Ochs