allen ginsberg: america

[IamDayoldHate1]

He joined NAMBLA to support free speech, no matter how disgusting it may be.

[maurice2002]

I've uploaded an amended reading of America's greatest poem; "A Wine of Wizardry" by George Sterling - feel free to look it up or click my username [if you haven't read it; it's like stumbling upon frost, ginsberg, camus, or foster-wallace for the first time.

[Epeolatry1]

....I don't get the jokes. If they are jokes.

[tehpewpew420]

Fuck America. Implode up your own asshole and die.

[monaj3lisa]

"I'm SICK of your INSANE demands!!"

[bvtiut]

Fucking hate the audience. Many parts of this poem are serious and provoke thought but I can't hear him over HUEHUEHUEHUEHUE. I'll just read the poem by myself and reflect on its actual meanings rather than that interpreted by an idiotic studio audience.

[SooWoo42]

@bvtiut there's several different recordings of him reading this. This recording in particular has the most humorous tone to it. It is clearly evident in the way he speaks in this recording that some of this most certainly IS supposed to be funny. You're attempting to be so deep, it must makes you out like a shallow asshole

[slye1991]

He sounds very cocky like the country he's describing :)

[ShakinSlim]

@subarkts should people not fight against western values?

[zipididua]

only if.

[Johannasmirror]

God, this is brilliant.

[dave474c]

I thought allen ginsberg was a french vegetarian lesbian professional frisbee expert from the future who will be known mainly for his contact with aliens (and frisbee tricks)

[innocencefaded2112]

@dave474c and you were right

[FreeVonHelton]

Allen Ginsberg, degenerate Jew and NAMBLA member.

[SundriedSmile]

@FreeVonHelton trollololololol

[FreeVonHelton]

@SundriedSmile Yeah, but it's still true.

He was both a Jew and a NAMBLA member.

[morleydotes666]

and does not know from it comes from...

[morleydotes666]

the new generation lives today... it lives in self-induced infamy...

[Whimzy74]

@macksf98 Thanks Phelps

[steelyman08]

@Whimzy74

". . .a godless fool. . . " Wow! The old school lives on via the new generation (-;

[TikiCreations]

Happy 4th.

[M0j0S0D0pe420]

Ginsberg: America, I am the Scottsboro Boys

guy in crowd: YOU ARE!?

hahaha

[evanformcr]

I'm only here because of The Wonder Years

[4daystoriseagainst]

@evanformcr Well now you can learn something about why they exist.

[Brennanfest]

@subarkts I think you're thinking of Asher Ginsberg who was also known as Ahad Ha'am and is considered to founder of Cultural Zionism.

[grandmachristine42]

I've listened to this about 5 times in the last 2 days and I'm about to do it again. I was a teenager in the 50's; I remember the 50's. This is hilarious. If we can be wowed by this now, just think how precious and rare Ginsberg was in the 50's!

[wtfmayhem666]

This poem is meant to give insight to his political thoughts on war and it's effects on America as a whole. Also pokes fun at the supposed communism scare. It's all bullshit, that's what he's saying, and wants you to laugh at our mistakes.

[broseph127]

they're laughing because it's funny

[DeathByBurning]

I'm a bit new to Ginsberg, and this was the first work of his i've heard. Why is everyone laughing as he reads? He seems to be spotlighting various important issues.

[antispamdinista]

@DeathByBurning It's all in the delivery.

[lordcadburyhopkins]

there are some truly idiotic comments on here, first of all, Ginsberg is no longer with us, he was not some avowed devotee of only Marx, and if more Americans had the balls that Ayers had back in the sixties to stick up for their convictions, perhaps it wouldn't be the sleepy, drug-addled, ripped off by the wealth-hording war mongers-buggered in the ass country that it has become. I know there is still tons of greatness in the States but the self defeating stupidity has become epic. Enjoy!

[BunnyRabbitD]

this is fantastic. i can't help but laughing and thinking throughout his reading. absolute genius.

