Phil Ochs - I'm Going To Say It Now Lyrics

I’m writing a research paper on how music contributed to The Free Speech Movement in UC Berkeley in the 1960s and I’m so glad I found Phil Ochs through my research he’s amazing!! And I wil definitely be using this song as one of my sources hehe

i don't share his political views but my lord, the poetry of his songs is beautiful.

Good old Phil, I remember when they killed him and faked it as suicide (1975). His death made me all the more determined to carry on the struggle which I have, always. Struggle and survive, people, don't ever give up or give in. www.murderbydecree.com .

A beautiful song for a troubled mind.

If Phil Ochs were alive today he'd be directing this song to the oppressive PC, SJW, snowflake, cultural appropriation, social construct, Antifa crowd, and the rest of the regressive Left.

Only recently discovered the great Phil Ochs , don’t know how I never heard of him all these years. His song Changes is my favorite.RIP Phil

Talking about knowing Phil ,it's only been 2 days since I've discovered him. And I'm in deep love with him & his songs. RIP Phil.😔😔😢

And nowdays I trying find refuge under this man. What an irony isn't it?

Looking at comments of music videos of Phil Ochs just bring me joy, some share stories of when they saw Phil performing or met him randomly, some share the common agreement of how great the lyrics are, but also the guitar, I sometimes wish I could meet the people that listen to Phil, as I see very few views on the videos compared to others and it's a shame that many don't see the greatness of his. I write songs and play the guitar myself, when people ask me on 'how good my lyrics are' I always respond that Phil Ochs was my mentor. I also share to many of my friends songs of Phil Ochs, I was going to say hopefully but I am 100% sure they will enjoy his work.

Rimski - Phil was great - I just listened to some of his wonderful songs. But, when it comes to politics, he suffered the common infirmities of his peers, e.g. his naive & woefully misguided belief in a benevolent & virtuous mao.

你支持常凯申而我支持李德胜！

I love it

THE N WORD?

Mohhamed Avdol - don’t be a child. context.

And I know that you were younger once but you sure are older now!

Oh I am just a student, sir, and only want to learn
But it's hard to read through the risin' smoke of the books that you like to burn
So I'd like to make a promise and I'd like to make a vow
That when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

Oh you've given me a number and you've taken off my name
To get around this campus why you almost need a plane
And you're supporting Chang Kai-Shek, while I'm supporting Mao
So when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

I wish that you'd make up your mind, I wish that you'd decide
That I should live as freely as those who live outside
Cause we also are entitled to the rights to be endowed
And when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

Ooh, you'd like to be my father you'd like to be my Dad
And give me kisses when I'm good and spank me when I'm bad
But since I've left my parents I've forgotten how to bow
So when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

And things they might be different if I was here alone
But I've got a friend or two who no longer live at home
And we'll respect our elders just as long as they allow
That when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

I've read of other countries where the students take a stand
Maybe even help to overthrow the leaders of the land
Now I wouldn't go so far to say we're also learnin' how
But when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

So keep right on a-talkin' and tell us what to do
If nobody listens my apologies to you
And I know that you were younger once 'cause you sure are older now
And when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

Oh I am just a student sir, and only want to learn
But it's hard to read through the risin' smoke from the books
That you like to burn
So I'd like to make a promise and I'd like to make a vow
That when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now

It's just so painful how relevant his songs are right now! Still hurts that he died far, far too young...

Did Phil support Mao?

Yup. And Castro

Oppothumbs M - he was a beautiful man & could not really imagine evil: Phil had no idea of the misery brought upon the Chinese ppl by mao.

Dedicated to the Parkland generation-hurry and grow up.

Yeah... Tienaman square...go say it thete

Disgusting commie

DAX BESS Lmao imagine thinking this.

@Oscar Yeager Its not perfect, no system is, but its an improvement of Capitalism. In the examples, we've seen (of communist countries) most of them have had inherent flaws or inevitable flaws, the great famine would have happened regardless for example.

@Leo1798 I agree, I support Anarchy (assuming you don't mean complete anarchy, being a lawless state)

@Oscar Yeager hate speech. can you just go listen to something you like instead?

@Judith Gips Hate speech is free speech.

These old songs have a way of coming back with a certain irony.

Nothing ironic about it. Nothing has changed. :(

And that's the f****** hilarious part of it I guess

Full circle Tom Jefferson said something like there should be a revolution every 20 years or so

It funny in the 60's students wanted to tear the government apart now its the militia

....ive read of other country where the students take a stand they have even helped to overthrow the leaders of the land, now i wouldnt go so far to say we are also learning how.....

Phil_I can't wait to finally meet u soul to soul in Heaven. we all miss u so.

There's no heaven or hell, and he's gone. I was born decades after he died. I'm just glad that he lived, and that Thomas Edison worked on electricity and audio recording.

@Suzuki Halwende You honestly don't know that there's simply alot of things humanity doesn't understand as for there to be a heaven and a hell it's highly possible that there's a higher plain of existence that our Ancestors knew about that Modernists seem to fail to understand due to the Transhumanist generation we're in understand this Humanity has a purpose and that a Higher Power made this planet Science has tried to disprove the idea of God for 800 years and is still failing due to the complexities of the powers that made everything on this planet probable

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.

