This was during the time when whites where being racists to blacks and yes skin color was a reason to rape. There is a movie on a true story about to white men raping and beating to near death a little black girl and were going to get away with it.
@Desockme Did you know that in 2005 there were over 37,000 black on white rapes in the United States yet there were less than TEN white on black rapes? Whose the real racists?
@Desockme Uh, yes, it is. It's a method intimidation and violence against a community that is *frequently* used in racial conflict, including genocides, to intimidate the victimized community.
@FungalSheep if u believe people rape because of what color they are and not simply because they are strongly sexually attracted to them, then there is no arguing with u. there are always exceptions but don't argue in the 1%
2. Strom Thurmond left the Democrats because of their growing support for civil rights, particularly the Civil Rights Act of 1964. LBJ's strong support and pushing of the Civil Rights Act pushed him into the Republican Party(Goldwater won the South against Johnson).
@MuttTheHoople you should've paid attention in history class. The republican and democratic parties didn't exist as they did today. The republican party back then held the views of the democratic party now and was popular in the same geographic areas that the democratic party is now. For the democratic party, it was also the opposite of what it is today.
David Duke ran for president, Senate, Congress and governor as a REPUBLICAN. David Duke became a REPUBLICAN because he believed that the REPUBLICAN PARTY was more attuned to his racist views.
I ask you again, why do the vast majority of Black folk vote Democratic?
This happened when Democrats ran Mississippi with an iron fist. Thank goodness the Republicans grew in power and ended the racial hatred, bigotry, and Democrat-led lynchings. Now, in Mississippi, there's more racial harmony than Democrat-led States like Massachussetts and Illinois.
Republicans are the party of David Duke, Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond. Republicans have spent the last 40 years pandering to the racists. That's why the KKK endorsed Ronald Reagan. Why do you think so many white supremacists are drawn to the Tea Party?
Now, your turn, Teabagger. Please explain why the vast majority of black folk vote Democratic.
@AtlasShruggery David Dukes ran as a Democrat in the 1988 Senate election. He only ran as a Republican because the Dems wanted him to be a straw man. Strom Thurmond did all his racist pandering while he was a Democrat. As a Republican, he won over 40% of the black vote in South Carolina consistently. The head of the Tea Party in Mississippi is Kim Wade, an African-American. You still didn't answer my question..name one black man lynched by Republicans. Keep covering for racist DemoKKKrats.
Mississippi found another country to be a part of, it was called the Confederate States of America but the leftists and tyrants brought hell down upon the people of the South in the form of the Lincoln's armies. Mississippi would be happy to be apart of another country, but the regime in DC won't let anybody leave. This "happy" Union is held together at bayonet point.
While you are getting some current info...learn to read...I said that Mississippi was horrible at the time that this song was written...not denying that, I just wish that ppl who want to run their mouths about history and/or current events would have some clue as to what they are talking about. I'm white and live in Mississippi and have 4 neighbors...2 are black families, but I'm super racist because I live in the South, right... don't hate because the trees up North are plastic lol!
Grab a book people! Look up some current stats! Yes, during the time that this song was written Mississippi was a horrible state full of racism and hate, but did ya know that Mississippi has more black government officials than any other state THIS YEAR? How about the fact that the public school system is the MOST integrated in the country? Talk about being stuck in the past and holding on to stereotypes...y'all don't know squat about TODAY'S great and diverse Mississippi!!
Clearly people are confused. As some said in the comments, this song is all but 50 years old. Obviously Mississippi isn't that bad anymore. I'm sure it's actually quite a nice state, and has it's faults like all the rest. That being said, I don't think many will deny that WHEN this song was written, it was a whole different story.
To be fair to Mississippi, they did try to find another country to be a part of, it's just that for some God forsaken reason Lincoln decided we needed the south.
Like all stereotypes and soundbites, this song is superficial. There's a lot more going on in Mississippi, good and bad, than can be addressed in 6 minutes. I live here and I know it. Don't forget, we gave the world Faulkner, Stephen Ambrose & John Grisham.
@carljj22You must be quite young. That's lucky. We've certainly come a long way since the 60s, but it's important that we never forget the mistakes of the past. At the time, this song was anything but superficial. In Mississippi, there was a barely discernible line between the cops and the Klan. Children had just been murdered in their church, college students were targeted and killed, and their murders were covered up by the police. School leaders refused to de-segregate long after Brown v BoE.
I hope you people realize this song was written in the 70s. A time when Mississippi was actually in a pretty bad state. Politically and racially MS is in a pretty decent position (don't judge us by one recent hate crime killing. That's a couple of drunk teenagers being dumbasses).
As someone who is a part of a family that has been in this state for several generations, I can tell you right now that Phil Ochs would VERY LIKELY disagree with these lyrics in this current day and age.
@IHaveACoolName Actually found that it was written in the 60s. A time when racism was WAY worse in Mississippi (the civil rights movement had been happening in a state that has had slavery be a MAJOR part of it's economy for HUNDREDS of years. what exactly do you expect?).
@IHaveACoolName I lived in Mississippi for several years and I did not encounter any more cultural stigma, racial prejudice over there than any other state I've lived. If anyone thinks this song is still an accurate description of most Mississippians he is stereotyping.
@GermanOperaSinger I agree. I'm a Mississippi native who, this may shock and awe you, is not racist or bigoted. I believe everyone has a right to be who they want to be and color of skin does not matter to me. there are areas that can be more racist (like Baxterville T.T) but the town I live in is not that bad. Also this song is 40 years old, times have changed.
I'm from Mississippi, and I think this song is wonderful. Any thoughtful Mississippian has to carry some degree of ambivalence for our history--framed mostly by shame for the mistakes made--and must remember that there is still such room for improvement. Where some see problems, we must see opportunity to get better, to be better. I'm optimistic that we'll get to a point where we can use our history to be motivation to never return to such terrible times.
