I have a policy for my music posts … I do take requests, and if I like the song, I’ll play it, if I don’t, I just let the request fade into oblivion. However, there are a few exceptions. A) If the requester is a long-time reader and old friend, B) if I find some value in the song, and C) if it doesn’t make my head hurt.
Yesterday (Thursday), in a comment on my post titled No Longer The Country We Think We Are, Roger Jacob, one of the first people to stumble across this blog back in 2015 and a dear friend, said that “Next song you put up Jill just has to be ‘Monster’ by Steppenwolf.”
I listened to the song, which I had never heard before — no surprise there, as Steppenwolf is not ordinarily on my list of favourites. But, when I studied the lyrics, what I found was that while the lyrics were written in 1969 about the Vietnam War, loss of justice, and other issues, they are just as relevant today.
So, without further ado, I give you Steppenwolf!
Monster
Steppenwolf
Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of Kingdom and pope
Like good Christians some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands, to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light
And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon it went
And till the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end
While we bullied, stole and bought a homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light
The Blue and Grey they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war was over
They stuffed it just like a hog
And though the past has its share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But its protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it’s a monster and will not obey
The spirit was freedom and justice
And its keepers seemed generous and kind
Its leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won’t pay it no mind
Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
Now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it’s all just an echo of what they’ve been told
Yeah, there’s a monster on the loose
It’s got our heads into the noose
And it just sits there watchin’
The cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin’ the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can’t understand
We don’t know how to mind our own business
‘Cause the whole world’s got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who’s the winner we can’t pay the cost
‘Cause there’s a monster on the loose
It’s got our heads into the noose
And it just sits there watchin’
America, where are you now
Don’t you care about your sons and daughters
Don’t you know we need you now
We can’t fight alone against the monster
America, where are you now
Don’t you care about your sons and daughters
Don’t you know we need you now
We can’t fight alone against the monster
America…America…America…America…
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Jerry Edmonton / John Kay
Monster lyrics © BMG Rights Management
How did I miss this post, Jill? One of my favorite protest songs of the 60s. Thanks for sending me the link. There is one line in the song I got wrong, and I like my version way way better than the original:
While we bullied, stole and bought a homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man
should definitely read
Wading in the slaughter of the red man
But double thanks, because after the video played, one of the suggested viewing sites was a 40 minute documentary of Eric Burdon, 2020, that I had never see, some nice reminiscences of his life and career with commentators like Sting and Patti Smith adding in how he and his music effected their own careers. Sending you kisses for this xmas
present a few weeks early.
Luv you really lots.
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I’m not sure, unless it was when you were sick. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I think I played it with you in mind originally anyway. Love you really lots too, dear friend!
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I’m pretty sure Steppenwolf was required reading in many Canadian school in those days, and the band took the name for a reason. They had something to say, and were not afraid to say it, just like Hesse. I myself thought the book was a bit of a slog, but Steppenwolf the band was required listening for this old hippie. Yes, Monster got Top 40 airplay, at least in Canada, but it was much more popular on the then underground FM radio.
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rawgod has become anonymous. Famous at last.
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Ahhhh … I thought that might have been you!
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I never cared much for Steppenwolf … surprised, aren’t you? Just not my style, I guess. 😊
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Wow, great song and still so relevant today. I truly believe that music can change the world for the better. ❤
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JilL, Roger, very pertinent lyrics. It reveals a people who continuously fall short of our ideals. Yet, we do lerch ahead from time to time.
If you are game for one of my favorite Styx songs about a tattered America, using metaphors, listen to “Suite Madame Blue.” It is more ballad, but does have a rock-n-roll flare at times. Dennis De Young has one of the best voices and does it justice. Keith
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I will definitely give it a listen tomorrow … thanks, Keith! I’ll let you know what I think …
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I never heard this before, but it resonates. Probably wasn’t on the AM top 40 stations I listened to back then.
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I hadn’t either, and frankly will probably never listen to it again (just not my style), but the lyrics definitely speak volumes.
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New one to me. It’s perfect.
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New to me, too, but it is definitely perfect!
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Thanks for the reference Jill .👍
Not the most cheerful or comfortable of songs but when you bump into (like I did) some ‘WP suggested’ blogger going on at great length about how God sent Trump then I realise how bad things are across the pond and that’s why I thought it apt.
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It is very apt, and believe it or not, things are even worse than that over here. Sigh.
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😢
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Don’t remember “Monster”, but, I like it. Fitting lyrics for today. A recent trump rally in Michigan played CCR’s “Fortunate Son” as trump walked off AIr Force One. That is a protest song which I well remember – it is about draft dodgers during the Vietnam War.