[stucknmich]

Ginsberg ought to be digging Obamas' regime change they are of the ilk add ayers, alinsky and make a video of them discussing their beloved carl marx

[Towhomthismayconcern]

@stucknmich oh my god you are stupid.

[greenmovement2010]

does anyone know where i can find the text of this early version? i searched the net, but didn't help any...

[lordcadburyhopkins]

@greenmovement2010 I've got it in a pocket sized soft cover version which also includes Howl, seems like its fairly available at bookshops and online.

[mcskfsdn]

so intimate, i love it

[MrJakelange]

my mind is made uo there is going to be trouble!!!!!!

[berylliumshiver]

"It occurs to me that I am America, I am talking to myself again" ahahaha that's so great

[TheKonasurf]

my natural resources consist of 2 sticks of maharajah, millions of genitals, an atom bomb, and 2500 mental institutions

[TheKonasurf]

my natural resources consist of 2 sticks of maharajah, millions of genitals, an atom bomb, and 2500 mental institutions

[dirtynuke]

America I can't stand my own mind.

[cyclos12]

He sounds a bit drunk. lol

[mystique12z]

Only if he would've been my next door neighbor ;)

[12ck0wnage]

@mystique12z fag

[blueberryskii]

@mystique12z Hell, if only he'd been straight!

[wopt70]

who 'dislikes' this reading?

[JustJake57]

@wopt70 just you wopt. 23 and into Joan Jett tells me - Of course you wouldn't get it. This was read at a time when your grandfather was working shifts during the Eisenhower Administration and went home to eat spam, maybe a bologna sandwich on white bread and watched television every night on a circular 16" screen. And this cat was so far fucking out, was such a visionary that he pisses on anything you can think passes for cool or hip.

[wopt70]

@JustJake57

um, actually, i love this. thanks for attacking me for no reason, i was asking what jack asses would actually take the time to dislike something that was so clearly revolutionary. so... thanks for that.

[ultimatedaver]

is there anywhere I can download this?

[osemaster]

@moodmagenta, you're missing it man, a lot of the lines are sad, but the laughter is still ironic, it's appreciation man, there's humour in tragedy .

[JustJake57]

@osemaster and he chalks it up to nervous stoner laughter.....It's 1956 Moodmaniacal. Were you even around in '56? Do you have a pulse on the dynamic, the culture, the discourse or the political landscape??

Went right over his head osemaster.....forget about him.

[jjasonfrancis1]

@JustJake57 

[osemaster]

Business men, Movie producers are serious, everybody is serious except me!

[harght]

such an epic peice

[PinkFloydrulez]

oh my god I love this

[AndyRiotRed]

I always read it as being much darker and cynical, but his delivery is totally tongue n cheek. A really fun poem, when read by Ginsberg himself.

[goldenresidueofbliss]

Now explain to me why so many people prefer Bukowski over this great? For years I felt like I was in my own bubble, and now those who prefer bad poetry must dampen the mood. God, I deplore Bukowski.

[handsomerube]

@goldenresidueofbliss people prefer what they prefer and have that right...i myself love both ginsberg and bukowski for what they each uniquely offer. like any great art, it depends on my mood and what resonates...thank god these two greats existed and were able express their greatness.

[berin08]

he sounds like bob dylan

[cdphatty]

@berin08 bob dylan sounds like him lol

[shesmadeleine]

in love

[LOlitta18]

Listen to this while playing all blues by miles davis.

[jennyisvcool]

@LOlitta18 that was an excellent matching, your own idea?!

[paupoiIII]

@LOlitta18 lovely :)

[tantricslide]

Great!

[xtrmsprts]

fuck America. The cosmos awaits us

[metricben]

Are they laughing because what he says is controversial?

[Amarkcalledme]

@metricben Not really, they're laughing because what he says is ironic and funny.

[moodmagenta]

@Amarkcalledme @Amarkcalledme i think that's true for some of the lines (and true he plays to it)

but a lot of it is nervous/ mindless (stoned?) laughter and seems maddeningly uncomprehending of the beautious emotional nuance in the phrases - even the ones that seem like obvious one-liners, a lot of them are sad

[TimMillerTale]

Amazing how the humor and wild live energy of the poem is so present in this recording!