@vicediae20 This is an excellent illustration of my point. I was making an observation about the relative levels of self-importance in the society, and it becomes a reason for Vicediae to wish horrible stuff on me. You need to lighten up my friend, life isn't all bad.
@vicediae20 vicediae: I just re-read your comment, I may have mis-understood the intent. If the second phrase is meant to be an observation, then I agree completely. If it is construed to be a condemnation, (as in "take your hate and die") not so. Also, my use of the word "sophisticated" was meant to be ironic, in the sense that we sophisticated folks are really just a bunch of poseurs.
umm not to be blatent but my sis just moved from south texas and my brothinlaw is from baton rouge {not mississipi} but the south is just shitty not all parts but the majority is just poor trashy dirty and bad, its not the peopples fault it was here before anyof us and its gonna be that way threw my life time
@crazywanch101 this song was written the better part of half a century ago. I don't think many people believe that the State of Mississippi remains unchanged since 1964. Phil's song, which was more akin to an act of bravery at the time of it's writing, should only ever be viewed as an indictment of how things were AT THAT TIME. :)
Capital City Alternative School, a public school in Mississippi is currently handcuffing students as punishment, for such infractions as not wearing a belt. Check it out.
I love this song. It's brave, talented and thoughtful, as music should be.
As for the comparison to Dylan... I do prefer Dylan just for the intricate, poetic phrasing, but my favorite poet is e.e. cummings so I'm biased (parts of Mr. Tambourine Man practically could have been written by cummings).
Ochs could sing far better than Dylan ever could though and he sings with more conviction. He definitely has just as firm a grasp on songwriting as Dylan.
I just want to revise my statement below. I am not from Mississippi, and I am very displeased with what happened there decades ago. What I am saying is that Phil Ochs had the right vision, but I'd rather his song were written in a way that EVERYTHING Mississippi wasn't thrown together as the same. I'd rather the song focussed on the names of people who preserved justice in the state and then honored them at each refrain of the song, same message exactly.
What I don't like about this song is that it focusses only on Mississippi's shortcomings, and all 50 states have wrongdoings that can't be easily washed away. Then in response to this, the answer given in the song is for the state to find another country, not for the state to better itself and incorporate its unique identity into the land of the free. I cannot judge every school, cop, law, and church in an entire state.
@Seasass haha. but i was just using alabama as an example. there are still other southern states. what about them? weren't they all racist against african americans back then?
@Seasass how dare neil young a canadien pass judgement on alabama or would phil ochs have admitted the most racist people in the usa are the blacks in new yorkk city and the puerto ricans too they hate white males more than you can imagine shithead
@elvispresley718 Whoa--easy, baby! Go back and look at the context of my remark. winggoddess had written, "how is Mississippi any different than the other states nearby like alabama?" and I posted my comment as a whimsical reply, nothing more. Phil Ochs probably would have made the same observations you did about blacks and puerto ricans--once his psychotic alter-ego John Train had taken over, that is.
"Self-preservation [forced whites] to rid themselves, by fair means or foul, of the intolerable burden of governments sustained by the votes of ignorant negroes."-Woodrow Wilson
SOURCE:
Woodrow Wilson in Ray Stannard Baker and William E. Dodd (eds.), The Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson ( New York: Harper & Brothers, 1925-27), Vol. II, p. 18.
The The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s annual report of each state and health issues showed that out of all 50 states: Mississippi has the highest rate of child deaths (deaths of kids 1 day old-17 years old), highest infant mortality rate (kids already born under 1.5 years of age who die), the highest childhood obesity rate and the highest rate of teen births. It also has the lowest high school graduation rate. The governor is proud it's "the safest state for unborn kids."
Born and raised in the great State of Mississippi. Phil had it right, bigotry was rampant growing up ( I'm white). KKK newsletters on the lawn every week, cross burnings, and too many unsolved, un-investigated murders. Been away for quite awhile but I still have family there. I live in Georgia now and the ignorance and bigotry is worse here.
"We asked voters on this poll whether they think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal- 46% of Mississippi Republicans said it should be illegal to just 40% who think it should be legal."
Mississipi Republicans are nutters even by Republican standards, says it all really.
@kieranbennettmedia Didn't mention that 80% of Mississippi Democrats are against interracial marriage...or, as Democrats say it, "Racial Miscengenation".
@kieranbennettmedia A church in harville kentucky has just done that. they have completley outlawed interracial couples going to there church. it's disgusting to think that there are places like that in the states still!
This is the state whose current governor (Haley Barbour) says he went to an MLK speech- can't really remember the year- can't really remember what Martin said- but looked at all the girls. And he thinks that's a positive. Here's to the State of Mississippi. Oh and they want a commemorative License Plate for the founder of the KKK.
Yeah, they were pretty horrible around here back then. There's always gonna be negative views of my home state, but keep in mind that times and people change. Not all of 'em sure, but there's bad apples all over the world.
All I'm asking is that you don't let the mistakes of the hate mongers of the past muck up your views of the people here today. I've lived here almost my whole life, and with a few exceptions I can say that I've definitely known some great people.
@SgtConley I don't mean to offend you in any way with my comment, sir, but I've been to Mississippi. And even as someone who is not black, and not even American, I could still see and feel the racism against black people there. Even after all this time.
People and circumstances in Mississippi and the south in general may have changed, but not enough.
@an0nim0uz I noticed this too. The blacks there seem so downtrodden. In California you can make eye contact but in rural Mississippi the blacks just look away.
@ stars13x ; as have some of our most terrible (albeit unnamed) villians come from Mississippi. It's got a lot to be proud of and a lot to be ashamed of.
@patrick9648 It's not about Mississippi as a state, it's about the racists that saturated it decades ago. Everyone should protest against that, including you.