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They played ‘Fourtunate Son’ at a Trump rally?????? Did any of them read the lyrics.???..I wouldn’t expect Trump to of course…But that has got to be one of the most inappropriate songs to play at his rallies. Talk about Terminal Stupidity!
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Apparently they didn’t read the lyrics at all! John Fogerty was quite confused that he would use that song … and none too happy about it, either, from what I understand!
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He should be on the phone to his lawyer and get them to threaten all sorts of drainage if The Ungodly Church of Trump keep playing it.
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I agree! Perhaps he is, but remember … the highest law enforcement authority in the land, William Barr, has said Trump is “above the law”, so …
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‘Very Bad Word’…that!
Barr is a complete ass for saying that, he obviously has no knowledge of your constitution…Oh yeah of course that’s why he was hired…
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Exactly! Like every other high-ranking official in the current administration, he swore an oath of fealty to Donald Trump … it is requisite for the job. 🤬
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Well that worked so well for a nation in central Europe by 1945.
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Yes, and apparently a large portion of the people in this nation have forgotten that episode in history. They seem to want a replay. TS is hard at work here.
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As Climate Change causes the break up of Ice Shelves, so Political Climate Changes affects the USA?
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Hmmm … what an apt analogy!
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PS: Of course they didn’t read the fffffff-fornicazoni lyrics…What have I been saying…..Terminal Stupidity I tell ya!!
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Yep, ol’ TS is on the rise in the U.S.
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More deadly that Covid…look what happened to Germany by 1945.
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I look at that and make the comparison every single day. People tell me that it “can’t happen here”, but in many ways it already is. All the norms and safeguards are falling away and we are left with … ??? Sigh.
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A situation reminiscent of the the mid 19th century?
These peaks and troughs are part of a nation’s life. Sometimes they are lived through and development arises, other times they founder of rocks of Circumstance.
Sure there are individuals who get write ups in the History Books however they are actually but sailors on a Human Sea trying to navigate their own ships and convince their own crews.
There is actually no such thing as Power, only getting a few good deals of the cards, how to play them and knowing when to cash in.
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Ahhhh … nothing to lift the spirits like my man, Kenny R!!! Yes, a long look at history shows that these things come and go, the tides ebb ‘n flow. But, it is the short term that worries me, for I fear this one is here to stay for a while … I surely won’t live to see the turn for the better. And in most ways, I’m fine with that … pretty tired of human stupidity.
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Trump may lose the election in November. The problem is there will be a reaction from the unholy conglomerate of the fanatical, the unhinged and those just looking to cause trouble.
If the Democrats do win the supporters would do well not be boisterous in celebrations because some idiots will take guns to them.
The correct response in this frenetic situation is quiet relief and then down to business.
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Yeah, today’s Google news feed covered it. Personally, I think it is entirely apropos for the “Draft-Dodger-in Chief”
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Oh yeah. He didn’t just insult McCain one pilot shot down over Vietnam, he insulted them all. And I used think I wouldn’t find a politician I loathed more than the late Thatcher (Apart from one of her Ministers Nigel Lawson, but that’s UK politics and you’d have to have been around in the UK at the time to get why).
Trump is beneath contempt, the product of not his own efforts but the fears and prejudices of some 50,000,000 votes, he is in effect their puppet.
The really tragedy is that when you look back over the decades he is just a damn easy target. Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson, Regan and either Bush would have punched him out in the first primary without even breaking a sweat. (see I didn’t even mention a liberal there)
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So do I!
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Yes, and I gather John Fogerty was none too happy about it, and was also confused, for the song is about draft dodgers and other social injustices … rather ironic, isn’t it?
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I had never heard this song, either, and after one hearing I don’t like the music especially, but the text is not bad as a capsule history of the USA.
Apart from this particular song, I have never liked the group Steppenwolf, for one thing because they took their name from a novel they had apparently never read or at least didn’t understand. Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf is about the mid-life crisis of a fifty-year-old German/Swiss writer, and Hesse himself never understood why younger people would want to read it.
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Like you, I’m not crazy about the music and was never particularly fond of Steppenwolf. I did NOT know that they took their name from the Hermann Hesse novel, though had I thought about it I might have realized. So, I’ve learned something new from you today. Thanks, Don!
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I haven’t heard this song before, or at least I never listened to the words, maybe the melody would be familiar. But how appropriate and relative it is now! Just reading the words literally gave me chills. Maybe someone should suggest that “Monster” become the new trump rally theme…. sorry, Steppenwolf. 😉
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Like you, I didn’t recognize the song, but on reading the lyrics, I thought it relevant for our times! There’s a thought — making it his new rally theme song! 😊
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