[cxmafia]

Ginsberg was one of the greatest American poets - ever

[henrythesteinberg]

Ginsberg can really hit hard in the opening line.

"America, I've given you all and now I'm nothing".

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked"

[breakyournails]

He sounds quite young here. Does anyone know how old he was? He sounds great.

Also, what does he mean when he says 'when will you send you eggs to India"?

what a genius.

[shivashakti1975]

@breakyournails My impression of that line was because India's a poor country without much food at the time and we were a land of plentiful resources.

I could be off on that, though.

[wbleece]

I really love this poem but I dislike this reading. Yeah I understand the mentality which I'm having trouble giving a name... non-seriousness? I get that but this poems is more serious or sad rather to me. I honestly stopped the recording. The laughing? seriously its not that funny... unless you're stoned that is...

[prettyX1]

@wbleece it's ironic, thats why people are laughing.

[kurdtkobain674]

@wbleece it doesnt matter if your stoned im stoned as fuck and i understand exactly what you mean it's whether or not you put thought to what he's saying

[paulparanoid]

@wbleece - Everyone probably *was* stoned, including Allen. Look, I had the same reaction as you because, though many lines are uproariously funny, many are very, very serious and tragic. The laff track got to me. But the way I see it, this was new and people often laugh at what's new and makes them uncomfortable. And... they were all stoned :) And Allen was quite the clown, he really was... And we weren't there, who are we to judge? Peace.

[normankeena]

ask not what ye can say about your country

[djdtpacker]

@JoeyRamonerulz I am both an avowed Marxist and a homosexual, and woud thus never say anything negative about either. Perhaps, I can concede, my language in that particular quote was too over-casual. Allen, being a not only a gifted writer but also a Marxist and an open gay person, is an idol to me.

[sickosandsuch]

So very fucking funny.

[dunkinking]

like ginsgerg as a poet... and nothing more

[chase14]

yeah, he's a great poet, but he is a member of NAMBLA...

[BloggerMusicMan]

@chase14

Out of context. He joined NAMBLA to make a free speech point and then left once he made that point. It's not like he actually liked boys.

[ChrisnSnoop]

That makes no sense. Why should we dislike him as a person but like his poetry? He was a fantastic poet, yes, but he was also an inspirational person. The person makes the poetry... He isn't Rudyard Kipling where you can admire the work but dislike some of his beliefs.

Again, why should we dislike Ginsberg the person? Because he sympathized with Communists, the underclass, the exploited? Because he was gay? Because he spoke out for human rights and freedom of speech?

[ChrisnSnoop]

You don't always have to agree with every aspect of a person to like that person.

[dunkinking]

well none of what was listed is a reason why i dont like him. i dont like him because he sold the name beat... turned it into a scene and a fashion statement.... even kerouac (one of his closest friends) was like wtf man

[BloggerMusicMan]

Burroughs was good, Kerouac was great, Ginsberg was God.

[skankin45]

YES!!!!!!! I love Ginsberg. Ginsberg is my favorite

[clashcitywannabe]

My favorite beat writer (and maybe favorite poet ever) is corso but ginsberg was a far better performer than him, just soooo intense

[Kristoffee]

America this is quite serious.

[damM3]

When will you reinvent the heart?

When will you manufacture lands?

When will your cowboys reach spangler?

When will your dams release the flood of eastern tears?

When will your technicians get drunk and abolish money?

When will we institute religions of perception ill legislators?

When can I go into the super market and buy what I need with my good looks?

America after all it is you and I that is

perfect, not the next world.

You're machinery is too much for me

[damM3]

*When will your cowboys read Spengler?*

Also it seems to me like this poem was intended to be serious, but the audiance was just in a laughing mood for some reason. And it made Ginsberg laugh and read it with a more cheerful tone, and there is some funny lines but it definetly seems like a more serious, deep poem.

[Kristoffee]

@damM3 Seems to me that all great comedy has a serious point to make.

