Eco-communities as a social vision

Eco-communities as a social vision
Egalitarian and ecological communities, like the pictured East Wind (www.eastwind.org), are very close to our vision of an ecological society

20 November, 2009

"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, album: Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no,

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no.

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one.

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no,


A classic antiwar song against Vietnam war. We read in wikipedia about this song:

The song was inspired by David Eisenhower, the grandson of President
Dwight David Eisenhower who married Julie Nixon, the daughter of
President Richard Nixon in 1968 (Eisenhower later enlisted in the Navy
Reserve).John Fogerty told Rolling Stone: "Julie Nixon was hanging
around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none
of these people were going to be involved with the war. In 1969, the
majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and
like eighty percent of them were in favor of the war. But to some of
us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble."

This song was popular during the Vietnam War and is included in
several Vietnam films and computer games. The song symbolizes the
thoughts of a man who is being drafted. This spoke out against the war
in Vietnam. It is sung from the perspective of one of these men (who
is not the son of a Senator, millionaire, or military leader, thus not
a "fortunate son"), who ends up fighting in the Vietnam War.
You can hear this song in youtube

05 November, 2009

El Condor Pasa (If I could) by Simon/Garfunkel, Album: Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)


I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes i would, if i could, i surely would
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes i would, if i only could, i surely would

Away, i'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound
Its saddest sound

I'd rather be a forest than a street
Yes i would, if i could, i surely would
I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes i would, if i only could, i surely would


A song, not directly environmental, but singer's wishes seems to be inspired by the monotonous urban environment he lives and his feelings to escape away from the everyday routine he is forced to live in. Especially the verse "I'd rather be a forest than a street" shows the huge difference of an environment full of life and variation in contrast with the monotonous paved street full of cars and pollution.

The song was an old traditional peruvian song and the artists took the music and put their completely different lyrics. They faced some foolish problems with copyright, because someone else, many decades before, has re-written the music of the song in the version Simon-Garfunkel heard it for the first time, and his descendants went them to court.

You can hear this song in youtube