Phil Ochs was a topical singer who believed very strongly in his message. He and Bob Dylan were pretty chummy and neither of them is better than the other 'cept Dylan is still alive and Ochs believed in his work more than Dylan.
@stars13x I disagree with both of you on this one, actually. Dylan and Ochs got along pretty well. They had their spats, but for the most part they respected each other and had friendly competition.
At one point, one of their little spats, Dylan kicked Ochs out of a cab. It's quite an interesting story, actually, if either of you want to look it up and get the full story.
Didnt MLK say one of the most racist places he has ever been was CHICAGO, ILLINOIS??? Last time i checked the map its to the north where all the happy people live!
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Roll on Mississippi!!! All your idols come from the great state of Mississippi!!!! Elvis,Oprah,Jim Henson,Faith Hill and the list goes on forever!!! I LOVE MISSISSIPPI!!!!
@stars13x dude. elvis, oprah, and faith hill are fucking stupid and cuntbags. i don't know who jim henson is but i'm sure he sucks shit as well. get the fuck out of my country.
Phil ochs, is a masterful lyric writer. Bob Dylan even said this guy was better than he is. I love phil Ochs, it is surprising he is so hard to find at best buy, barnes and noble, and other stores
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was introduced and approved by a staggering majority of Republicans in the Senate. The Act was opposed by most southern Democrat senators, several of whom were proud segregationists—one of them being Al Gore Sr. Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson relied on Illinois Senator Everett Dirkson, the Republican leader from Illinois, to get the Act passed.
@Danieljs54 Yes, the South went Democratic after the end of Reconstruction, and southern Democrats were a thoroughly detestable lot (though crucial to Roosevelt's New Deal Coalition). And, yes, unlike southern Democrats, moderate Republicans (now a virtually extinct breed) supported but the 1964 Civil Rights Act. But a mere four years later, Republicans launched the so-called "Southern Strategy," which, by portraying the national Democratic Party as the vehicle of civil rights and welfare...
@Danieljs54 ... spending as taxpayers' money thrown away on shiftless black people, appealed directly to southern whites' racial resentments. As a way to flip the electoral map, it worked perfectly, and Republicans, not surprisingly, have been riding that train ever since.
June 9, 1964 Republicans condemn 14-hour filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act by U.S. Senator and former Ku Klux Klansman Robert Byrd (D-WV), who still serves in the Senate
June 10, 1964 Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) criticizes Democrat filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act, calls on Democrats to stop opposing racial equality
This song is wonderful because it dashes away the absolute lie that the heartland or southern states are the 'real america.' The reality is that anywhere awash in racism, hate, bigotry, and corruption is about as anti-American as you can get.
Ochs was the true genius of mid-century American folk. Dylan managed perhaps 70-75 percent of Ochs' achievement. Ochs had the greater intelligence, greater sense of poetry regarding American English, and a MUCH better voice.
My state is beautiful, the people can be amazingly generous and caring, the food is great and music is soulful, the history is riddled with injustice like the rest of the country, few people move away and fewer people move in. I'll love it forever, but I had to move to California to learn to appreciate what I had left behind.
This is a song that was written back in the early 1960's apparently. This is not the way Missippi is now.. There were horrible things happening all over the U.S. back then and it was popular for Yankee's and other liberals to speak ill of that State and the rest of the South. Did any one tell or teach that at the start of the Civil War, that Yankee Troops, sent run away Slaves back to their ''owners''? Fine People have come from MS. and still do. The past is past. The future is what matters.
@kralle7611 or maybe, i dont know, for im european. but he would stir up serious anger here if he pointed out national problems that bluntly and provocative.
One of the advantages of being an old fart(63) is that things look different. When I was 18, Phil was right and MS was a shithole. Well, it's not, and wasn't then, every body down there. Just more than elsewhere. Like the weight thing, Studies show that MS and TN are the most obese states in America. But there are as many foxes in MS and TN as here in NJ. And they say that MS doesn't educate, well there are kids there as smart as anywhere else.
While this is true for a good bit of the state, I find it to be a very crude generalization of the entire state. Seriously, there are definitely parts of the state that aren't this bad.
@Danieljs54 this is irrelevant, this isnt a republican democrat issue most people know that it was the radical republicans that freed the slaves and that is why the very conservative southern democrats came to power because the south was pissed about reconstruction. but to deny that southern states like Mississippi were not a greater supporter of hate and bigotry is just naive... accept it and move on and make the state better in the future
This was during the time when whites where being racists to blacks and yes skin color was a reason to rape. There is a movie on a true story about to white men raping and beating to near death a little black girl and were going to get away with it.
danninik 5 days ago
LOVE Mississippi! All our idols come from Mississippi- Oprah, Morgan Freeman and the list goes on and on!
FightinRebel14 1 week ago
@FightinRebel14 haha both of those people have shared the hard times/racism they endured in mississippi, cmon man wtf r u talking about
Desockme 6 days ago
@Desockme Did you know that in 2005 there were over 37,000 black on white rapes in the United States yet there were less than TEN white on black rapes? Whose the real racists?
FightinRebel14 6 days ago
@FightinRebel14 I'm sure they weren't raping because of their skin color. Rape isn't a racist act.
Desockme 5 days ago
@Desockme Uh, yes, it is. It's a method intimidation and violence against a community that is *frequently* used in racial conflict, including genocides, to intimidate the victimized community.
FungalSheep 3 days ago
@FungalSheep if u believe people rape because of what color they are and not simply because they are strongly sexually attracted to them, then there is no arguing with u. there are always exceptions but don't argue in the 1%
Desockme 3 days ago
Here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
Stephen Harper find yourself another country to be part of
ThereAreNoUnionThugs 2 months ago
Not as stupid as the White Inferiorist Democrats who lynched blacks. Keep trying....name one black man lynched by Republicans. Google is your friend.
