Performed by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
Lyrics by Billy Strayhorn
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Fuck this corrupt, omnicidal, nihilistic, corporate-controlled, fascist world-system; you don’t reform evil, you destroy it. Not a chance in hell to create a culture of life until we destroy the culture of death. Disease has consumed the entire body of civilization. We live among ruins, we inhabit a graveyard, an apocalyptic wasteland strewn with corpses, carrion, and zombies.
We need to focus like a laser beam on a grim truth: whatever the gains of a worldwide environmental and animal rights movements throughout the last four decades, they have nonetheless continued to lose ground in the battle to save biodiversity, to stop or even slow down the destruction of the rainforests, topsoil, coral reefs; to prevent ever-worsening resource wars; to end the blatant and open war and Holocaust against nonhuman animals; and to come to grips with the immanent catastrophe of climate change in our minds let alone our policies and actions.
From Athens to Paris to Brazil, there is growing realization that politics as usual just won’t cut it anymore. We will always lose if we play by their rules rather than invent new forms of struggle, new social movements, and new sensibilities. The defense of the earth requires immediate and decisive action: logging roads need to be blocked, driftnets need to be cut, and cages need to be emptied. But these are piecemeal and reactive measures, and in addition to these tactics, radical movements and alliances must be built that unites struggles on behalf of humanity, nonhuman animals, and the earth in a politics of total liberation.
Resistance is the oxygen of the future. Live to resist, resist to live.
Love the Lyrics, “A week in Paris will ease the bite of it,” love Coltrane’s Sax in this piece
I would encourage anyone who likes this classic gem to explore Coltrane’s ballads, such as recorded with Duke Ellington, or on “The Gentle Side of John Coltrane,” as well as to listen to this entire amazing Coltrane-Hartman collaboration (and there are some interesting observations on the making of this album on the provided Amazon link — such as that these two giants met only one time to make this album and it was recorded in just a few hours with Coltrane coming in later to add some additional saxophone tracks). I also strongly recommend Hartman’s other great album, “I Just Dropped By To Say Hello.” Many, but not all of these incredible songs by Coltrane and/or Hartman are available on You Tube, but it’s best naturally to buy or download the entire albums. Your soul will thank you for it.
Ahhhh, pretending to sit in a swanky jazz club sipping on a girly drink and letting myself enjoy this beautiful music…far away from the annoying child who is trying to dip his penis fingers into my coffee as I type this! Argggh!
Uh, maybe try another coffee shop? How romantic.
A few more examples of what I am talking about, Coltrane and Hartman:
“They Say It’s Wonderful”
“Dedicated To You”
“My One and Only Love”
“You Are Too Beautiful”
Oh, Thank you Steve, good stuff, it is time for me to add this to my ipod collection, I listened to this music so much growing up, I had forgotton to appreciate .. you’ve reminded me how pure and soulful ..
Hartman had a beautiful baritone voice and he was as far as I heard it a nice and decent person. Unfortunately he was a strong smoker….
Yes, he was a good man it seems, and vastly under known and under-appreciated, and I believe he died of throat cancer? Anyway, I had the immense pleasure of hearing him play live on two different occasions in Chicago jazz clubs, and got to shake his hand and pay my respects. Quite a thrill and honor, very charming man, a voice made of velvet, brandy, and cigarettes, a baritone that could reach lower that Gerry Mulligan’s sax.
Brill, brilliant music!!! Brings back memories of when I used to regularly sit in a “swanky jazz club” (haha Susan) and take a drink or two to the young man sitting outside, wrapped in a blanket and asking for silver. My brother also plays in a jazz band in Dublin – when you travel there again Steve, you will have to get to ‘Mother Redcap’s’ for a good night out!