Added: 4 years ago
From: squarepyramid99
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  • memories of sneaking out to the lounge room at night as a kid and putting on the parents' records. good stuff :)

  • Only in America is it true and a God given right that is protected by our Constitution, "life is for the taking" for not only the pursuit of happiness but even more so it is up to you to choose what really, really gives you happiness. There are no rules nor limitations other than the 'Golden Rule", and we all konw what that is, Go for it!!!!!!

  • 0.28 looks like Harry Potter on drugs xxxx

  • I was young and free throuigh May of 1970. After May things went down hill very fast and my mind went into a tailspin. To make matters worse I played this song over and over and over in my mind constantly. I became obsessed with the lyrics. I learned to play it on my guitar. To make a long story short, monitarily things could not be better. But emotionally this song is still a part of me. If I could, I would trade it all for what I had when I was young and free for those 4 months in 1970.

  • @expwebster1 Yeah. May of 1970. Four dead in O-hi-o. The world seemed to change.

  • great song thanks for posting

  • life is here, only for the taking!

    ...took me some time to understand and realize

  • God I LOOOVE this song! It's one of my all-time faves. But I only had it on vinyl, which I don't have anymore. It's GREAT to hear again! Thanks for posting!

  • I really don't like this song, I LOVE IT! Great comments by the way.

  • INTELLECTUAL YOUTUBE DISCUSSIONS REALLY TURN MY BRAIN ON.

    

  • The song Who Am I by Casting Crowns is a wonderful counterpart to this beautiful, telling song. Both are asking, "Who am I?"

  • Who am I? I'm so high I forgot.

  • God knows I've felt this way before. . . He's always by my side. . . He's always on our side. . . Who am I?

  • as |I said earlier the earlier stuff is usually better, but I like c j fish in places, also susan from together

  • Who am i

  • Who are you!

  • life is here... only for the taking- frick- these guys were way on it so long ago..

  • the guy on the right at 1:56 looks like David Berkowitz!

  • @mkultra2300 .........They're all Jews.

  • @mrniggerbaiter uh oh are they part of the international zionist banking cartel? I alway suspected country Joe. What a relevent comment.

  • @mrniggerbaiter ah yess , McDonald, that well known hebrew name...

  • This song means as much today and as fresh as my first trip with it flying TLA powered by LSD ,But those where the daze I survived.Still got the Love N side.

  • @freebymagick whas TLA?

  • @mkultra2300 Trans Love Air waves.Then MK-Ultra got a hold of me mind crimes.Yes?

  • @freebymagick Yes, yes, young Alex.

  • I really love Country Joe and the Fish

    Im only 15,and nothing of this generation can speak to me like the timeless 60's

    Where all the Beautiful People had the will to be weird

    And realities out of this world.

  • @skovie23232  I was one! My favorite tune by one of my favorite bands.

  • @skovie23232 You have latent hippie parents? LOL If, somehow, they guided you to this song, they are good people.

  • @Kostly No man I have a high maintenance military family, and somehow have fallen in love with this era, im the only hippie like person there

  • @skovie23232 Thats even better. Good on you, kid. There was a lot of good going around back then. There was a lot of bad, too. Keep perspective.

  • @skovie23232 i couldn't agree more. the world is going to hell and love is a dwindling luxury

  • we played this song at the funeral of my father...

    much love to the writer and singer...

  • I saw Country Joe and the Fish at an anti War / anti Kent State shootings, at a rally in Exhibition Park in May 1970 ..... Heady times ...... Now at 60 I wonder how I survived them ......

  • the audience is probably larger than we all imagined... than you Joe!

  • Wonderful song,,just discovered it this week. Thanks for posting

  • just heard both song and band for the first time, and shit that was good music man.

  • Lads - religion is what we *do*, as per The Good Samaritan.

  • Stop arguing over religion please. It's really an undeterminable answer and being arrogant about "superior personal beliefs" is stupid, no matter what you believe in.

