"The Great Mandella (The Wheel Of Life)" Peter Yarrow cover

[Sitarfixer]

Powerful song ! Shame it is so timely today. I fear generations from now will say the same hearing this song. Can you imagine it being sung in Arabic !?! A solid spot on performance by you. Forceful presentation without the hard sell. Thank you, good Sir. You are a fine musician !

[whiteice100]

I always loved this song ...

[sirslice]

Point of interest: The song is The Great "Mandala" as in universe. I'm guessing with the notoriety of Nelson Medella it's easy to make the spelling mistake, then again it can take away from the meaning of the song title.

[tommiji]

Thanks. Actually, that's the way PP&M spelled it on their 1967 release 'Album 1700'. I'm not sure if they knew about Mr. Mandella back then. It can be confusing now that he's so famous. I was going to correct the spelling when I first posted this. I guess I still can... maybe I will. Thx again!

[kyasa86]

Well done my man.

Had a hankering for some PP&M...listened to stewball and remembered this song. Was dissapointed not to find their version of this song but you did a great job.

Powerful song,thanks TOMMIJI

[oldflamingo]

Haven't listened to this song much since "Album 1700"..but the lyrics blow through my head regularly.... Some things never chnge, do they?

[rsvlruffels]

this is a great song. the most chilling/ listen to it/

[tommiji]

hey, glad you like it! thanks for stopping by!

[meanwiddlekid]

Boooooooooooo!

[RAGINGGranny1]

Beautiful version of a song I haven't thought of for years until someone mentioned it on the Mike Malloy show last night. Very nice job, Tommiji -- you put your heart and soul into this very profound song. Thank you.

[tommiji]

Gosh, thanks! I appreciate your kind words. I remember this song having a deep impact when I heard it as a very young man. Unfortunately the irrational impulse for war that it addresses is still an issue we have to deal with. :-(

[Burch9]

Very clean sound, well done mate!

[tommiji]

Hey, thanks for saying so, bro!

[wleming]

was ist das fur ein schnorer mit gitarre?

messuganah lied und noch schlimmer ist der

lied macher tut mir vey... oi

[colinjohnrudd]

You're wrong sonnenberg,the last verse emphasises the hopelessness of the individual when faced with mass insanity....it's the killer verse that brings the song home with fire and passion!...(but i could be wrong)

[tommiji]

Thanks, Colin. You're right. Sonnenberg is such a hater! (just kidding - he's a grand friend, of course).

Singing the song, I inhabit a cathartic emotional landscape. In that realm it speaks a valid Truth. In my real life I could never point to any person and say, "This song is about you", for every individual has as much chance at the spirit of redemption as they have to cater to the spirit of hate - we all fairly navigate 'twixt them both... and more, still.

[sonnenberg]

Love the performance, but I think the song's weak... I like the chorus'ambiguity: it could Krishna's advice to Arjuna, only father to son... but then the last verse cartoonishly demonizes the narrator... It would have been stronger if he remained human...

[sonnenberg]

Of course, I could be wrong!

P

[tommiji]

Your point is well taken, but I think of the characters as metaphorically representing the spirits of contending worldviews and the final verse strips the Spirit of War to its bare bones and exposes its ultimate Death Wish.

[tommiji]

Sure, when you're talking about individuals there are shades of grey. There are plenty of songs, poems, movies and other literature to explore that. This song doesn't condemn any actual persons but asks them to look at the historical outcome of investing in the spirit they nurture still in contemporary times.

[sonnenberg]

But the verses are clearly spoken by the father, and there's nothing about the third one to indicate a change of voice. Only in the mind of an ideologue would a human father, however opinionated, speak the last lines re: the death of his son. By putting these words in the father's mouth, the writer reveals the shallowness of his vision and undermines his argument.

[sonnenberg]

It occurs to me that a very subtle change in the last verse would fix the song, and suggest a glimmer of conscience in the mind of the father: Change every 'we' in the last verse to 'you'.

[tommiji]

You missed my point. These are not actual humans having a realistic conversation. They are poetic metaphors. The referent of the metaphors is not people but ideals - memes - that have a hold on people. The writer is examining the stark, deadly reality those ideals have and always have had. The third verse lays bare the meme - the father is merely a voicebox for the ultimate deathwish of the ideal he's been channeling all along.

[sonnenberg]

You make my point. If you identify a character as a father, and then turn him into a meme without a glimmer of humanity, you've written a bad song. Like-minded ideologues will love it, but no minds will be changed.

[tommiji]

It's a risk the poet takes - literalists will miss the point entirely. A listener who grasps the language of metaphor will accept that the father character represents the stark reality behind violent conflict. Even the warmonger will be woken from his stupor and realize the hopeless brutality behind the meme he's allowed into his psyche and will turn back to his heart (the son character) and won't allow him to starve, but will nurture him again.

[sonnenberg]

If using a ham fist where a paint brush would do is a risk, then I'll admit I'm reading the wrong poets. I'd rather a writer take the risk that their audience is intelligent enough to be led by nuance. Otherwise, we're talking about polemic, not poetry.

[tommiji]

Now you are the fundamentalist saying all poetry must be subtle and always explore gray areas. Nick Cave must rewrite 'Murder Ballads' then. Saying this song is valid does not invalidate any others - to say it does is polemic. This song examines head-on the nasty spirit which enflames people towards war. Other songs explore the complexities of the wider human dilemma.

[tommiji]

The moment the bullet pierces a heart is not gray - it snuffs a soul. There are subjects to approach with subtlety and I'm a huge fan. I also appreciate the gross and recognize when it is valid and required.

[sonnenberg]

The writer has himself chosen to create specific human characters: An activist son and his father, taking us out of the "War Pigs" realm of the broadly symbolic. Then, he undermines his own creation by putting impossible sentiments into the mouth of the father. Nick speaks believably for his psychopaths. Not so here.

[tommiji]

The father character has invested in an ideal without considering its terrifying outcome or its frightening genesis. The final verse reveals the stark, ultimate reality of that world-view -- a horrid death-wish. When one says, "We must war" one is really surrendering life-affirmation for a misguided self-hatred. No humans were harmed or denigrated in this little play. Ideas were challenged by representing them as individuals - "personification" or "anthropomorphization".

[tommiji]

Oh, thanks a lot - like I don't already have enough problems with haters! Haha, just kidding, Paul.

[REDNECKPEPI64]

***** stars and favorite :)

[LiquidCreek]

Its very strong -

[tommiji]

indeed. i tend to gravitate towards intense songs. thx.

[mammagraham]

love this bro

[tommiji]

hey thnaks!