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cthulu2016

(10,960 posts)
Mon May 21, 2012, 02:15 PM May 2012

Chicago — So your brother's bound and gagged...

This post is not meant to directly equate anything today with the Chicago 7 trial. (Or to not equate them.) Just an historical note to keep the memory of some things alive. But yes, I was reminded of this by seeing Chicago police wailing on protestors.

The Graham Nash/CSNY song Chicago was written in 1969 or 1970, and is (primarily) about encouraging protest of the trial of the Chicago 8 (later 7), who were charged with inciting riot at the 1968 Democratic convention.

The memorable first line of the song refers to the iconic moment of the trail when Judge Julius Jennings Hoffman ordered defendant Bobby Seale to be gagged and tied to his chair.

It was an indelible political image.



The Chicago 8 were Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale. Bobby Seale wanted a postponement because his lawyer was ill and scheduled for surgery. Hoffman denied the delay while also saying that Seale could not represent himself. Seale responded with ongoing outbursts that Hoffman was a "fascist dog," a "honky," a "pig," a "racist," etc.. In response, Hoffman order Seale bound and gagged.

Judge Hoffman eventually severed Seale from the Chicago 8, making them the famed Chicago 7, and sentenced Seale to four years in jail for contempt of court. (An extraordinary sentence for contempt!)

(The Seale incident is also mentioned in "H2Ogate Blues" by Gil Scott-Heron.)


Chicago — Crosby, Stills Nash and Young
(Graham Nash, 1970)

So your brother's bound and gagged
And they've chained him to a chair
Won't you please come to Chicago
Just to sing
In a land that's known as freedom
How can such a thing be fair
Won't you please come to Chicago
For the help we can bring
We can change the world -
Re-arrange the world
It's dying - to get better
Politicians sit yourself down,
There's nothing for you here
Won't you please come to Chicago
For a ride
Don't ask Jack to help you
Cause he'll turn the other ear
Won't you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side
We can change the world -
Re-arrange the world
It's dying - if you believe in justice
It's dying - and if you believe in freedom
It's dying - let a man live it's own life
It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them
Open up the door
Somehow people must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won't you please come to Chicago
Show your face
From the bottom to the ocean
To the mountains of the moon
Won't you please come to Chicago
No one else can take your place
We can change the world -
Re-arrange the world
It's dying - if you believe in justice
It's dying - and if you believe in freedom
It's dying - let a man live it's own life
It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them
Open up the door
We can change the world

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Chicago — So your brother's bound and gagged... (Original Post) cthulu2016 May 2012 OP
great song. one thing about the 60s -- protest songs made it to the top of the hit parade. HiPointDem May 2012 #1
Can you imagine a song like Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air" Art_from_Ark May 2012 #12
"Hoffman eventually severed Seale from the Chicago 8, making them the famed Chicago 7" dana_b May 2012 #2
Judge Hoffman cthulu2016 May 2012 #3
Judge Julius Hoffman... KharmaTrain May 2012 #4
thank you both! dana_b May 2012 #5
As John Prine sang hobbit709 May 2012 #6
Well Worth Sharing This With The Class... KharmaTrain May 2012 #7
... cthulu2016 May 2012 #8
I watched the convention gavel to gavel. aquart May 2012 #9
It was horrible. I remember it very well, too. Blue_In_AK May 2012 #11
... cthulu2016 May 2012 #10
 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
1. great song. one thing about the 60s -- protest songs made it to the top of the hit parade.
Mon May 21, 2012, 02:19 PM
May 2012

they don't seem to anymore.

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)
12. Can you imagine a song like Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air"
Tue May 22, 2012, 12:40 AM
May 2012

or Buffalo Springfield's "Something Happening Here" even getting air time today?

dana_b

(11,546 posts)
2. "Hoffman eventually severed Seale from the Chicago 8, making them the famed Chicago 7"
Mon May 21, 2012, 02:26 PM
May 2012

The judge Hoffman or Abbie Hoffman? Sorry, although I am familiar with the Chicago 7 (or 8), I never knew the whole story and need to read up on this.

cthulu2016

(10,960 posts)
3. Judge Hoffman
Mon May 21, 2012, 02:32 PM
May 2012

(edited OP to clarify)

Yes, Judge Hoffman removed Seale from the unified trial of the 7 and sent him to jail for contempt. I don't think he was ever tried on the 1968 charges... if the judge can just order you to jail why have a trial, I guess.

Seale was tried in a seperate Black Panther case while in jail for contempt, but the jury was hung and the charges against him dropped. Got out of jail in 1972.

hobbit709

(41,694 posts)
6. As John Prine sang
Mon May 21, 2012, 02:47 PM
May 2012

"Well, I sat down in my closet with all my overalls
Tryin' to get away
From all the ears inside my walls
I dreamed the police heard
Everything I thought... what then?
Well I went to court
And the judge's name was Hoffman"

aquart

(69,014 posts)
9. I watched the convention gavel to gavel.
Mon May 21, 2012, 06:37 PM
May 2012

Saw the folds in the signs that were smuggled in under our delegates' shirts.

Saw Dan Rather beaten to the ground. And, late that night, heard Walter Cronkite tell a sleeping America what he thought of the thugs who did it.

Years later I worked in a film library and saw a fraction of the footage that was never broadcast. I saw Eugene McCarthy running out into a hotel hall calling for medical help for injured protesters in his suite.

Blue_In_AK

(46,436 posts)
11. It was horrible. I remember it very well, too.
Mon May 21, 2012, 11:56 PM
May 2012

I was so turned off, I didn't vote in 1968, the first year I was eligible, in protest. Actually, thinking back on it, I think that Chicago convention was another one of those defining moments in my life, like the assassinations.

Isn't it ironic that the Chicago of those days had a Democratic mayor, just like the Chicago of today.

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