  • @goldsociety Well said. The "new atheism" is a militant credo and one that is forever harassing people for daring to believe other than they do.

    I don't know what Joe MacDonald and the Fish believe, but Country Joe took a stand against the madness of the imperial war against Viet Nam, and for that I say may God bless him.

    Besides, the Fish made some great music. Also, they really pissed of the cops at the Orange County Pop Festival in '68. I was there.

    Peace, man.

  • I am just a bit too young to actually remember this great music, but as I am nearing my mid-life crisis, I am going back in time and (re)discover some bloody great music, like Country Joe.

  • it makes me sad to listen to such a beatifull song

    knowing there are millions of free minded people but there doenst change a thing

    we keep destroying this beautifful gift and humankind

    love

  • C, G and D is all Country Joe used to put this timeless message across. Top work, Joe!

  • My older sister was one of the first flower children and used to dress me up with beads and we,d hitchhike to Haight and Ashbury.We grew up in Sausalito,this was in 1966 and I was 9 years old. I saw Janis in 66 and the Dead on Haight street in 67.It really was a special time and there was something in the air.It seemed to last a very short time ,it,s impossible to explain and feels very personel. I still and always will beleive in Love,Gene.

  • Wer bin ich?

    (indeed....)

  • die bist en deutschland

  • im 15, this stuff is where its at

  • @hempfest2010 I'm 32... I agree.

  • @hempfest2010 Now you're 16. Go. Explore, young man. :)

  • mcrkt..you might like Mobey Grape too.

  • This song is so 60's, but it should be required listening for everyone. Thank you Fish!

  • Don't ya just love internet philosophers?

  • @fantasyfish92

    Wait a minute now young man. I have been an Internet Philosopher for some 30 years now and I can tell you that requires study of many disciplines to a micron-thin level of detail.

    This is not something you can just 'do' without the proper accreditation from a Well Known Chat Forum or other institution.

    Take heed young man.

  • wow im 13 i like it i like it alot

  • who cares :) im 14 lol,

  • Everyone is the guru.....

  • This song works very well for teenagers who are lost, who don't know where they want to go or what they're supposed to be. I should know, I'm one of them. To me though that being lost can be being free, because when you're lost, you don't have to worry about other people's thoughts of you. Plus, you are not attached to one thing or idea. Being lost is not lost, it's being free. You are only lost if you are stuck.

  • I've realize after 48 years i have some sort of ADD but i use it.. i'm all over the place, very creative. Work for myself.. problem is if you have ADD you can't live your life as the rest think you should, i've never worked 9to5 or held a job working for someone else for more than a year.... you need to be free to do it your way. As long as you have others that support you or you just don't care what others think, you can kick some ass..

  • @SURFSTYLEY4

    thats quite a relief hearing you say that, haha, i truely have ADD

    take meds before school for it

  • merry christmas :)

  • why use ritalin if you have : lsd , peyote , salvia , marijuana , Magic mushrooms all mind expanding all fun

    feel the psychadelic love revolution

  • and all free just growing out of the ground

  • sure as hell dont use my ritalin...nuh uh not since i found themagic mushrooms under my bathroom mat (-)_(-)

  • Rebirth of peace love and freedom :P

  • Who Am I?

    may never know

  • It really is a timeless song...<3

  • @MicrowavedFish i know baby ;)

    your A

  • its so nice i hear the same song twice

  • Can't think of a witty reply, is it enough to say you are stone right.

  • A lot of people dont want introspection. Some are afraid to look too deep inside. Some never look far enough within to even reach the point of fear...

    They just want things to distract them between now and the time of their death. Todays culture doesnt promote introspection or self-knowledge, just distraction and numbness. Thats a waste of precious time, in my opinion, but many people cant see this.

    I'm 25, incidentally. Just in case anyone's wondering :P

  • agreed.

  • "Todays culture doesnt promote introspection or self-knowledge"

    No they don't,they call it ADD and prescribe for you some Ritalin.

