Say Goodbye to John Steinbeck

Freedom of expression means a lot to me. I didn't realize quite how much until, while I was living in Calgary, a member of the Alberta government stood up in the Legislature brandishing a petition and calling for a ban on Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Maybe it was because my father urged me to read the book when I was ten. Anyway, I wrote this song. Turned out that a lot of people felt the same way I did. We shut down that particular campaign. But censorship keeps coming back. That's why, to me, this song remains relevant.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ken McGoogan
• Freedom of expression
• censorship
• nobel prize
• John Steinbeck

[VeronaPound]

I am just a student, sir

and I really want to learn

but it's hard to read through

the rising smoke from the

books that you like to burn.

Phil Ochs