WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Boomer Anthems: American Woman by the Guess Who
byVanderleunonFebruary 27, 2018
Took me fifty years and two wives and about [ Redacted Number] of girlfriends to learn the lesson they were trying to teach me back in the summer of ’69. Today, with the #MeToo witch hunt the problem with the “American” woman becomes even more critical to the young men of today. I was fortunate enough to be semi-single in the long twilight of the Mad Men years in New York City. Today, there’s no reason to mentor a young woman in a company, much less date one. Everybody loses when the witch sniffers win.
American woman, stay away from me
American woman, mama, let me be
Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door
I don’t wanna see your face no more
I got more important things to do
Than spend my time growin’ old with you
Now woman, I said stay away
American woman, listen what I say
American woman, get away from me
American woman, mama, let me be
Don’t come a-knockin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your shadow no more
Colored lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes
Now woman, I said get away
American woman, listen what I say, hey
American woman, said get away
American woman, listen what I say
Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your face no more
I don’t need your war machines
I don’t need your ghetto scenes
Colored lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes
Now woman, get away from me
American woman, mama, let me be
Go, gotta get away, gotta get away
Now go go go
I’m gonna leave you, woman
Gonna leave you, woman
Bye-bye
Bye-bye
Bye-bye
Bye-bye
You’re no good for me
I’m no good for you
Gonna look you right in the eye
Tell you what I’m gonna do
You know I’m gonna leave
You know I’m gonna go
You know I’m gonna leave
You know I’m gonna go, woman
I’m gonna leave ya, woman
Goodbye, American woman…
This song is not about women, it is an anti-American diatribe by Canadians during the riots and Vietnamese War.
ghostsniperFebruary 28, 2018, 4:00 AM
Since the laws today heavily favor the females I’d use the law to level the playing field by forming a corporation with one rather than marrying her. If she’s not agreeable to forming a corporation than she’s not worthy of becoming a lifemate.
People have a vastly different mindset when they get married than when they decide to separate.
So it’s wise to plan ahead in all things.
“Everyone loses, when a relationship established in emotions is turned into dollar signs by lawyers, except the lawyers.”
–gs, 2099
Snakepit KansasFebruary 28, 2018, 5:09 AM
The very last verse in that song as it trails off sounds like “Good bye American shit”.
JayneFebruary 28, 2018, 5:30 AM
So my son left New England for college and when he did I held out hope of his meeting some less stridently feminist young ladies out there in the west. Around here strident feminism is fed the little girls, and boys, in mother’s milk and in pre-school and on up. It is almost in the air we breathe. But, no, and it’s on him I suppose given that he’s not terribly outgoing, but even out in northern Utah, he has met only sjw feminists.
Back in 1972-74, I was an LDS missionary serving in Central American (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama). I had a handful of cassette tapes of music that I’d listen to on Mondays (known as ‘D-Day’ for ‘diversion day’ — the day we’d do laundry, go sightseeing, etc.). The “American Woman” album was one of those tapes. I think I actually inherited the tape from another missionary who had finished his two years and headed back to the States.
I had a handful of other albums through the course of my mission. Probably my favorites were “Honky Chateau” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John (the latter came out while I was down there; I bought a commercial copy in, I think, Panama).
Towards the end of my mission (summer 1974), I was working in the mission offices in San Jose, Costa Rica. The mission president wanted us (the eight or so missionaries working in the office) to clear out a basement storage room that had filled up over the years with unused furniture, boxes of papers, old teaching materials, and so on; the plan was to haul everything up out of the room and onto the back lawn to figure out what to keep, what to give away, and what to throw away. The president said, yeah, we could listed to whatever we wanted to while working, so one of the missionaries set up in that back yard the office’s high-end reel-to-reel tape deck with some nice speakers and started playing “Seventh Sojourn” — the only Moody Blues album that I had never heard, it having been released after I was already serving on my mission.
I was a happy camper.
Howard NelsonFebruary 28, 2018, 7:31 AM
For another kind of woman, look up in Wikipedia — YPJ — the Kurdish Women’s Defense Unit. They are building an avalanche which will bury the Sharia-imposing patriarchy.
VanderleunFebruary 28, 2018, 8:42 AM
Dear Sykes, I am very much aware of the original “purpose and meaning” behind the song, but that’s long gone and today it has the less historic and more mundane meaning in the minds of those listening. It probably always did.