  • WHAT? are you teling me I can get ritalin if I have ADD?

    merci beaucoup!

  • :)

    You can get high off Ritalin?

    I thought it made people stoned without the actual joy of being stoned...if you follow me.

  • I don't know how it works, I think it's a bit like amphetamine, which in my experience is just like extreme coffee, which is fun though. But apparently you can get pretty fucked up on ritalin...

    loads of junkies who use it recreationally where I live .

  • There is a study out that is showing that ritalin does work for ADD and blah blah will help the kid get better grades blah blah...BUT it is also showing that the drug has an effect on the part of the brain that is used for making your dreams into reality. It takes away the kids ability to turn Motivation into Actions. This was only one study but maybe we like with so many legal drugs have rushed into using ritalin to wide spread.

  • The distraction & numbness is called religion.

  • Well, religion is certainly one form. Another is politics; turn everything into a political issue and divide people over it. Alcohol and prescription meds are other forms. TV is a MAJOR form of distraction of numbness IMO. TV is a cross between religion and addiction for many people (they have blind faith in it, and cant live without it). Thats been my observation anyhow.

  • agreed my friend. Made me think of zappa's song "i'm the slime"

  • @DangerousBastard is youtube a distraction? not being an asshole but everybody (most everybody) is guilty of seeking distraction. Agreed, tv creates apathetic bored numb distracted people but I am here on youtube as are you. don't judge.

  • Why do you assume I'm judging? I'm only making an observation. No judgement. No guilt.

  • Youtube and TV are the same. 100% the same, we use it to kill time that we're bored with. To find something to keep our minds busy so we don't have to think of other things (sounds like drugs doesn't it :P)

  • @bluedream1252 Atheism is one of the worst side effects of excessive drug use.

  • @KaptKan1 I would say the opposite theism is one of the effects of excessive drug use . People who did a lot of lsd some times became relegious , which is really lame cause they started to actually believe the bizarre surrealistic experiences they had with it . Really sad ...

  • @az0r22 Well here is one for you to chew over: 100% of all psychopaths are atheists. Not a single one of them recognises a higher power than its own ego. Interesting, that.

  • @KaptKan1 It is really cool how you theists make stuff up on the spot just to back up your retarded arguments , I ll just say the first name of a psychopath who was a theist that comes up to my mind ... hm ... Rocky Erickson ( psychedelic rock related figure who was in fact a theist ) let's see what else mathematicians ...hmmm Gottlob Frege he sure was insane and really really religious . Please give me something valid to chew over and not some 100 % bullshit .

  • was Roky btw not Rocky sorry bout that

  • @az0r22 It's really cool how you stupid atheists make up bullshit like naming somebody who is crazy and "religious" and then claiming that that disproves what I said. There are many different kinds of madness; I only made the entirely accurate statement of a fact known to all clinical psychologists: all sociopaths/psychopaths are atheists for the stated reason. That is only one form of insanity of course.

    Some famous atheists: Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot.

    End of communications with you, fool.

  • @KaptKan1 Is your IQ bellow 0 or something m8 ? Why do you keep making statements that prove shit ? And why do you not make sense "make up bullshit like naming somebody " do you know what make up means ? It's a story, name, word that is not true or real:, naming somebody is not making up things . Also try being a little more open minded please won't hurt much .

  • @KaptKan1 Some famous theists: George Bush, Osama Bin Laden...

  • @russthelegend57 Anyone can have a religion or not and be an asshole, agreed?  The difference is that the major religions call on their followers to be better people whereas militant atheists have no qualms about doing whatever they please because they worship nothing more than their own egos. The fact that there are a lot of religious hypocrites does not make religious belief bad; it's the failure to LIVE it that causes the problems. Religion has values; atheism has none. I made my choice.

  • @russthelegend57 Alright man, People who are "faithful" to religon is just afraid of the after life and afraid of dealing with life without someone to ask for help. Everything you believe in is just a means to an end. And don't pull that Osama Bin laden shit, hes fucking Muslim, not an Athiest.

