Phil Ochs - The Party

Phil Ochs, a political song-writer for the most part, wrote this song which, to me, seemed to come from out of the clear blue sky. But then I realized that this is just a scathing indictment of high society. The ending is the best part. But there are other great parts, too.
"counting notches on his thigh bone."
Haha, that dude is just bored as fuck. It's some really remarkable writing, with a great melody to boot. I sit and listen to this for an hour straight sometimes, when I've been drinking.
I found a tab of it, too, if you want to play it on guitar

G c g
The fire breathing rebels arrive at the party early,
C d
Their khaki coats are hung in the closet near the fur.
C d g -em
Asking handouts from the ladies, while they criticize the lords.
E d g em
Boasting of the murder of the very hands that pour.
C d g em
And the victims learn to giggle, for at least they are not bored.
Am d
And my shoulders had to shrug
Am
As I crawl beneath the rug
D g
And retune my piano.

The hostess is enormous, she fills the room with perfume,
She meets the guests and smothers them with greetings.
And she asks how are you as she offers them a drink,
The countess of the social grace, who never seems to blink.
And she promises to talk to you, if you promise not to think.
And my shoulders had to shrug, as I crawled beneath the rug
And retuned my piano.

The beauty of the hour is blazing in the present,
She surrounds herself with those who would surrender.
Floating in the flattery shes a trophy-prize, caressed.
Protected by a pretty face, sometimes cursed, sometimes blessed.
And shes staring down their desires, while theyre staring down her dress.
And my shoulders had to shrug, etc.

The egos shine like lightbulbs, so bright you cannot see them,
Blind each other blinder than a sandbox.
All the fury of an argument, holding back their yawns,
A challenge shakes the chandliers, the selfish swords are drawn.
To the loser go the hangups, to the victor go the hangers on.
And my shoulders had to shrug, etc.

They travel to the table, the host is served for supper,
And they pass each other for salt and pepper.
And the conversation sparkles as their wits are dipped in wine,
Dinosaurs on a diet, on each other they will dine.
Then they pick their teeth and they squelch a belch saying:
Darling you tasted divine.
And my shoulders had to shrug, etc.

The wallflower is waiting, she hides behind composure.
Shed love to dance and prays that no one asks her.
Then she steals a glance at lovers while her fingers tease her hair.
And she marvels at the confidence of those who hide their fears.
Then her eyes are closed as she rides away with a foreign legionaire.
And my shoulders had to shrug, etc.

Romeo is reeling, counting notches on his thighbone,
Searching for one hundred and eleven.
And hes charming as a child as he leads them to the web,
Seducing queens and gypsy girls in the boudoir of his head.
Then he wraps himself with a tablecloth and pretends he is a bed.
And my shoulders had to shrug, etc.

The party must be over, even the losers are leaving.
But just one doubt is nagging at my caustic mind:
So I snuck up close behind me and I gave myself a kiss,
And I led myself to the mirror to expose what I had missed.
There I saw a laughing maniac who was writing songs like this.
And my shoulders had to shrug, etc.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Phil
• Ochs
• The
• Party

[plett410]

Why aren't my posts showing up?

[Shapelander]

I can see your posts O_o

I'm actually waiting to get a hold of a Phil Ochs vinyl that my friend has, but he's in Oklahoma, coming back tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get to see him.

I still don't have Ochs on this computer though, which sucks. My CD drive won't even open now. I need to figs it. I mean, fix it.

[plett410]

I wouldn't call "Nixon" a bad ass name (The claiming is appreciated though lol He was a 120 lb choclate lab), but I did get some interesting looks when I called out his name in front of folks on the street over the years.

I hunt pheasants, and my more liberal friends always laughed and made kindly meant comments when I shouted out commands to him.

"Nixon, heel", "Nixon, get over here".

"GOD DAMNIT NIXON!", LOL

[Shapelander]

I think it's a cool name all around, although I tend to think that of a lot of names with X's in them.

Dixon. Wexford. Alexandra. Dexter.

"Sit" is actually okay. One-word names I dig because they're almost like alien names. There aren't enough syllables to really wrap your mind around what it's supposed to mean. Even the words "dog" or "ox" or "horse" are like that. They seem not of this earth.

[plett410]

In the interest of full disclosure, my last dog was named "Nixon". His AKC legal name was "Nixon, now more than ever". lol I'm not kidding.

I don't care for commies, but I respect and appreciate folks that think, and are willing to take an informed stand.

Ochs and I likely had little commonality in politics and policy, but I miss his opinions and songs every day.

Phil's heart and caring were in the right place. For that alone he should be respected.

He was a hell of an artist to boot.

[Shapelander]

Hahaha. That's a badass name for a dog. I was actually helping my friend name her new cat earlier today and eventually ended up coming to that idea of naming a pet an IDEA, and not just like "Chester" or something.

I kept thinking of naming the cat, "Everyone be still." I think it has a really cool understated desperation to it.

I'm going to try and post some more Phil Ochs stuff, I just need to get it all back on my computer.

[Illuminatta]

This is brilliant. I adore him. So sad he went and killed himself. For some reason this just reminds me of the Capitol in The Hunger Games.

[Thetitwrench]

Some of the best lyrics I've encountered. I don't know what a contemporary Phil Ochs would sound like, but he's clearly missed and has not been replaced.

[msbfd]

@dpgjmg

Lincoln Mayorga.

Google him. He's amazing, and he's still performing.

[msbfd]

@autodelete66

Yep. This song is basically a true story, tarted up to sing better.  That's what Phil Ochs did best, but when he stopped reading the news and started looking at Americans, he got really depressed.

[spacepatrolman]

@plett410 The searchers had a song called tricky dicky but it doeesnt relate to nixon

[MrDavidFeldmann]

I forgot how much I love this song. His A&M releases are incredibly underrated. They show such growth and depth. His lyrics become more layered and scathing (despite what some fans say). The sarcasm in this song is very clever.

[pickpjh]

I always thought that the Piano Man by Billy Joel was a direct rip off of this better song.

[flippikat]

Bob Dylan never did lounge-with-attitude! Good stuff, Phil. :-)

[dpgjmg]

Thanks, saintyclaws.