My favorite singing journalist; xo

Now it's the students who ban speech. Animal Farm.

What does Animal Farm have to do with any of this?

Jazz Walker That is true, but just because the public has the right to backlash does not mean that its backlash is always right or justified.

There is way too much speech for any particular institution to provide a platform for all of it, which means that whenever it allows some speech it's neglecting other speech. Allowing speech from people like white supremacists when there are so many other voices is a value judgement that shows a complete lack of concern for the principles that free speech are based upon, the idea that everyone is equally valuable and important, and everyone should have a chance to be heard. It undermines its own foundation by selectively promoting voices that seek to silence others. Allowing the far-right to speak in the name of free speech is like voting for a politician that vows to end democracy.

Perfect example of someone who wants Nazis to have free speech but throws a tantrum when students exercise their free speech to reject Nazi bullshit

Orwell joined antifa and wrote a book about it

he had it all this man

lol the high school and colleges you see on TV the standing around the locker in the banter is not reality I went to a school that was oldest the policies of McCarthy new Jim Crow and trailers were added on to take the Overflow children waiting to be educated by system that claimed "where students come first", however ironically, I was thrown out for speaking my own mind. I've bent the rules I didn't break them but their paperwork lied to get me thrown out of it. I still have a GED before I was even 18 and went on to improve this world but now it seems it's becoming a police state, even after Bush's presidency sadly, & regrettably.. if only those in power cared more about protecting and serving instead of power mongering and protecting us from our own experiences we could grow from....

I firmly believe those in power are not, in your words, interested in "protecting and serving" the people. They are interested in preserving their power. I also agree that we should not be protected "from our own experiences we could grow from.,"
The only way we can hope to win is if we keep fighting without dropping out or selling out. Quitting or surrendering simply can't be in our lives. I've been at this since 1964 and, frankly, I'm tired, but I find no one to pass the torch to, so I'll keep hobbling along, I suppose, until I collapse in a heap and someone hauls my dead body off.

The Fighter Still Remains

Didn't Mao end up killing a ton of people?

No, Mao didn't kill millions of people the way the US claims. He helped kill a bunch of tyrants and reactionaries, with the support of the people. But not millions. The historians that cooked up those numbers used methodology that wouldn't pass for a high school paper. Here's an article on it. https://monthlyreview.org/commentary/did-mao-really-kill-millions-in-the-great-leap-forward/

Also worth considering that capitalism kills at least 20 million every year through systemic poverty (starvation, lack of clean water, vaccine preventable diseases, etc).

Communism killed those people. He did nothing to accommodate for the deadly floods that were unusually frequent due to the weather patterns. Not to mention the unequal food distribution in a mostly rural country. It is possible that under a nationalist government the people may have been more united and able to better survive the conditions.

If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow.-the Beatles

(I'm learning about mao rn) they killed thousands of people, some were even executed by just walking on the streets. They would kill them right there. He started bringing communism into the country. Overall mao was a very bad guy.

love me im a liberal

College students: Listen to this song. Register and vote in your college town. The GOP is trying to stop you from doing so, because it's your RIGHT and they don't like it.

When Ben Shapiro needs 600 police to speak at Berkeley something is wrong.

@Grace B When Bob Avakian gets invited to a University, I'll care about right wingers getting "censored".

A few things. First, Phil Ochs never did and never would support the Democratic Party. Are the GOP worse? Sure. But the Democrats are an opiate some Americans take to help them get through the day in the existing framework Phil would have preferred to see dismantled.

Second, 'many' college students, like 'many' of any group, have an opinion on a thing, such as free speech. Sure, 'many'. Hardly all, and probably not even a majority. That is confirmation bias. But additionally, free speech is a myth. Ben Shapiro's speech is paid for by people worth billions and as such, his speech is that much further-reaching than yours or mine. There is no 'free market of ideas'. There is propaganda. If the best ideas always won, we wouldn't know Ben Shapiro's name, because hardly anything he says makes sense or is true.

Sovietbird - That was an excellent example of hostility toward free speech. Well done!

I wish you were here today Phil!!! You were light years ahead of yourself.

Where is the music like this now a days? Is it just dead?

Phil Zarganis we have nothing as intense as what he argued for anymore. That’s a fact. No more major wars

Tell that to Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan.

David Rovics is more recent but pushes a similar message, but his music style can be pretty different.

@nuclearProtocol some ways it's better than when I was a child but some ways it is worse. we are facing the worst gap between the haves and the have-nots that this country has seen since the New Deal. there has been a systematic effort to do in every social benefit that the New Deal brought, and under that character in the Oval Office now, it has become outrageous. what WOULD Phil Ochs say about blocks and blocks of tent cities in every city and town in this country? while one bedroom apartment is $2500 to $3000 in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I have lived for most of my adult life? where young Black and Latino men are routinely gunned down by police on the flimsiest of "excuses?" and the
low intensity " conflicts are not so low intensity of you are under the gun.