[Findiglay]

@damM3 Of course I think it is serious, but the humour of the poem is quite blatant to me. As Eliot said, humour is was of saying something serious.

[jonno52]

@ damM3: someone gave you a thumbs down for that comment but you're right. I read this poem 30 years ago and it never occurred to me that it was intended to be humorous. But hearing it read by the man, seems Ginsberg found the audience in a different mood and saw no problem emphasising the humorous element. And you CAN do it in a funny way, though I think it reduces the impact. He said he smoked marijuana every chance he got: maybe he got some good weed that night! And a few in the audience ??

[westpalmscott]

He was such a genius So funny and so truthfull

[y3k23k]

hey i just got into beat-poetry can someone recommend more poets like ginsberg or jack kerouac

[imoogi2]

@y3k23k gregory corso wrote some great stuff as well

[spacetobreathe]

William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, so on.

[guiraymond]

"Amérique je t'ai tout donné et maintenant je ne suis rien.

Amérique deux dollars et 27 cents le 17 janvier 1956.

Amérique je ne peux pas supporter mon propre esprit."

[cyanleopard]

Its funny how the problems with America that Ginsberg saw are what is tearing us down today. If only more people in the world would have listened to brilliant minds back when.

America when will wake up?

[Mehdihmili]

Allen, mon poète , mon ami..

[spooninspoon]

Wow... that was better than the version I read in the library. "America when my mind is made up there will be trouble"

[znkp]

@spooninspoon: Agreed, this version is better than the printed one.

[ludachris475]

Der Untergang des Abendlands:

[burnheranyway]

i love this reading so much that i don't like reading 'America' to myself anymore.

[otisrichard]

@burnheranyway I did the same thing. This was on a disc that came with a text I used in a poetry class back in my college days. I still laugh my ass off when I hear it some 10-15 years later.

The only way I can enjoy reading it now is to hear Ginsberg's voice, from this reading (not that Tom Waits one), in my head.

[dirtycelinefrenchman]

big time truth dosage, y'all

[clokverkorange]

Interesting - a couple of lines in this version. I like the line "When will you be worthy of your million Christs?" better than "your million Trotskyites".

[djdtpacker]

I love Allen Ginsberg and his gay Marxist-ness (:

By far the greatest Beat writer.

[JoeyRamonerulz]

@djdtpacker Gay "Marxist-ness"? I sincerely you weren't putting him down by saying that Marxism is gay, with gay being in the negative form often used by young people on the internet. But if you meant to say that you love his Marxist views, and the fact that he was for gay rights, then I agree. You could have put it in a better way though.

[Androg]

@JoeyRamonerulz I think he meant he liked the fact that Ginsberg was an openly gay man, and a marxist, mate.

[pmanspliff]

Did a long research project on Howl. Ginsberg inspired me to write poetry that emulates his style more or less. His influence on America and the world is even greater 5 stars

[Horwitz86]

Are we SURE this is ginsberhg READING!!! I know this is his poem BUT is it his voice its sounds a LOT like JACK DOES ANYONE KNOW FOR SURE??

[andyclaire]

definitely ginsberg

[clokverkorange]

No, that's Ginsberg.

[scientisttheorangepi]

WOW! Allen Ginsberg is fruitful and unstoppable!

[1987buick22psi]

And you are un-american for trying to silence free speech.

[chinaalteclansing]

You are all communist sympathizers for enjoying this poem! I shall report you all to the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

[SmokinBabies]

you mean fox news, they are the headquarters of un-american activities

[mussman717word]

This is my life! One of the greatest poets to ever walk the land, everything he says makes me feel one way or another, it's a sad thing that poetry is not as prevalent in American society as it used to be.

[mussman717word]

This guy is probably my favorite gay person ever, lol.

[PrincessShittyBottom]

He was the greatest homo to ever homo!

[bookcarbook]

It's great to hear ginsberg recite this poem naturally!

[theblackparade1039]

I can't stop smiling

[UnionKid15]

Allen Ginsberg was a pretty good poet, honest especially. This poem was okay, yet again, honest.