MuttTheHoople 2 months ago
@MuttTheHoople
1. Jesse Helm
2. Strom Thurmond left the Democrats because of their growing support for civil rights, particularly the Civil Rights Act of 1964. LBJ's strong support and pushing of the Civil Rights Act pushed him into the Republican Party(Goldwater won the South against Johnson).
3. The Southern Strategy
4. Herp Derp
ArtisticSpaz 2 months ago
@MuttTheHoople you should've paid attention in history class. The republican and democratic parties didn't exist as they did today. The republican party back then held the views of the democratic party now and was popular in the same geographic areas that the democratic party is now. For the democratic party, it was also the opposite of what it is today.
Why must you be so stupid?
rapeasaurus1 1 month ago
And here's to the government of David Cameron
In the swamp of their bureaucracy they're always bogging down
And the old boys club is posing as moral leaders of the towns
They're hoping that no one sees the sights and hears the sounds
And the speeches of the PM are the ravings of a clown
Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of
David Cameron find yourself another country to be part of
v5v24 2 months ago
LOL, Teabagger.
David Duke ran for president, Senate, Congress and governor as a REPUBLICAN. David Duke became a REPUBLICAN because he believed that the REPUBLICAN PARTY was more attuned to his racist views.
I ask you again, why do the vast majority of Black folk vote Democratic?
AtlasShruggery 3 months ago
Here's to the land you've torn out the heart of,
Newt Gingrich find yourself another country to be part of.
AtlasShruggery 3 months ago
This happened when Democrats ran Mississippi with an iron fist. Thank goodness the Republicans grew in power and ended the racial hatred, bigotry, and Democrat-led lynchings. Now, in Mississippi, there's more racial harmony than Democrat-led States like Massachussetts and Illinois.
MuttTheHoople 3 months ago
@MuttTheHoople
Silly Teabagger. Don't you know that the Mississippi racists joined the Republican Party after the Civil Rights Act passed?
AtlasShruggery 3 months ago
@AtlasShruggery Name one Republican who lynched a black man.
MuttTheHoople 3 months ago
@MuttTheHoople C'mon, hurry. Can't think of one? What a marroon.
MuttTheHoople 3 months ago
@MuttTheHoople
Nice straw man, Dorothy.
Republicans are the party of David Duke, Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond. Republicans have spent the last 40 years pandering to the racists. That's why the KKK endorsed Ronald Reagan. Why do you think so many white supremacists are drawn to the Tea Party?
Now, your turn, Teabagger. Please explain why the vast majority of black folk vote Democratic.
AtlasShruggery 3 months ago
@AtlasShruggery David Dukes ran as a Democrat in the 1988 Senate election. He only ran as a Republican because the Dems wanted him to be a straw man. Strom Thurmond did all his racist pandering while he was a Democrat. As a Republican, he won over 40% of the black vote in South Carolina consistently. The head of the Tea Party in Mississippi is Kim Wade, an African-American. You still didn't answer my question..name one black man lynched by Republicans. Keep covering for racist DemoKKKrats.
MuttTheHoople 3 months ago
@MuttTheHoople This shit is so stupid I think my IQ dropped a little while reading it, 10/10 trolling sir.
plyinglemon 2 months ago in playlist Favorite videos
Here's to the cops of Mississippi- that include the black cop who gave me a ticket for speeding?
MuttTheHoople 3 months ago
Mississippi found another country to be a part of, it was called the Confederate States of America but the leftists and tyrants brought hell down upon the people of the South in the form of the Lincoln's armies. Mississippi would be happy to be apart of another country, but the regime in DC won't let anybody leave. This "happy" Union is held together at bayonet point.
OhioGuy19 3 months ago
While you are getting some current info...learn to read...I said that Mississippi was horrible at the time that this song was written...not denying that, I just wish that ppl who want to run their mouths about history and/or current events would have some clue as to what they are talking about. I'm white and live in Mississippi and have 4 neighbors...2 are black families, but I'm super racist because I live in the South, right... don't hate because the trees up North are plastic lol!
jestep7960 3 months ago
BTW...I put the accent in on purpose!
jestep7960 3 months ago
Grab a book people! Look up some current stats! Yes, during the time that this song was written Mississippi was a horrible state full of racism and hate, but did ya know that Mississippi has more black government officials than any other state THIS YEAR? How about the fact that the public school system is the MOST integrated in the country? Talk about being stuck in the past and holding on to stereotypes...y'all don't know squat about TODAY'S great and diverse Mississippi!!
jestep7960 3 months ago
i live in mississippi and this is bull crap racism is not big here and its a really nice state
seminary44 3 months ago
@seminary44 it wasnt that way back in the 60's.
hooha96 3 months ago
I love Faulkner, but this song is pretty much true.
grammariscool 3 months ago
Better protest singer: Ochs > Dylan.
Seele1 4 months ago
Clearly people are confused. As some said in the comments, this song is all but 50 years old. Obviously Mississippi isn't that bad anymore. I'm sure it's actually quite a nice state, and has it's faults like all the rest. That being said, I don't think many will deny that WHEN this song was written, it was a whole different story.
crimcallsmebitchnugg 4 months ago
I'll be sending this to my family every time they ask me to visit if the Personhood Amendment passes.
batzradio 4 months ago
@batzradio It failed.
MaiHarinder 3 months ago
Well damn.
I'd say that's a burn, Mississippi.
Fojar38 4 months ago 2
To be fair to Mississippi, they did try to find another country to be a part of, it's just that for some God forsaken reason Lincoln decided we needed the south.
TheScumDog 4 months ago
Faulkner... and Grisham? You're grouping them together?
