Let the police state begin...

[Horse with no Name]

Secret Service pays visit to Boulder High
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
November 12, 2004

Bob Dylan's Masters of War is a hard-hitting, anti-war song produced more than 20 years before any current Boulder High School student was born.

More than 40 years after its release, the song has been resurrected at Boulder High with huge and confusing repercussions that prompted Secret Service agents to pay the campus a visit Thursday

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3323602,00.html

[we.can.do.better]

1. Colorado is where Columbine happened right?

I don't want my kids singing about killing someone as part of a authorized high school assembly.

Maybe If they had been a little proactive, all those kids would not have had to die.

I say Kudos to some proactive parents, and if takes the Secret Service to bring a little sanity, well, they seem like nice guys.

Kevin Costner certainly made my heart go pitty pat in the THE BODYGUARD

[we.can.do.better]

2. here were the lyrics that got everyone excited:

(from the referenced article)

Rumors were rampant that during an audition and rehearsal for today's talent show, the students changed Dylan's powerful last verse at the end of the song to say that they hoped that President Bush was going to die.

The last verse begins: "And I hope that you die; And your death'll come soon."

[DenverDem]

4. "Bombs bursting in air" sounds rather frightening.

Probably shouldn't be sung in schools either.

[we.can.do.better]

7. I don't disagree.

If we want to discourage violence in our schools, we need to be consistent.

I personally don't remember singing the Star Spangled Banner that much at school, but I do have some vague memories of them bringing in
someone to sing it for Homecoming. For the most part it really wasn't much of a issue

[Horse with no Name]

5. Free speech

Doesn't that include songs?

Some students and parents apparently let the Secret Service and talk-radio stations know they were unhappy with the plan of a trio of students to do a poetry reading of the song, accompanied by background music, according to Ron Cabrera, the school's principal.

Rumors were rampant that during an audition and rehearsal for today's talent show, the students changed Dylan's powerful last verse at the end of the song to say that they hoped that President Bush was going to die.

Did you pick up on the fact that it was rumors and not fact that brought the Secret Service running?
I wonder if these particular talk-radio shows also play Rush every day?
I wonder if the majority of these people "unhappy" with the readings were Republicans?
I wonder if the Republicans are the ones that started the "rumors"?

[we.can.do.better]

8. Sure, rumors of violence were investigated

Thats what police are supposed to do.

Do you seriously want to stop the Secret Service to stop investigating threats on the Presidents life?

I am wondering, once they found out it was nothing, did they take any sort of punitive action whatsoever?

[el_gato]

6. you are awfully naive

[newyawker99]

10. Hi we.can.do.better!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BlueEyedSon]

3. No specific death threat here, no indication of violence perpetrated

or intended by the singer.

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

[we.can.do.better]

9. I don't know what words you're reading

But it sounds EXTREMELY violent to me.

I think that Colorado schools should be especially cautious in light of what happened at Columbine.

Columbine was in the general part of Colorado, right?

[Frumious B]

11. Chillin' like Bob Dylan

Changing the lyrics to actually reference Bush is a bit heavy handed and unnecessary, but it seems like a pretty typical high school thing to do. It seems like high schoolers always take a good thing just a hair too far. Heck, I wrote some pretty visceral poetry about Reagan/Bush when I was in high school.

"Masters Of War" is a bonafide Dylan classic. I play at open mics occasionally myself and the idea of learning that particular song and dedicating it to Bushco has ocurred to me a couple of times. As far as I'm concerned I'd be happy for it to be performed every day at every high school in America for the next 4.5 years.