Tom Russell performs East of Woodstock, West of Vietnam

East of Woodstock, West of Viet Nam. This song is an account of Tom Russell's stint in Nigeria in the late 60's. It's a brilliant contrast or comparison between him teaching in Africa while at the same time others his age back in the states are delving in the world of drugs and free love that occurred within the "hippie" counter-culture. Russell sings, "moveable feast of war and memory, a dark old lullaby/it was a smoke of a thousand cook-fires it was the wrong end of a gun/Yeah, East of Woodstock, West of Viet Nam". He paints a graphically explicit picture of his personal adventure while teaching in Nigeria. We, as listeners, definitely feel as if we are there, surrounded by the red clay, the dust and smoke. The horns, the guitars, the snare drum all add to the mood of this brilliantly written and arranged song.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Tom Russell
• Blood & Candlesmoke

[mickeymousebiker1]

It's been a long time since I heard from Tom Russell. This tune is brilliant - sheer poetry at its very best! This tune would lend itself very well to a movie soundtrack (about the 1960s, of course). A magnificent/sublime retrospective tune. If he was alive today, I wonder what Joseph Conrad would think of this one?

[vs0522]

Great song ... why isn't he more well known?