TLDelapore 5 months ago
Like all stereotypes and soundbites, this song is superficial. There's a lot more going on in Mississippi, good and bad, than can be addressed in 6 minutes. I live here and I know it. Don't forget, we gave the world Faulkner, Stephen Ambrose & John Grisham.
carljj22 5 months ago
@carljj22 LOL
spungnut 5 months ago
@carljj22You must be quite young. That's lucky. We've certainly come a long way since the 60s, but it's important that we never forget the mistakes of the past. At the time, this song was anything but superficial. In Mississippi, there was a barely discernible line between the cops and the Klan. Children had just been murdered in their church, college students were targeted and killed, and their murders were covered up by the police. School leaders refused to de-segregate long after Brown v BoE.
susanoconnell777 4 months ago 4
We had our taste of Mississippi, and it leaves a bitter taste until now.Sure is not a place to stop by or visit.
redrosas 6 months ago
@redrosas It's a scary place.
amysita77 6 months ago
I hope you people realize this song was written in the 70s. A time when Mississippi was actually in a pretty bad state. Politically and racially MS is in a pretty decent position (don't judge us by one recent hate crime killing. That's a couple of drunk teenagers being dumbasses).
As someone who is a part of a family that has been in this state for several generations, I can tell you right now that Phil Ochs would VERY LIKELY disagree with these lyrics in this current day and age.
IHaveACoolName 6 months ago
@IHaveACoolName Actually found that it was written in the 60s. A time when racism was WAY worse in Mississippi (the civil rights movement had been happening in a state that has had slavery be a MAJOR part of it's economy for HUNDREDS of years. what exactly do you expect?).
IHaveACoolName 6 months ago
@IHaveACoolName I lived in Mississippi for several years and I did not encounter any more cultural stigma, racial prejudice over there than any other state I've lived. If anyone thinks this song is still an accurate description of most Mississippians he is stereotyping.
GermanOperaSinger 6 months ago
@GermanOperaSinger I agree. I'm a Mississippi native who, this may shock and awe you, is not racist or bigoted. I believe everyone has a right to be who they want to be and color of skin does not matter to me. there are areas that can be more racist (like Baxterville T.T) but the town I live in is not that bad. Also this song is 40 years old, times have changed.
ForgotteMemories101 5 months ago
@ForgotteMemories101
TheSarahfran 4 months ago
Everyone should visit Mississippi. You'll feel less bad about where you come from.
Yamamanama 6 months ago 5
@Yamamanama Amen!! I'm gonna go down and visit!!
DG3744 5 months ago
Mississippi has claimed another life, still stuck in their 1800's way of life.
MohawkPotatoSA 7 months ago 5
I'm from Mississippi, and I think this song is wonderful. Any thoughtful Mississippian has to carry some degree of ambivalence for our history--framed mostly by shame for the mistakes made--and must remember that there is still such room for improvement. Where some see problems, we must see opportunity to get better, to be better. I'm optimistic that we'll get to a point where we can use our history to be motivation to never return to such terrible times.
huntmuw 7 months ago 14
@huntmuw I am a Californian, and find what other Californians did in history just AWFUL. But I love my state, and if I do not fight for it, who will?
ARP7777777 7 months ago
The problem with Mississippi is that they just aren't sophisticated enough to hide their hatred, bigotry, and stupidity like the rest of us do.
23moksha 7 months ago 7
@23moksha dude you are worse off if that's your state of thinking, keep your hate within and you die a slow painful death.
vicediae20 7 months ago
@vicediae20 This is an excellent illustration of my point. I was making an observation about the relative levels of self-importance in the society, and it becomes a reason for Vicediae to wish horrible stuff on me. You need to lighten up my friend, life isn't all bad.
23moksha 7 months ago
@vicediae20 vicediae: I just re-read your comment, I may have mis-understood the intent. If the second phrase is meant to be an observation, then I agree completely. If it is construed to be a condemnation, (as in "take your hate and die") not so. Also, my use of the word "sophisticated" was meant to be ironic, in the sense that we sophisticated folks are really just a bunch of poseurs.
23moksha 7 months ago
this dude is tellin the truth... sorry haters y'a ll don't LIKe the truth do ya??
catman306 7 months ago 2
At first i thought it was just a stereotype that Mississippians are racists/rednecks but they really do live up their name
OutlawYank 7 months ago
umm not to be blatent but my sis just moved from south texas and my brothinlaw is from baton rouge {not mississipi} but the south is just shitty not all parts but the majority is just poor trashy dirty and bad, its not the peopples fault it was here before anyof us and its gonna be that way threw my life time
jbisterfelt 7 months ago
@crazywanch101 this song was written the better part of half a century ago. I don't think many people believe that the State of Mississippi remains unchanged since 1964. Phil's song, which was more akin to an act of bravery at the time of it's writing, should only ever be viewed as an indictment of how things were AT THAT TIME. :)
DarklingStar1969 7 months ago
Capital City Alternative School, a public school in Mississippi is currently handcuffing students as punishment, for such infractions as not wearing a belt. Check it out.
Johngalt43 8 months ago
@Johngalt43 SCUM! Cruel children!
ARP7777777 7 months ago
I love this song. It's brave, talented and thoughtful, as music should be.
As for the comparison to Dylan... I do prefer Dylan just for the intricate, poetic phrasing, but my favorite poet is e.e. cummings so I'm biased (parts of Mr. Tambourine Man practically could have been written by cummings).
Ochs could sing far better than Dylan ever could though and he sings with more conviction. He definitely has just as firm a grasp on songwriting as Dylan.