[PrincessShittyBottom]

Ginsberg was the last of the Great Homosexual Poets.

[MarxBakuninMe]

There will be other Great Homosexual Poets, I'm sure. I hope so anyway, 'cos modern poetry is a bit timid for my tastes.

[thenormalyears]

it occurs to me that i am america i am talking to myself again

asia is rising against me

i haven't got a chinaman's chance

[dannytxw]

beautiful. As true today as tomorrow!!!

[jonno52]

This is phenomenal. I had no idea there was a recording of Ginsberg reading this himself. Thanks for posting it.

[epiphaniesjuxtapozed]

there's a much better recording of this. i forget the album but i used to have it. i'll go look it up now!

[theblackparade1039]

it's on iTunes! I have it too... called simply "Howl". I rather like this live version, though.

[zerocoolct]

i doubt you met Ginsberg but somehow i believe you wanted to kiss you sister.

[raiu0009]

This poem really is one that's almost better heard than read. You get the real emotion and grasp it better than if you just read it. Once I heard Ginsberg read this I felt differently towards the poem than when I first read it.

[Arcthree]

Anonymouswhiteperson is Rabmunch,another way to ridicule Ginsberg.

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

Filthy Beatnicks.

[Krakko44]

well you don't believe in atoms so you don't have a say in anything

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

"America, when will your cowboys reach India?"

[onemillionexplosions]

america when will your cowboys read Spengler.... as in Oswald Spengler author of Der Untergang des Abendlands trasnlated as The Decline of the West

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

Atom bomb?

According to Hans Spemann and Alexander Gurwitsch an Atom is a popular fiction. it does not exist independent of processes, any more than a point may be independent of a line, the visual domain of macroscopic objects.

[Behringer1001]

the Atom bomb is what was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki after ww2, AND yes an atom cannot be seen, there are representations using computer graphics and theoretical depictions. But, the reason scientists know they exist is due to expiramentation using mathmatical formulas and matter to which very many correct responses, like the Atom Bomb and how it EXPLODES!!!!!!,

[Behringer1001]

are seen*****

[Krakko44]

AnonymousWhitePerson is a psycho, he says black people are apes in his channel and has a bunch of BS about inferior races and Hitler

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

I have the same birthday as Hitler.

[Krakko44]

are you a pussy vegatarian too like Hitler was?

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

This poem makes my prostate brittle.

[Razool543]

Doesn't resonate today? what kind of cynic are you? Are you so arrogent to assume that every generation is first before the last. History repeasts itself and if you cant learn from the past then you dont know what your talking about. Also the fact is, is this is a peice of art. If your looking for polictial commentary on your day and age when your day and age is near 50 years ahead then your a damn MORON.

[sunoftheutube]

i cuddle with my sister to this poem. mmm

[dorknight25]

You can live on it if you want, but it doesn`t resonate today. It doesn`t have any meaning anymore, its a collection of words that once had something to say but now its gone. I lament it as much as I hate it. The past has no time for anyone who considers these words as present.

[Krakko44]

i think ginsberg's work relates to todays youth as much as it did in the 50s, its even more relevant now then ever...

[sunoftheutube]

i met ginsberg and he smelled like opression and coffee. My sister made out with him in front of me. I was jealous. I wanted to kiss my sister

[properbeatz]

In theme with Ginsberg.

Very good.

[nevadastreak]

haha!

[bookcarbook]

hey, it means a lot to me - a person wh lives outside of the u,s of a.

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

It is literary pornography.

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

'Howl' was a piece of puerile literary filth.

[olimann900]

I thoroughly disagree, but are entitled to your opinion. What makes you dislike it so strongly?

[olimann900]

Okay, I'm not going to get an intelligent response out of you, so nevermind.

[AnonymousWhitePerson]

Howl as a book is just a collection of animal noises.

[Krakko44]

It's a poem. Strange you describe it as "filth" when that poem has influenced your life and freed you in ways you take for granted every day, yet probably will never understand.

[Maxspatula]

That's sort of the point. 'S why it's called Howl.