Quote

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

Phil Ochs

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Cannot
Bullshit
Protest
Specific
Mistake
Song

More quotes by Phil Ochs

Image
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
Image
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
Image
Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why. But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high.
Phil Ochs
Image
I'm gonna give all I've got to giveCross my heart, and I hope to live.
Phil Ochs
Image
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
Image
I wonder who I left behind on the other side of fame.
Phil Ochs
Image
The only possibility in the United States for a humane society would be a revolution with Elvis Presley as leader.
Phil Ochs
Image
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
Image
Is there anybody here who thinks that following the orders takes away the blame Is there anybody here who wouldn't mind a murder by another name?
Phil Ochs
Image
It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win.
Phil Ochs
Image
In the state of Mississippi, Many Years Ago, a boy of 14 years got a taste of Southern law.
Phil Ochs
Image
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
Image
Love is a rainbow curving down from the sky, falling crystals of color, shades of warm that never die.
Phil Ochs
Image
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
Image
Step outside the guidelines of the official umpires and make your own rules and your own reality.
Phil Ochs
Image
One good song with a message can bring a point more deeply to more people than a thousand rallies.
Phil Ochs
Image
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
Image
America is two Mack trucks colliding on a superhighway because all the drivers are on amphetamines.
Phil Ochs
Image
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
Image
Leaving America is like losing twenty pounds and finding a new girlfriend.
Phil Ochs