Phil Ochs- Outside A Small Circle of Friends

Look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed
They've dragged her to the bushes and now she's being stabbed
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

Riding down the highway, yes, my back is getting stiff
Thirteen cars are piled up, they're hanging on a cliff.
Maybe we should pull them back with our towing chain
But we gotta move and we might get sued and it looks like it's gonna rain
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

Sweating in the ghetto with the colored and the poor
The rats have joined the babies who are sleeping on the floor
Now wouldn't it be a riot if they really blew their tops?
But they got too much already and besides we got the cops
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

Oh there's a dirty paper using sex to make a sale
The Supreme Court was so upset, they sent him off to jail.
Maybe we should help the fiend and take away his fine.
But we're busy reading Playboy and the Sunday New York Times
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

Smoking marihuana is more fun than drinking beer,
But a friend of ours was captured and they gave him thirty years
Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why
But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

Oh look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed
They've dragged her to the bushes and now she's being stabbed
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

[ Additional verse, 1974]

Down in Santiago where they took away our mines
We cut off all their money so they robbed the storehouse blind
Now maybe we should ask some questions, maybe shed a tear
But I bet you a copper penny, it cannot happen here
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends

Category:

Music

Tags:

• phil
• ochs

[MTAllenby]

@Aom567 It's called being ironic. If we limit our concern to our small circle of friends then the world really is fucked.

[thoraxtimpaler]

3 people have no taste in music.

[johnwilliambrandkamp]

Are people ACTUALLY taking the lyrics of this song literally? That's scarier than what Phil is busy excoriating. Do people not have ANY concept of irony and satire? Please people, read or reread Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal."

[foucault1020]

@johnbleroy My mistake.Berkeley Barb was not always checking facts.Henry Miller, Ginsberg were sort of breaking new ground.Booksellers were jailed for selling what was deemed pornography.Not anecdotal.People were being prosecuted vice squads, etc.It's the way it was.

[johnbleroy]

@foucault1020 Allen Ginsberg was never jailed for anything in his life. Get your facts straight before you right an editorial.

[osscouter]

This brings back memories of listening to Pete Fournatelle on WNEW-FM. Thanks for posting it.

[porterbehling]

101,001 viewer!

[oddjob19991]

this song is sooo violent

[dadzbluz]

"Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune'" is an excellent documentary on the folk singer, Phil Ochs. It has a wide variety of his songs, including duets with Joan Baez and the finale to his final Madison Square Gardens sold out show with Bob Dylan etc... And it ends with... well it's a treat so watch it to see! It is available on Netflix on DVD and Instant Streaming! Produced by Michael Ochs, Phil's brother. Phil was bipolar and an alcoholic at the end of his life. He died at 35. Luv you all, BluzCat

[RPenta]

Greatest protest music writer of the 60's-Bob was #2.

[fubar50cat]

I think that the previous comment, (foucault) said most of what I would say, but I just heard this song again on folkalley after about 20 years of not hearing it, and was amazed at how timeless it is. Harlan Ellison wrote a story about Kitty Genovese called "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs", about how we can let these injustices continue. Just glad to see that at least a few of us still care, otherwise you would not be listening to Phil

[foucault1020]

Poignant sad, & true. Kitty Genovese. And Ginsberg was jailed by the Supreme Kangaroo Court for porn. The world could use a million more Phils. And yes- Rochefeller Law- 30 years for pot aka grass/weed. Phil-"Ain't Marching Anymore"- segue to the richly financed OWS. At least it gets kids out of their electronic doll houses. And yes- in Harlem there were rats sleeping on the floor c/ babies. Very very sad ending in Queens for him. Who knows.