Scorched Earth Society

TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters):
Pressure mounted on Japan on Thursday to expand the evacuation zone around its stricken nuclear power plant while officials said radiation may be flowing continuously into the nearby sea, where contamination was now 4,000 times the legal limit.

We have no reason to think that the radiation will have an effect on people's health.
--Yukio Edano
(Japanese chief Cabinet Secretary)

Tim Rose: "Morning Dew"
China Syndrome

April Come She Will

Paul Simon: "April Come She Will"
BBC 1965

A Restless Wind That Yearns To Wander

the wayward wind is a restless wind
a restless wind that yearns to wander
and he was born the next of kin
the next of kin to the wayward wind

in a lonely shack by a railroad track
he spent his younger days
and i guess the sound of the outward bound
made him a slave to his wandering ways

and the wayward wind is a restless wind
a restless wind that yearns to wander
and he was born the next of kin
the next of kin to the wayward wind

i met him there in a border town
he vowed we'd never part
though he tried his best to settle down
i'm now alone with a broken heart

and the wayward wind is a restless wind
a restless wind that yearns to wander
and he was born the next of kin
the next of kin to the wayward wind.

--Patsy Cline : "The Wayward Wind"

painting by Maynard Dixon

Coming Back To Me

the summer had inhaled
and held its breath too long
the winter looked the same
as if it never had gone
and through an open window
where no curtain hung
i saw you coming back to me







Jefferson Airplane: "Coming Back To Me"

Inside The Great Pyramid

Paul Horn : "Inside the Great Pyramid" (1976) in four parts

Liam Clancy: "Highwayman"

Liam Clancy: "Highwayman"
Olympia Theater, Dublin, Ireland
1992

Peter Tosh: "Fools Die"

Peter Tosh: "Fools Die (For Want of Wisdom)"

Fred Neil: "Faretheewell"

if i

had wings

like

Noah's dove

you know

i'd fly

up this river

to the one

i love

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Comanche Point
Fred Neil: "Faretheewell"
overlooking Unkar Rapid

Went To See The Gypsy

went to see the gypsy
staying in a big hotel
he smiled when
he saw me coming
and he said,
"well, well, well"
his room was dark
and crowded
lights were low and dim
"how are you"
he said to me
i said it back to him

i went down to the lobby
to make a small call out
a pretty dancing girl
was there
and she began to shout
"go on back
to see the gypsy
he can move you
from the rear
drive you from your fear
bring you through
the mirror
he did it in Las Vegas
and he can do it here"

outside the lights
were shining
on the river of tears
i watched them
from the distance
with the music
in my ears
i went back
to see the gypsy
it was nearly early dawn
the gypsy's door
was open wide
but the gypsy was gone
and that pretty dancing girl
she could not be found
so i watched the sun come rising
from that little Minnesota town

--bob dylan

Robber Dub

Clash: Robber Dub

What Have They Done To The Rain?

People now think of this as a song about acid rain, but it was originally written as part of a campaign to stop aboveground nuclear testing, which was putting strontium-90 in the air, where it was washed down by the rain, got into the soil and thence to the grass, which was eaten by cows. When children drank the cows’ milk the strontium-90, chemically similar to calcium but radioactive, was deposited in their bones. Mothers saved their children’s baby teeth and sent them in to be tested by scientists who indeed found elevated levels of strontium-90 in their teeth. A year after this song was written, President Kennedy signed the treaty against aboveground testing.
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just a little rain falling all around
the grass lifts its head to the heavenly sound
just a little rain, just a little rain
what have they done to the rain?

just a little boy standing in the rain
the gentle rain that falls for years
and the grass is gone
the boy disappears
and rain keeps falling like helpless tears
and what have they done to the rain?

just a little breeze out of the sky
the leaves pat their hands as the breeze blows by
just a little breeze with some smoke in its eye
what have they done to the rain?

just a little boy standing in the rain
the gentle rain that falls for years
and the grass is gone
the boy disappears
and rain keeps falling like helpless tears
and what have they done to the rain?

--Malvina Reynolds
What Have They Done To The Rain?

Willy O'Winsbury

Anne Briggs
Willy O'Winsbury

he has mounted her
on a milk-white steed
and himself on a dappled grey
he has made her
the lady of as much land
as she shall ride
on a long summer's day

Goin' Back To Harlan

Kate and McGarrigle
Goin' Back To Harlan
CBC telecast 1/26/96

Sand And Foam

Donovan Leitch
Sand and Foam
Birmingham, England
2010



the sun was going down behind a tattooed tree
and the simple act of an oar's stroke put diamonds in the sea
and all because of the phosphorus there in quantity
as i dug you digging me in Mexico
there in the valley of Scorpio, beneath the cross of jade
smoking on the seashell pipe the gypsies had made
we sat and we dreamed a while of smugglers bringing wine
in that crystal thought time in Mexico
sitting in a chair of bamboo, sipping grenadine
straining my eyes for a surfacing submarine
kingdoms of ants walk across my feet
i'm a-shaking in my seat in Mexico
grasshoppers creaking in the velvet jungle night,
microscopic circles in the fluid of my sight
watching a black-eyed native girl cut and trim the lamp
Valentino vamp in Mexico
the sun was going down behind a tattooed tree
and the simple act of an oar's stroke put diamonds in the sea
and all because of the phosphorus there in quantity
i dug you digging me in Mexico

Molly Tuttle: "Farewell Blues"

Molly Tuttle
Farewell Blues

below Serpentine Rapid

Come On Up For The Rising

can't see nothing
in front of me
can't see nothing
coming up behind
i make my way
through this darkness
i can't feel nothing
but this chain
that binds me
lost track of
how far i've gone
how far i've gone
how high i've climbed
on my back's
a sixty pound stone
on my shoulder
a half mile line
come on up for the rising
come on up lay your hands in mine
come on up for the rising
come on up for the rising tonight
--Bruce Springsteen
Barcelona, Spain
10/16/02
-------------------------------------------
tw sez:
Thirty-nine years ago today
I took a bullet to the chest
and died on an operating table.
Never give up.

The End Is Not In Sight

i guess i
knew it all along
i'd have to
come back home
because this
living on the road
only makes me
tired and sore
like a bird
without a nest
like a stranger
in the night
my soul cries out
for rest
and the end
is not in sight


looking east from Havasupai Point
Amazing Rhythm Aces: "The End Is Not In Sight"