Out of the Games Cupboard

A random assortment of reflections, musings and a running commentary on life.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Vin Garbutt and the Dixie Chicks!

(Not a billing we're likely to see soon!)

For some years I have greatly enjoyed the music of an English folk performer, Vin Garbutt. His voice and style are a little "different" which had meant that he has not been gobbled up by "mainstram" folk. He is greatly respected by other performers and loved by his loyal fans. I don't listen to his music much these days as Lisa can't stand his voice!

Whilst Lisa was out I recently heard the song (below) 'When Oppressed Becomes Oppressor'. I don't always agree with Vin's politics but this made me think about the circular nature of human history. For some reason it also made me think of the Dixie Chick's 'Not Ready to Make Nice'; a response to the threats/abuse they received after making anti-war statements on stage. I find it odd that performers from a nation which prides itself on free speech could find themselves threatened and bullied by people who seem to have forgotten that right. The mass hysteria which has infused Western society in recent years has allowed governments to engenderand manipulate a state of fear....does this remind anyone else of the witch hunts of the late Middle Ages onwards?
Anyway...

When Oppressed Becomes Oppressor
When oppressed becomes oppressor and the best becomes the worst,
When the meek become the mighty and the blessed become the cursed,
When the flame of faith is failing and the light of love has died,
When the fruit of truth decays upon the tree of human pride.

Send me your huddled masses cried America the free,
Then from Saigon to San Salvador
The streets were filled with refugees.

The Jew who braved the ghetto wearing David's sacred sign,
In the promised land with stick in hand,
He beats the child of Palestine.

The Chinese peasant army faced the capitalist gun,
Then their long march to freedom
Ended in the Square of Tiannenmon.

The world expelled the man Saddam
From a defenceless Kuwait,
Then the torturers of Al Sabah sent hundreds to an unknown fate.

The Chetnik fought so bravely to fend off the fascist horde,
Then his sons went raping Muslin girls
On orders from a Serb warlord.

Will we ever learn from history,
The memory fades so fast
But we're destined to repeat the sins
If we forget the past.

When oppressed becomes oppressor and the best becomes the worst,
When the meek become the mighty and the blessed become the cursed,
When the flame of faith is failing and the light of love has died,
When the fruit of truth decays upon the tree of human pride.
Vin Garbutt recorded 1995 ('Plugged!')

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