Well, this has been self-indulgent enough.
nosuchhappyending 9 months ago
I'm from Mississippi. Blacks are treated just fine, but then again I live in the northern part.
crazywanch101 9 months ago
I swear you just don't get music like this anymore...
mufc187 9 months ago
sad song but great
cursemyawesomeness 9 months ago
Comment removed
cursemyawesomeness 9 months ago
I just want to revise my statement below. I am not from Mississippi, and I am very displeased with what happened there decades ago. What I am saying is that Phil Ochs had the right vision, but I'd rather his song were written in a way that EVERYTHING Mississippi wasn't thrown together as the same. I'd rather the song focussed on the names of people who preserved justice in the state and then honored them at each refrain of the song, same message exactly.
ESponge2000 9 months ago
What I don't like about this song is that it focusses only on Mississippi's shortcomings, and all 50 states have wrongdoings that can't be easily washed away. Then in response to this, the answer given in the song is for the state to find another country, not for the state to better itself and incorporate its unique identity into the land of the free. I cannot judge every school, cop, law, and church in an entire state.
ESponge2000 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
This could be updated to Arizona.
RDBeatnik 9 months ago 2
how is Mississippi any different than the other states nearby like alabama?
winggoddess 9 months ago
@winggoddess Phil Ochs and Neil Young made a deal: Phil took on Mississippi and Neil took on Alabama.
Seasass 9 months ago 10
@Seasass haha. but i was just using alabama as an example. there are still other southern states. what about them? weren't they all racist against african americans back then?
winggoddess 9 months ago
@Seasass how dare neil young a canadien pass judgement on alabama or would phil ochs have admitted the most racist people in the usa are the blacks in new yorkk city and the puerto ricans too they hate white males more than you can imagine shithead
elvispresley718 1 month ago
@elvispresley718 He Elvis: dead people don't talk.
TheRacistsMustDie 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@elvispresley718 Whoa--easy, baby! Go back and look at the context of my remark. winggoddess had written, "how is Mississippi any different than the other states nearby like alabama?" and I posted my comment as a whimsical reply, nothing more. Phil Ochs probably would have made the same observations you did about blacks and puerto ricans--once his psychotic alter-ego John Train had taken over, that is.
Seasass 1 month ago
I just saw Wyclef Jean on pbs do a piece of this. I sure miss you Phil and sadly we still need you.
MrLaughter99 10 months ago
I am convinced this is the greatest song ever written.
ProfessorJoke 10 months ago
"Self-preservation [forced whites] to rid themselves, by fair means or foul, of the intolerable burden of governments sustained by the votes of ignorant negroes."-Woodrow Wilson
SOURCE:
Woodrow Wilson in Ray Stannard Baker and William E. Dodd (eds.), The Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson ( New York: Harper & Brothers, 1925-27), Vol. II, p. 18.
strawberEfieldz4ever 10 months ago
How ironic that youtube's "promoted video" for this is Phil Bryant's Believe in Mississippi campaign
capgurken 10 months ago
so beautiful
killingyou321 10 months ago
wow!
sahunt1973 10 months ago
The The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s annual report of each state and health issues showed that out of all 50 states: Mississippi has the highest rate of child deaths (deaths of kids 1 day old-17 years old), highest infant mortality rate (kids already born under 1.5 years of age who die), the highest childhood obesity rate and the highest rate of teen births. It also has the lowest high school graduation rate. The governor is proud it's "the safest state for unborn kids."
yoginipeacelove 10 months ago 5
Born and raised in the great State of Mississippi. Phil had it right, bigotry was rampant growing up ( I'm white). KKK newsletters on the lawn every week, cross burnings, and too many unsolved, un-investigated murders. Been away for quite awhile but I still have family there. I live in Georgia now and the ignorance and bigotry is worse here.
54321jayce 10 months ago
Results from Public Policy Polling in April 2011:
"We asked voters on this poll whether they think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal- 46% of Mississippi Republicans said it should be illegal to just 40% who think it should be legal."
Mississipi Republicans are nutters even by Republican standards, says it all really.
kieranbennettmedia 11 months ago 63
Well, damn.... Looks like I'm not Vacationing in Hannibal like I wanted to....
goji2099 10 months ago
@kieranbennettmedia Didn't mention that 80% of Mississippi Democrats are against interracial marriage...or, as Democrats say it, "Racial Miscengenation".
MuttTheHoople 3 months ago
@kieranbennettmedia TX I think is worse.
kenshuttlesworth 2 months ago
@kieranbennettmedia A church in harville kentucky has just done that. they have completley outlawed interracial couples going to there church. it's disgusting to think that there are places like that in the states still!
Nobodie92 2 months ago
Classic PHIL. the Courageous great man!
shesjupiter 11 months ago
@opakearawra2
jim henson created the muppets. he's pretty chill
rickyricker 11 months ago
Great song from a great American.
DarrylWThomas 11 months ago 2
This is the state whose current governor (Haley Barbour) says he went to an MLK speech- can't really remember the year- can't really remember what Martin said- but looked at all the girls. And he thinks that's a positive. Here's to the State of Mississippi. Oh and they want a commemorative License Plate for the founder of the KKK.
dldwiggins 1 year ago
*nods concedingly*
Yeah, they were pretty horrible around here back then. There's always gonna be negative views of my home state, but keep in mind that times and people change. Not all of 'em sure, but there's bad apples all over the world.
All I'm asking is that you don't let the mistakes of the hate mongers of the past muck up your views of the people here today. I've lived here almost my whole life, and with a few exceptions I can say that I've definitely known some great people.
SgtConley 1 year ago 3
@SgtConley I don't mean to offend you in any way with my comment, sir, but I've been to Mississippi. And even as someone who is not black, and not even American, I could still see and feel the racism against black people there. Even after all this time.
People and circumstances in Mississippi and the south in general may have changed, but not enough.
an0nim0uz 1 year ago 72
@an0nim0uz I noticed this too. The blacks there seem so downtrodden. In California you can make eye contact but in rural Mississippi the blacks just look away.
pnkgtr 9 months ago 4
A Mississippian shows up to defend his state, and only ends up unwittingly proving Ochs' point? Witless is as witless does.