You have to remember that popular songs are not, usually, written to be profound but glib. You know, singable.
And songs have other uses than the original intent.
Recall Trump’s use of “You can’t always get what you want…”
Or the transmogrification “This is how we roll” into a Sean Hannity lbumper song. This was a song that was originally sparked by a random colorful phrase.
“I was in the back of the bus with Brian Kelley writing,” Swindell says with a smile. “The reason we wrote that song was because Luke, the night before, he did a little thing in his show where he was playing ‘Muckalee Creek’ and he was saying, being in the country you can shoot bullets at the moon and no one’s going to bother you. Brian Kelley said, ‘Hey, we gotta write something. Shooting bullets at the moon, I love that idea.’ And we wrote ‘This Is How We Roll’ around it.”
So the meaning of songs changes over time. Always has. Always will.
sestamibiFebruary 28, 2018, 8:48 AM
“American Woman ” didn’t come out until 1970 (I still have the album). The Guess Who’s first hit, “These Eyes” came out in the fall of 1969.
GordonFebruary 28, 2018, 9:24 AM
It’s true, what Gerard says about changed meanings. Buddy Holly’s “Maybe Baby” was actually about Vincent Van Gogh, and his ill-fated relationship with his girlfriend. The clues are all there, especially “…I’ll be blue…” referring, of course, to the artist’s Blue Period.
Dr. JayFebruary 28, 2018, 9:31 AM
sestamibi, your comment didn’t mention the month, day, or hour . . . but thank you for the correct year. Now, if I decide to repost this post on Facebook, I can correct Dr. VanderLeun’s unpardonable error. Note: Whoever said “Only god can judge me” seriously underestimated the internet – author unknown.
BunnyFebruary 28, 2018, 9:47 AM
I much prefer the Beach Boys. https://youtu.be/KcrbDYe4qL4
What a difference five years made. Men and women constantly disparaging each other, this will not end well. But nature will eventually overcome.
krisFebruary 28, 2018, 1:56 PM
“Who was she… the one who left you with such a high opinion of women? She must have been quite a gal…”
– To Have and Have Not
EskymanFebruary 28, 2018, 2:08 PM
Forever I will be an incurable romantic.
It’s a good thing now that my ideal women, high on their pedestals, have no place in my life; though (being an incurable romantic) I still would like to have that ideal woman’s company.
Yes, some things I never seem to learn!
pbirdFebruary 28, 2018, 3:17 PM
Very boring band. Sounds like tavern noise to me.
ArmChair SinnerFebruary 28, 2018, 9:33 PM
Hey now, that’s the Canadian Drummer of the Year about whom you yahoos are past-pontificating. If it weren’t for his stage presence of a dead flounder, you’d all be beaten sorry within a representative, though respectable 2.54cm of your lives, eh.
Dink NewcombMarch 1, 2018, 10:49 AM
OK, sure, a catchy Canadian anti-American diatribe that got a lot of traction back in those days when America was fighting to keep Canadian dogs from eaten by evil Viet Nammese invaders. Love your dog? Thank America.
ANYWAY, lets be realistic and scroll up the page two articles to Gerard’s *** “Drive-By: Help Find a Cure For Trudeau” *** to get a realistic view of Canadian culture and the stunning testosterone free heights it has reached via nuclear weapon grade toxic muliebrity (note: heavy on the mule). EH!
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
This song is not about women, it is an anti-American diatribe by Canadians during the riots and Vietnamese War.
Since the laws today heavily favor the females I’d use the law to level the playing field by forming a corporation with one rather than marrying her. If she’s not agreeable to forming a corporation than she’s not worthy of becoming a lifemate.
People have a vastly different mindset when they get married than when they decide to separate.
So it’s wise to plan ahead in all things.
“Everyone loses, when a relationship established in emotions is turned into dollar signs by lawyers, except the lawyers.”
–gs, 2099
The very last verse in that song as it trails off sounds like “Good bye American shit”.
So my son left New England for college and when he did I held out hope of his meeting some less stridently feminist young ladies out there in the west. Around here strident feminism is fed the little girls, and boys, in mother’s milk and in pre-school and on up. It is almost in the air we breathe. But, no, and it’s on him I suppose given that he’s not terribly outgoing, but even out in northern Utah, he has met only sjw feminists.
Memory lane.
