There But For Fortune

           Phil Ochs has been on my mind this week. 

           First I saw that a documentary of his life, “There But For Fortune” has opened at the local theatre.  Assuming that there are only 5 of us around who actually know or care about Ochs I went to the 5:00 show, and it was…sold out.  How could that be?  So the next night I went back for the 7:15.  Sold out.  What am I missing?

           We are bombing Libya with no conceivable national interest at stake, no clear military goal, improvised forces and no exit strategy.

The Marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo

Maybe it will work out.  In the first week it is a very clean war indeed.  Green-tinged night vision screens show remote control destruction.  We have no casualties to date.

If they ever give a war without the blood and gore I’ll be the first to go

Our long-planned trip to Japan for this week is canceled.  What with the uncounted thousands dead from the tsunami and radiation in the drinking water it just was not to happen.  We are considering where else to go where there is no tsunami, no radiation and no war. 

Try hard not to worry, if someday you should hear

That the whole world is off limits, visit Disneyland this year

Ochs was good for most of his brief time,  and he probably can be forgiven for his old left infatuation with dictators.  He got off the Stalin bandwagon, although he never understood the killers in China.

On the Soviet shores with right on their side

I wonder who knows how many have died?

Movie critic Ty Burr says that Ochs was dead before he died.  The mental illness, addictions, rage and career failures killed him.   

Show me the whiskey stains on the floor

Show me the drunkard as he stumbles through the door

And I’ll show you a young man, with so many reasons why

There but for fortune go you and I, you and I

I’ll get down to the show one of these days.

I won’t be laughing at the lies when I’m gone

And I can’t question how or when or why when I’m gone

Can’t live proud enough to die when I’m gone

So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here