KingOfWhiteTrash1 1 year ago 2
its hilarious that one guy posting from Mississippi proves all the negative things about Mississippi by mocking someone for being dead. stay classy.
klanmaster1 1 year ago 4
Rhode Island made Miss love ya Phil but this is sanctimonious
vivascargill 1 year ago
@ stars13x ; as have some of our most terrible (albeit unnamed) villians come from Mississippi. It's got a lot to be proud of and a lot to be ashamed of.
TimMcIrish1 1 year ago
Comment removed
patrick9648 1 year ago
@patrick9648 So you attack someone because they were depressed? Wow.
AnarchistOpposition 1 year ago 8
@patrick9648 wow you sound like a classic, patriotic, ignorant, right winged, Mississippian. You fit the mold perfectly.
zzPinkTacozz37 1 year ago
@patrick9648 your comment speaks loudly to exactly what Phil Ochs was singing about here.
twipper3 1 year ago
@patrick9648 Your state has major anger and depression issues; you should all commit suicide.
TimMcIrish1 1 year ago
@patrick9648 proving the song right.....point you..........
ArtisticSpaz 11 months ago
@patrick9648 So do you, dude.
slacker37 11 months ago
@patrick9648 It's not about Mississippi as a state, it's about the racists that saturated it decades ago. Everyone should protest against that, including you.
bibihelai 11 months ago
@patrick9648 You're the kind of person this song is about.
sn00ps66 11 months ago
I was introduced to this song in a high school American Govt class years ago. Thanks Mr.Russell!
Lizzie12348 1 year ago
Phil Ochs was a topical singer who believed very strongly in his message. He and Bob Dylan were pretty chummy and neither of them is better than the other 'cept Dylan is still alive and Ochs believed in his work more than Dylan.
hayleysfinest 1 year ago
ONE QUESTION.....WHO the hell is Phil Ochs anyway? A Bob Dylan wanna be? He cant sing worth a damn!
stars13x 1 year ago
@stars13x
Dylan wanted to be Phil Ochs, Dylan wished he could sing half as good as Ochs.
twipper3 1 year ago
@twipper3
@stars13x I disagree with both of you on this one, actually. Dylan and Ochs got along pretty well. They had their spats, but for the most part they respected each other and had friendly competition.
At one point, one of their little spats, Dylan kicked Ochs out of a cab. It's quite an interesting story, actually, if either of you want to look it up and get the full story.
AnarchistOpposition 1 year ago
@twipper3 no
TomThumbsBlues1965 1 year ago
@twipper3 Phil Ochs is an American Hero.You my friend are an ignorant Ahole!
bufbil71 11 months ago 7
@twipper3
bufbil71 11 months ago
Didnt MLK say one of the most racist places he has ever been was CHICAGO, ILLINOIS??? Last time i checked the map its to the north where all the happy people live!
stars13x 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Roll on Mississippi!!! All your idols come from the great state of Mississippi!!!! Elvis,Oprah,Jim Henson,Faith Hill and the list goes on forever!!! I LOVE MISSISSIPPI!!!!
stars13x 1 year ago
@stars13x Baka
AnarchistOpposition 1 year ago 6
@stars13x If all of us idolize those people America is in a sad state indeed.
anarchypolo9 1 year ago
@stars13x I'm pretty sure that if Faith Hill is your fourth example that's not a good sign.
DevalII 1 year ago 2
@stars13x dude. elvis, oprah, and faith hill are fucking stupid and cuntbags. i don't know who jim henson is but i'm sure he sucks shit as well. get the fuck out of my country.
OpakeArawra2 11 months ago
@stars13x Find yourself another video to comment on :D :D
Akselseifert 11 months ago
@stars13x how did you guys manage to miss oprah in your nigger killing factories?
SZF123456 7 months ago
A texan! the worst form on human kind on the planet!
stars13x 1 year ago
i fuckin love his rhythm, it completely perplexes me
OpakeArawra2 1 year ago
Phil ochs, is a masterful lyric writer. Bob Dylan even said this guy was better than he is. I love phil Ochs, it is surprising he is so hard to find at best buy, barnes and noble, and other stores
greenbay357 1 year ago 2
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was introduced and approved by a staggering majority of Republicans in the Senate. The Act was opposed by most southern Democrat senators, several of whom were proud segregationists—one of them being Al Gore Sr. Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson relied on Illinois Senator Everett Dirkson, the Republican leader from Illinois, to get the Act passed.
Danieljs54 1 year ago
@Danieljs54 Yes, the South went Democratic after the end of Reconstruction, and southern Democrats were a thoroughly detestable lot (though crucial to Roosevelt's New Deal Coalition). And, yes, unlike southern Democrats, moderate Republicans (now a virtually extinct breed) supported but the 1964 Civil Rights Act. But a mere four years later, Republicans launched the so-called "Southern Strategy," which, by portraying the national Democratic Party as the vehicle of civil rights and welfare...
flipnichols 1 year ago 3
@Danieljs54 ... spending as taxpayers' money thrown away on shiftless black people, appealed directly to southern whites' racial resentments. As a way to flip the electoral map, it worked perfectly, and Republicans, not surprisingly, have been riding that train ever since.
flipnichols 1 year ago 2
June 9, 1964 Republicans condemn 14-hour filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act by U.S. Senator and former Ku Klux Klansman Robert Byrd (D-WV), who still serves in the Senate
June 10, 1964 Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) criticizes Democrat filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act, calls on Democrats to stop opposing racial equality
Danieljs54 1 year ago
deep and very touching lyrics. Great song
greenbay357 1 year ago
they would put him in jail for this thoughts today.
kralle7611 1 year ago
This song is wonderful because it dashes away the absolute lie that the heartland or southern states are the 'real america.' The reality is that anywhere awash in racism, hate, bigotry, and corruption is about as anti-American as you can get.
