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A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit.

Phil Ochs

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Phil Ochs
Age: 35 †
Born: 1940
Born: December 19
Died: 1976
Died: April 9
Guitarist
Poet
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Songwriter
El Paso
Texas
Philip David Ochs
Mistake
Song
Cannot
Bullshit
Protest
Specific

More quotes by Phil Ochs

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In every political community there are varying shades of political opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken group on many subjects. Ten degrees to the left of center in good times. Ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally. Here, then, is a lesson in safe logic.
Phil Ochs
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Call it peace or call it treason / call it love or call it reason / but I ain't marching anymore
Phil Ochs
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I like Hitler, jolly jolly Hitler.
Phil Ochs
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In the courtroom, watch the balance of the scalesIf the price is right, there's time for more appealsThe strings are pulled, the switch is stayedThe finest lawyers fees are paidAnd a rich man never died upon the chair
Phil Ochs
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It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life.
Phil Ochs
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America is two Mack trucks colliding on a superhighway because all the drivers are on amphetamines.
Phil Ochs
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I write all my own songs and they are just simple melodies with a lot of lyrics. They usually have to do with current events and what is going on in the news. You can call them topical songs, songs about the news, and then developing into more philosophical songs later.
Phil Ochs
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Show me the prison, Show me the jail, Show me the prisoner whose life has gone stale. And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why And there, but for fortune, go you or I.
Phil Ochs
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Beneath the greatest love lies a hurricane of hate.
Phil Ochs
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Love is a rainbow curving down from the sky, falling crystals of color, shades of warm that never die.
Phil Ochs
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The people who carried the burden, who marked in strange field in search of an answer, and ended their journeys an unwilling hero.
Phil Ochs
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Show me a country where the bombs had to fallShow me the ruins of buildings so tallAnd I'll show you a young landWith many reasons whyThere but for fortune, go you or IYou or I.
Phil Ochs
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Does defending liberalism leave you friendless and perhaps wondering about your breath?
Phil Ochs
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In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.
Phil Ochs
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One legged veterans will greet the dawn, and they're whistling marches as they mow the lawn, and the gargoyles on sit and grieve.
Phil Ochs
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Some people never get their feet on the ground, They're either sitting in a chair or theyre laying down.
Phil Ochs
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I wonder who I left behind on the other side of fame.
Phil Ochs
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Oh you tell me that there's danger to the land you call your own, And you watch them build the war machine right beside your home, And you tell me that you're ready to go marchin' to the war, I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Phil Ochs
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The fortunes of the entire world may well ride on the ability of young Americans to face the responsibilities of an old America gone mad.
Phil Ochs
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It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win.
Phil Ochs