Posted on 03/15/2024 9:35:09 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Protest music has always been a source of contention for every big name in Washington. Even though it may just be a chance for someone to exercise free speech, there’s no telling whether they will be able to sway any public opinion by the time they hit the big time. Most artists have much more power than they think, and Phil Ochs knew that it was dangerous for him to be saying what he was saying when the FBI became involved.
Throughout his time in the spotlight, Ochs was practically on the same level as Bob Dylan in terms of writing songs that made people think. As opposed to trying to lull the listener in with pieces that had to do with minor problems with the world, Ochs shook people up in regards to how the world is supposed to work and how people should live their lives if they didn’t want to be on the wrong side of history.
As he started to make his way into the 1970s, the counterculture that he had helped form had gotten a lot bigger than anyone had thought. With major figures like John Lennon advocating for change with the ‘WAR IS OVER’ movement, Ochs suddenly started to catch the eye of the FBI, who believed that his association with various radical names might have a negative effect on the next generation.
At the same time, Ochs was treading down a very dark path and had even started to catch on that the FBI might have it in for him. While Dylan may have discovered long ago to toss the audience a bone every now and again by making mainstream songs, Ochs was not willing to back down, occasionally going on drunken rants to his friends about what was going on with him behind the scenes.
That kind of pressure was also not going to go well with Ochs’ struggles with bipolar disorder, which caused him to leave for Far Rockaway, New York, before passing away by suicide in 1976. Even though Ochs’s claims about the FBI may have been seen as one of his episodes, he was absolutely telling the truth.
When looking through various files, the FBI had kept extensive records of what Ochs had been doing in the final years of his life, always waiting for the moment he did something too subversive for the average pop star. Although the institution kept everything under wraps, it most likely did nothing to help Ochs’s state of mind.
Then again, subverting people’s expectations is far from the kind of federal offence most people thought. Ochs may have hung around various political leaders and activists, but he was always about sending a message rather than going out and telling people what they should be doing.
Because let’s look at this from Ochs’s perspective. All you’re trying to do is make sure that you live in a country that has your best interests at heart, only to find out that they don’t. Then, when you try to use your voice to protest, not only are the authorities turning their back on you, but they’re doing everything in their power to make sure to keep you in line. For Ochs, this was practically ‘Big Brother’ looking at him like a dog on a chain, waiting for the one moment when he slips up.
Despite his passing, no amount of FBI peddling could have prevented Ochs’s message from resonating over the years. For as much as the American government wanted his image erased from history, ‘WAR IS OVER’ is as relevant today as it ever was, with many people advocating for those to lay down their weapons so we may all live in peace.
Is there a lot of stuff about Ochs that we still don’t know about? Yes. Did the FBI look into him a bit more than most people needed to? Also yes. There’s a lot of ugly history surrounding his tragic end, but a movement doesn’t end once one of its leaders passes on. It will continue to go on as long as people still have that fire in their hearts.
Boy, that brings back memories. I still have some cassettes of Phil Ochs.
His song “Love Me, I’m a Liberal” is still relevant today.
Except, there aren't any liberals today. His side won completely.
So he wrote a few protest songs, and the FBI had multiple agents investigating him.
I wonder if they investigated Bob Dylan too...probably. I know they investigated John Lennon.
FBI files on Phil Ochs...
Someone apparently saved the revealed files at the Google drive site, 203 page .pdf — can view in browser — and it does not download automatically.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19QqysCaP4zlJxRAwEpoZ9HJUkXy7VYmj/view?pli=1
The “FBI Vault” site only shows 10 pages...
https://vault.fbi.gov/philip-ochs/Philip%20Ochs%20Part%2001%20of%2001/view
a movie about him
PHIL OCHS: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE - Official Trailer (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUAH0C1NcCI
A patriotic song by Phil Ochs - the original version with the "controversial" last verse. Other versions omit the last verse. No doubt Ochs, being a pinko, meant that last verse differently than I take it today, but doesn't it fit what we're facing now?
Me too! I have his album “Pleasures of the Harbor” on vinyl. The title song is easy to listen to. He has an interesting song on the album that actually got a lot of airplay called “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends”.
And I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends
lyrics to the “controversial” verse ...
<>
But this land is still troubled by men who have to hate
They twist away our freedom and twist away our fate
Law is their weapon, and treason is their cry
You can stop them if you try
Dylan just wrote rhyming,meaningless,words.it was comical to observe people in college in the trying to figure out hidden meanings in his words.
He wrote some songs that had the FBI looking at him - what makes him different than the average conservative patriot that posts on social media these days?
I saw him in 1971 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. His rock n roll period. I think he was struggling with depression around that time. I really liked his album “Pleasure of the Harbor”.
Jello Biafra did a great cover of that song, with updated lyrics.
They just built up their files, watched what the Left was doing, collected their paychecks and went home.
Useless.
When I think of Ochs I think of Love me, I’m a Liberal.
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