Lest we forget this day (April 4th)

39 years ago today....

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

(nobody like you...)

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

For MLK.

I was in the 6th grade-damn I'm friggin old-JFK too 3rd grade like it was yesterday

One hero after another.

Jimi Hendrix wrote "House Burning Down" as a result of the fires that swept through American cities on this night 39 years ago. It was one of his most powerful songs:



House Burning Down


Hey! hey! hey! hey

Look at the sky turn a hell fire red
Somebody’s house is burnin’ down down, down down
Down, down, down.

Well I asked my friend where is that black smoke comin’ from ?
He just coughed and changed the subject and said oh wa I think it might
Snow some
So I left him sippin’ his tea an’ I jumped in my chariot
And rode off to see just why and who could it be this time.

Sisters and brothers daddys mothers standin’ ’round cryin’
When I reached the scene the flames were makin’ a ghostly whine
So I stood on my horse’s back an’ I screamed without a crack
I say oh baby why’d you burn your brother’s house down ?

Hey ! hey ! hey ! hey !

Look out the sky turn a hell fire red lord
Somebody’s house is burnin’ down down, down down
Look out the sky turn a hell fire red lord
Somebody’s house is burnin’ down down, down down down.

Well someone stepped from the crowd he was nineteen miles high
He shouts retired and disgusted so we paint red through the sky
I said the truth is straight ahead so don’t burn yourself instead
Try to learn instead of burn, hear what I say, yeah, yeah.

So I fin’ly rode away but I’ll never forget that day
’cause when I reached the valley I looked way down cross the way
A giant boat from space landed with eerie grace
And came and taken all the dead away.

Hey ! hey ! hey ! hey !

What’d I say.
Look at the sky turn a hell fire red lord
Somebody’s house is burning down down, down down
Look at the sky turn a hell fire red lord
Somebody’s house is burning down down, down down
Look at the sky, look at the sky.

Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Oh baby

:thumbsup:

Jimi Hendrix was, of course, a participant in 1968, and thus had a different view than Bono.

Already posted :P

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=574170&mesg_id=574170

I would warn JFK about the motorcade in Dallas.

I would warn MLK to stay off the balcony at his motel.

I would warn RFK to not exit through the kitchen at The Ambassador Hotel (now sadly demolished in the name of "progress." Thanks LA school system!)

I'm sure there are others, but those are the biggies in my lifetime.

I'll never forgive that fatuous prick Bono for perverting history in order to fit a comfy syllabic scheme for that damned pop song. Fuck Bono and his awful band. :grr:

Huntley & Brinkley's news show on NBC that awful night.

It aired here in Chicago, I think, between 6:00 & 6:30 pm CT in 1968. Bono lived in Dublin and the time difference between Chicago and Dublin is 6 hours, so the news would have broken in Ireland at approximately midnight or 12:30 AM on April 5th.

So, technically Bono didn't "pervert history"....

"Early morning, april fourth/shots ring out in the Memphis sky."

The song's action is located in Memphis, not Dublin.

Bono was shrewd enough to realize that "early afternoon/april fourth" would have been an awkward syllabic formation, so he just blithely changed the time of the event to make it "sing" better. Plus, "early morning" sounds more dramatic than just "afternoon," if he wanted to shorten the syllable count, or virtually any other modifier that could have preceded "afternoon."

As a songwriter myself, I know how these cats operate.

:kick:

things that matter"-MLK.