Back in 1972-74, I was an LDS missionary serving in Central American (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama). I had a handful of cassette tapes of music that I’d listen to on Mondays (known as ‘D-Day’ for ‘diversion day’ — the day we’d do laundry, go sightseeing, etc.). The “American Woman” album was one of those tapes. I think I actually inherited the tape from another missionary who had finished his two years and headed back to the States.
I had a handful of other albums through the course of my mission. Probably my favorites were “Honky Chateau” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John (the latter came out while I was down there; I bought a commercial copy in, I think, Panama).
Towards the end of my mission (summer 1974), I was working in the mission offices in San Jose, Costa Rica. The mission president wanted us (the eight or so missionaries working in the office) to clear out a basement storage room that had filled up over the years with unused furniture, boxes of papers, old teaching materials, and so on; the plan was to haul everything up out of the room and onto the back lawn to figure out what to keep, what to give away, and what to throw away. The president said, yeah, we could listed to whatever we wanted to while working, so one of the missionaries set up in that back yard the office’s high-end reel-to-reel tape deck with some nice speakers and started playing “Seventh Sojourn” — the only Moody Blues album that I had never heard, it having been released after I was already serving on my mission.
I was a happy camper.
For another kind of woman, look up in Wikipedia — YPJ — the Kurdish Women’s Defense Unit. They are building an avalanche which will bury the Sharia-imposing patriarchy.
Dear Sykes, I am very much aware of the original “purpose and meaning” behind the song, but that’s long gone and today it has the less historic and more mundane meaning in the minds of those listening. It probably always did.
You have to remember that popular songs are not, usually, written to be profound but glib. You know, singable.
And songs have other uses than the original intent.
Recall Trump’s use of “You can’t always get what you want…”
Or the transmogrification “This is how we roll” into a Sean Hannity lbumper song. This was a song that was originally sparked by a random colorful phrase.
“I was in the back of the bus with Brian Kelley writing,” Swindell says with a smile. “The reason we wrote that song was because Luke, the night before, he did a little thing in his show where he was playing ‘Muckalee Creek’ and he was saying, being in the country you can shoot bullets at the moon and no one’s going to bother you. Brian Kelley said, ‘Hey, we gotta write something. Shooting bullets at the moon, I love that idea.’ And we wrote ‘This Is How We Roll’ around it.”
So the meaning of songs changes over time. Always has. Always will.
“American Woman ” didn’t come out until 1970 (I still have the album). The Guess Who’s first hit, “These Eyes” came out in the fall of 1969.
It’s true, what Gerard says about changed meanings. Buddy Holly’s “Maybe Baby” was actually about Vincent Van Gogh, and his ill-fated relationship with his girlfriend. The clues are all there, especially “…I’ll be blue…” referring, of course, to the artist’s Blue Period.
sestamibi, your comment didn’t mention the month, day, or hour . . . but thank you for the correct year. Now, if I decide to repost this post on Facebook, I can correct Dr. VanderLeun’s unpardonable error. Note: Whoever said “Only god can judge me” seriously underestimated the internet – author unknown.
I much prefer the Beach Boys.
https://youtu.be/KcrbDYe4qL4
What a difference five years made. Men and women constantly disparaging each other, this will not end well. But nature will eventually overcome.
“Who was she… the one who left you with such a high opinion of women? She must have been quite a gal…”
– To Have and Have Not
Forever I will be an incurable romantic.
It’s a good thing now that my ideal women, high on their pedestals, have no place in my life; though (being an incurable romantic) I still would like to have that ideal woman’s company.
Yes, some things I never seem to learn!
Very boring band. Sounds like tavern noise to me.
Hey now, that’s the Canadian Drummer of the Year about whom you yahoos are past-pontificating. If it weren’t for his stage presence of a dead flounder, you’d all be beaten sorry within a representative, though respectable 2.54cm of your lives, eh.
OK, sure, a catchy Canadian anti-American diatribe that got a lot of traction back in those days when America was fighting to keep Canadian dogs from eaten by evil Viet Nammese invaders. Love your dog? Thank America.
ANYWAY, lets be realistic and scroll up the page two articles to Gerard’s *** “Drive-By: Help Find a Cure For Trudeau” *** to get a realistic view of Canadian culture and the stunning testosterone free heights it has reached via nuclear weapon grade toxic muliebrity (note: heavy on the mule). EH!