Cross My Heart. An Introduction To Phil Ochs.

The warm weather has ended for the time being. There is a cold northerly wind blowing which means I will not venture outdoors today. I thought I would pass the time by telling you about a CD which arrived a few days ago. It is called Cross My Heart, An Introduction to Phil Ochs. I first heard one of his songs in 1965 when Joan Baez had a top ten UK hit with There but For Fortune. At the time I didn’t know that Phil wrote that song. It was only decades later that I heard his name. For years I have liked the whole ethos of the scene in Greenwich Village, New York. The association with the Beat Generation writers, the music, the left-wing politics and the creative atmosphere. Reading books in recent years by the likes of Suze Rotolo and Dave Van Ronk and seeing the film Inside Llewyn Davis all added to my fascination with this time and place. 

As well as the obvious people like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, in recent times I have acquired albums by the likes of Karen Dalton, Dave Van Ronk, Tim Hardin and Richie Havens. A name that kept cropping up as one of the leading figures in that scene was Phil Ochs. I thought it was high time I bought an album by Phil. What finally made my mind up was when a Facebook friend shared a video of Neil Young singing a song called Changes which was written by Phil Ochs. Neil spoke passionately about Phil and said he was one of the greatest poets. I have put that video on this blog page because I thought it was great. The album that arrived the other day is a compilation of songs from various periods in Phil’s career. When I first played it, I was surprised because most of the songs were nothing like what I expected to hear. I thought it would be a collection of simple protest songs, just vocals, acoustic guitar and maybe some harmonica. What I heard was very intricate, highly orchestrated, almost neo-classical, complex arrangements. At first, I was not sure I liked what I heard, but after listening attentively and making an effort to understand the songs, I like it very much indeed.

The first song is Chords Of Fame which was produced by Van Dyke Parks who I have always admired from his work with Brian Wilson. I did like this song instantly. It has a very lively bluegrass sound with fiddles, piano and great guitar picking. It is a warning about the cost of fame and Phil would know all about that. The second track Cross My Heart is quite different, with harpsichord, strings, brass and bells. I would describe it as baroque. While listening to this album I sometimes thought it was similar in some ways to American Gothic by David Ackles. The lyrics suggest that Phil might have been going through a difficult period in his life. Rehearsals For Retirement is a simpler, slower piece with piano to the fore. It is a song of despair at the state of the world. When you look at recent events it makes you think that things have got even worse. I shudder to think what Phil would have thought of Trump. The next song Crucifixion is an epic. It seems to be about how it is human nature to want heroes like Jesus or JFK, but the dark side is that the masses want them to die, so then we can have great outpourings of collective grief. The music is almost like modern opera, with bells and strange percussion sounds, often descending into a chaotic cacophony to symbolise the madness of the modern world. That is my theory anyway.

White Boots Marching In A Yellow Land is a much less ambiguous song to understand. It is a simple ant-war song. There is acoustic guitar and army style bugles and brass. The lyrics say, ‘The comic and the beauty queen are dancing on the stage. Raw recruits are lining up like coffins in a cage’. That would be a reference to Bob Hope and Miss World entertaining the troops in Vietnam. The Scorpion Departs but Never Returns is based on the true event of a nuclear submarine USS Scorpion which sank in 1968. The lyrics are quite harrowing and could be a metaphor for Phil’s own sinking mental condition. After witnessing riots and police brutality Phil wrote The War Is Over in defiance of the government, even though the war was far from over. The next song Niko Mchumba Ngobe is the most joyous song on this album with happy dance-able African rhythms. He wrote it during a trip to Kenya. It could be the beginnings of what we now call ‘World Music’. This was years before Paul Simon thought of bringing African music into Western culture. Joe Hill is not the song we associate with Joan Baez and Woodstock. This is an epic 22 verse song by Phil which tells the whole story of Joe Hill’s life and his framing by the authorities. It is more like the acoustic guitar music I was expecting to hear. Jim Dean Of Indiana is a quiet piano based homage to James Dean inspired by Phil’s lifelong interest in cinema. Pretty Smart on My Part is a darkly humorous satire, seen through the eyes of a right-wing sociopath. It has frenetic guitar playing.

Pleasures Of The Harbour is a return to the baroque sound with lush arrangements. Phil was inspired to write it after seeing a John Ford movie called A Long Voyage Home about a British cargo ship in WW2. I Ain’t Marching Any More is a straightforward anti-war song which chronicles the whole history of conflicts that the USA has been involved in. It was recorded live at Carnegie Hall. 

Phil’s health declined in the 1970s. He began drinking heavily, behaving erratically, and was deeply affected by the murder of his friend Victor Jara by the Pinochet regime in Chile. He was diagnosed as bi-polar and finally took his own life in 1976. However, his legacy lives on and his songs have been covered by dozens of performers. I am pleased that I finally got around to discovering his music and message. When you look at the state of the world today you realise that we need more people like Phil Ochs.