HisEmptyHouse 1 year ago
This man and this song is genius!!! WOW!! THis man is legend!!!
26 people from Mississippi dont like this song!!
BECAUSE IT"S 100% TRUE!!!
DG3744 1 year ago
I hope everyone becomes a supporter of the Scott Sisters, in prison in Mississippi
freethescottsisters dot blogspot dot com
jayroth6 1 year ago
i can tell 6 people a Mississippian
if you thumb this up the universe will slap you in the face
TheAwnman 1 year ago
you drug addicts, liberals, and other worthless people better listen to every word and keep your asses out!!!
steelwheelsrollin 1 year ago
@steelwheelsrollin
That charming, famed southern hospitality shows itself once again ladies and gents, aint it something?
Mortagern 1 year ago
Ochs was the true genius of mid-century American folk. Dylan managed perhaps 70-75 percent of Ochs' achievement. Ochs had the greater intelligence, greater sense of poetry regarding American English, and a MUCH better voice.
stevevandien 1 year ago
Thanks for once more affirming my love for the internet, that such songs as these, such powerful ideas will never be lost.
bjeany 1 year ago
A judge in this state just put a lawyer in jail for not reciting the socialist Pledge of Allegiance.
n4zhg 1 year ago
why wasn't phil ochs more famous? He was a genius.
wendee27 1 year ago 5
@wendee27 He wasn't as famous as others because he was too political for the radio.
62grossman 1 year ago
England here.
Been there recently, what a MASSIVE shithole!
johnanth 1 year ago
My state is beautiful, the people can be amazingly generous and caring, the food is great and music is soulful, the history is riddled with injustice like the rest of the country, few people move away and fewer people move in. I'll love it forever, but I had to move to California to learn to appreciate what I had left behind.
valaraj 1 year ago
im glad im getting out of this shithole state. to florida!
0wnij 1 year ago
the guy who sings this sounds like a complete douchebag who prob is another liberal hippie dumbass
Gotblues004 1 year ago
I'd like to point out that this state still had segregated proms five years ago, and I have yet to hear of them changing that.
666thHeretic 1 year ago
This is a song that was written back in the early 1960's apparently. This is not the way Missippi is now.. There were horrible things happening all over the U.S. back then and it was popular for Yankee's and other liberals to speak ill of that State and the rest of the South. Did any one tell or teach that at the start of the Civil War, that Yankee Troops, sent run away Slaves back to their ''owners''? Fine People have come from MS. and still do. The past is past. The future is what matters.
spiritwolfbro 1 year ago
oh wow. its not true anymore what he sings about; but even if so, he wouldnt be allowed to sing such brutal truth in todays usa. no?
kralle7611 1 year ago
@kralle7611 or maybe, i dont know, for im european. but he would stir up serious anger here if he pointed out national problems that bluntly and provocative.
man got a huge pair.
kralle7611 1 year ago
Comment removed
9duryea9 1 year ago
Arizona find yourself another country to be of.
bethwilder2 1 year ago 26
@bethwilder2 i so just wrote that to my friend. hahaha
Fondu4U16 1 year ago
One of the advantages of being an old fart(63) is that things look different. When I was 18, Phil was right and MS was a shithole. Well, it's not, and wasn't then, every body down there. Just more than elsewhere. Like the weight thing, Studies show that MS and TN are the most obese states in America. But there are as many foxes in MS and TN as here in NJ. And they say that MS doesn't educate, well there are kids there as smart as anywhere else.
nj46chief 1 year ago
Great upload, thanks so much!!
cellunatic 1 year ago
While this is true for a good bit of the state, I find it to be a very crude generalization of the entire state. Seriously, there are definitely parts of the state that aren't this bad.
userjack6880 1 year ago
A deservedly damning indictment in folk music form.
jereamygrayrose 1 year ago 3
@jereamygrayrose Folk music's good for that kind of thing. :)
Moose6960 1 year ago
Schools at mississippi teach children to break the law to make gay people miserable, and throw in some mentally disabled kids to boot.
Not one person who attended the 'secret prom' should ever be allowed to hear the end of it for the rest of their lives.
Ultrasecond 1 year ago 20
@Ultrasecond The first time I read this I thought it said "secret poem," I was so confused lol.
AnarchistOpposition 1 year ago
That is a lie and propaganda. Ochs is a lawbreaker and jailbird, who resents getting arrested for drugs.
Danieljs54 1 year ago
@Danieljs54 this is irrelevant, this isnt a republican democrat issue most people know that it was the radical republicans that freed the slaves and that is why the very conservative southern democrats came to power because the south was pissed about reconstruction. but to deny that southern states like Mississippi were not a greater supporter of hate and bigotry is just naive... accept it and move on and make the state better in the future
96blackZ 1 year ago
@Danieljs54 Who wouldn't resent getting arrested for drugs? Anyway, Phil Ochs resents nothing anymore.
flipnichols 1 year ago
Go, Mississippi
Words and Music by Houston Davis
Verse:
States may sing their songs of praise
With waving flags and hip-hoo-rays,
Let cymbals crash and let bells ring
Cause here's one song I'm proud to sing.
Danieljs54 1 year ago
Choruses:
Go, Mississippi, keep rolling along,
Go, Mississippi, you cannot go wrong,
Go, Mississippi, we're singing your song,
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
Danieljs54 1 year ago
Go, Mississippi, you're on the right track,
Go, Mississippi, and this is a fact,
Go, Mississippi, you'll never look back,
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
Go, Mississippi, straight down the line,
Go, Mississippi, ev'rything's fine,
Go, MIssissippi, it's your state and mine,
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
Danieljs54 1 year ago