  • i was fifteen when I first heard this song. It's amazing that even though it was created decades ago, it still hit me.

  • Even Bill Gates cannot say he is 100 percent satisfied with all of his decisions and his life. What human being cannot see his or herself in this song?

    Introspective and cleansing all at once.

    Thanks for posting.

  • Great Album. One of my fav songs. Yes I have the orig album- can't play it - my older siblings got the Album when it came out.

    I was a little kid, but this was song that I liked from the Album.

  • The only song on the entire album that ever uses the title in the lyrics.

  • haha,it sounds like most of the people that comment were alive when this came out. damn

  • Believe it or not but people live longer than 20 30 yrs. Whats so "Damn"?

  • u mean 43 years.

  • how old are you?

  • am 59.

  • prostate exam, hhah?

  • At least I SAW & HEARD this band and all the other's of that time, u can't say the same, sonny!!!

  • damn, you are right ... xD but my ass still virgin!

  • Man, it's just a medical exam, not sex, son!

  • Comment removed

  • Beautiful.

  • 40 years later and I still have the album. Can't play though.

  • this came out the year of my birth and its fantastic sweet at times.harder edged aswell on some tracks,thankyou

  • opps i forgot....

    squarepyramid99

    Thanks for posting

  • Yeah. Thanks squarepyamid99.

  • this 8 track lived in my dodge charger..omg i love this song and eastern jam....the fish were aliens for sure...

  • I had just returned to the US from two years in India in 1968, sleeping on the floor a HS friend's apartment in West Philadelphia, deciding what to do with the rest of my life. Hearing this song for the first time; couldn't get enough of it. I had to hear it over and over again. Now, years, decades later, it still haunts me.

  • Right On bobubai. The song is all about introspection and objective self knowledge. How can any human being not have this song resonate within their soul.

  • @bobubai

    wut has become of you,

    your story reminds me of myself

    it makes me sad when i watch how the world is going

    and that nobody cares

    i

  • I feel this song is a part of my past...

  • It made me feel, transported me beyond the trash of the dark side of 'work ethic' england. Long live the freedom and the beautiful innocence of that period the spiritual and musical renaissance that captivated us all

  • Im 64 now and I was lucky enough to be right in the middle of all the fantastic music of the 60s and 70s! It does my heart good to know that all you younger people are getting to hear the really good acid rock too! It is "far out"!

  • @bikeswinegary

    haha man, thats amazing, im 14, acid, psychedelic and progressive 60s and 70s rock are my life

  • @1m2a3t4t5 Wow im so glad that another teenager likes psych bands.

  • @bikeswinegary im 14 and listen only to music from the 60's 70's and 80's

  • I cRy InTo The Echo Of My LoneLiNess..

    wHo Am I...

  • I've loved this song for many years. Haven't heard it in a long time.

  • Great lyrics. Thanks squarepyrimid99.

  • for me these lyrics beat Dylan, Lennon -almost anyone I can think of at the moment. Brilliant.

  • yeah these lyrics are amazing.

  • Realy exceptional as the whole album. but this lyrics...man they make oyu think and reflect upon aour life.

  • first time discovering this song, its amazing! we all need to take a stand to music they call today and bring back the oldies!!!!

  • Cool.

  • Thanks for putting this up. It is one of my all time favorite songs.

  • saw them several times, did lights for them once. This is my fav, Country Joe was a hero, check out one of his solo albums if you want to hear his poetry. There should still be a best of around from Vanguard-Life and Times of C.J.+ the Fish.

  • This is probally my favorite song on this album. I first got this on cassette back in 8th grade, 1991. This song still drives me to tears everytime I hear it.

  • agreed i'm 14 and i hate todays music and everthing that follows it.

  • same here.except Im 13,Im even writing a piece for school about how the pasts music doesnt compare to modern

  • I like my 15 year old son's music and he likes mine from the sixties

  • so good.

