A "hater" the other day asked me the question;

[yuiyoshida]

Last edited Tue Nov 26, 2013, 05:39 AM - Edit history (2)

"When do the Japanese start singing happy pop songs about dying at Fukushima" ....

Really? Has it come down to that? My Response:

NEVER!

[left on green only]

1. Pete Seeger Has Been Singing About It For Years.......

.....In his song "I Come And Stand At Every Door"

I come and stand at every door
Though none can hear my silent tread
I knock and yet remain unseen
For I am dead, for I am dead

I'm only seven, although I died
In Hiroshima long ago
I'm seven now, as I was then
When children die, they do not grow old

My hair was scorched by swirling flame
My eyes grew dim, my eyes grew blind
Death came and turned my bones to dust
And that was scattered by the wind

I need no fruit, I need no rice
I need no sweets, or even bread
I ask for nothing for myself
For I am dead, for I am dead

All I ask is that for peace
You fight today, you fight today
So that the children of this world
Can laugh and play, and live and grow old.

[Hekate]

4. Good old Pete. Maybe we need to resurrect some Cold War protest songs

My generation remembers the terror nukes evoked ... Time for a reminder?

[ReRe]

5. .

[left on green only]

6. I Know.

It's been about 25 years since I have even thought about those lyrics, let alone remembered them to be able to write them down, word for word. And I totally lost it too, before I could come even close to finishing. I used to love to sing that song when I was growing up as a teen behind the orange curtain, down in Orange County, CA. because the people down there hated it so much. When people would say that I was a communist, just like Pete Seeger, I used to thank them for the compliment.

[ReRe]

7. Wow...

... now that's a story. I used to dabble in that genre of music when young. Gave my guitar to a son. Need to get it back from him. Naawwww. I'm getting a Uke for Christmas. Orange County, huh? Am I wrong, or isn't that place a bastion of fascism. Ahhhh, if we just knew back then what we know now. If a winger calls you a communist, just call them a fascist. If they know what it is, it should shut them up. I thought I knew every Pete Seger song there was, but believe it or not, I never heard this one. So poignant. I weep for all the innocent children who met their demise at the hands of weapons of mass destruction.

[newcriminal]

8. Pete Seger lives close by, and my whole family got to meet and

sing with him. I wonderful human being.

[left on green only]

9. Our Stories Have Many Facets In Common

I no longer have my guitar either. A few winters ago I was cold and could not afford to buy propane for my heater. So I sold my guitar to these nice people who gave me only one half of what it was worth. But it was enough to get me through the winter. Sometimes I have feelings of wanting to get another, just like you. But then I realize that there are many very talented people out there who play the kind of music that I love to listen to on that instrument, and for me it is enough to take pleasure in listening to them play. Besides, most of them can play it far better than I ever dreamed of playing.

To my eyes, during the 1950's and 1960's, Orange County was indeed a bastion (good word) of The John Birch Society. And then about the time I left to pursue a liberal education in San Francisco (actually Palo Alto), that movement morphed into blatant fascism. But now the impression I get when I visit there is that there has been a huge population increase of people of low means and low morals, and that has given way to a high rate of crime. It appears to me that now the American dream in Orange County is to own a tract home with bars on the windows and an electric fence protecting it's 60' x 120' property perimeter. At night, the police patrol the neighborhoods using low flying helicopters with huge flood lights that shine into people's backyards (concentration camp style), as they look for criminals engaged in various "acts" of crime. Make no mistake, the right wing of civilization still lives there, but they are now no longer in the majority.

[whttevrr]

2. Is this a realistic translation?

http://lmc-translations.tumblr.com/post/18081149174/lyrics-translation-ah-hah-english

Lyrics translation: Ah Hah! (english)

On spiritless every day, in nothing but disappointing reality,
Draw a stupidly huge dream like a grafitti, a changing ‘zero’ sign on a future forecast map

So, laugh nonsensicaly, do not mope, it’s not a big deal
You come to hate everything and want to abandon everything too, but look!
Say “Everything’s gonna be awesome” - laugh it off - Ah Hah

A commonplace joy and a big sorrow with no outlet too
Each and every of these are messages from metagalaxy, gather them up together
Look for a breathtaking melody hidden there

So, sing loud do not get irritated, there’s no need to be impatient
Every day, even if you’re meeting the worst moment in your history
Say “I just wanna be the happiest” - as if you don’t notice - Say Ho

It’s that sometimes you want to become selfish - Be Strong!! Be Pop!!
A blue sky of a distant day is not satisfying, piercing through gaze from above to the other side of that clouds

So, laugh nonsensicaly, do not mope, it’s not a big deal
You come to hate everything and want to abandon everything too, but look!
Say “Everything’s gonna be awesome” - laugh it off - Ah Hah

So, sing loud do not get irritated, there’s no need to be impatient
Every day, even if you’re meeting the worst moment in your history
Say “I just wanna be the happiest” - laugh it off it’s OK

[yuiyoshida]

3. Very good!

[ReRe]

10. K&R