  • Wow. I had no idea this guy was this DEEP. This guy has a BRAIN. Really, really interesting.

  • Very nice song...

  • Country Joe wrote poetry, and really GREAT poetry, man!

  • @KaptKan1

    yes he did

  • GAVE UP? your vinyl collection? sorry man but that sounds like you made a decision on your end.. =|

  • I love the cover version Damon & Naomi did of this one, but the original song I love even more :)

  • just picked this album up on vinyl..its fucking awesome

  • I know this guy.

  • Great LP from 1967! I never got it on CD (yet)

    I was 14, my older bro 17, and we were both part of the lottery to be drafted & probably be sent to Vietnam. Neither of us went. THank God!

  • I was so young, 13 or 14. I found this song while under the influence of Southern Comfort and speed... I listened to it over and over and over and over... it was a mantra in my head for years to come. It comes back sometimes, a dark but familiar shadow that brings with it a wave of memories of all my friends who have gone ahead of me now. My friends from my youth who will be forever young and I still wonder sometimes... "Who Am I to stand and wonder to wait..." Frank Abney

  • thats beautiful man.

  • Certainly they opened for Steppenwolf. And your guy might have been in the audience, but if he was ever in the band I'll eat my house.

  • what is joe's last name

    if you know can someone please tell me

  • That's "Country" Joe McDonald. Not to be confused with the restaurant chain!

  • thank you

    im taking lessons from Joe Pinter who was in country joe and the fish he has a sign showing the as an opening act to steppenwolf didnt know if these were the same people or not

  • HEy I just found this cd at soundscapes in toronto one of my faves to listen to rock on .

  • I agree thanks for bringing the past up loved this album gimme an f keep it coming.

  • Poetic and symbloic of the times. So under'rated and overlooked. But for those of us who have paid attention to it, it has deep meaning. Good memories go not only with this song, but with the whole album. What else can I say, but praise them as the genius musicians that they were. Peace and God bless.

  • Cool! Thanks for posting this video.

  • No, I didn't post it, but glad someone did, one great LP of me teens!

  • Thanks for postin' this!

  • It's great to hear this song again. I just found their entire first album (posted by blestemp from Denmark) then saw 'Who Am I'.

    I bought their first album in June 67 and then this one in Fall 67.

    Thanks for taking time to post this. It's great to hear this again.

    I wish I could now find their song: 'Donovan's Reef' from their 1969 or 70 album.

  • how can I find this album I owned it many years ago want to find it again.any help would be appr

    acited

  • amazon / ebay? You can find nearly every cd or lp there

  • It was the late 60's & I was walking through

    Mia. Intl. Airport when a scraggly group of guys passed. Of course, I had seen them the week before at a Viet Nam protest in a church in the E. Village. Country Joe & The Fish.

    What else? "GIVE ME AN F." They gave me the

    Vee for peace. Country Joe is still at it.

    Supporting Cindy Sheehan against Pelosi. God

    Bless You Joe.

  • Best song they ever did. Went great with a little smoke and Ba Moui Ba or perhaps some local rum. First time I've heard it in years. Cam on nhieu lam. That is, thank you very much.

  • You might want to try WMNF 88.5 Tampa FL.

  • A great song by one of the most underrated groups of alltime. I live near Seattle, home of KZOK fm classic rock, but they don't have a single CJ&FISH song. thank you-youtube for bringin' the past ALIVE!!

  • has anyone got rock coast blues by c j & t f

  • I am alone now, would like to meet up w/ someone and answer that question,, "W A I"...perhaps re-kindle the late 60's feeling.??..??..

  • Hey, thanks for puttin 'this up...this is my favorite album, favorite song..but who the hell cares anymore, anyway???...30 yrs. ago, I had a possible chance at life...

  • Oh bliss! Saw them in 1970 at the fabulous Bath Festival. Wonderful memories ..................

    ~(:o})=

  • Sounds as good today as it did over 40 years ago. Still sounds fresh. A classic. Thanks.