I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Country Joe, Woodstock Reunion, September 7th, 1979

I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag (dt., Mir-kommt's-before-as-würd'-I-soon-die- Rag ') is a against the Vietnam War directed protest song by Country Joe and the Fish , a 1960s folk rock band from San Francisco .

Origin and admission

The song was written by country singer Joe McDonald in 1965 reportedly within 30 minutes. In the same year he was on the first EP of the band Rag Baby Talking Issue No. 1 published. He was supposed to appear in a new recording on the group's first album , but the record company resisted. The song found its way onto the second album, which was even titled I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die . A live performance of the song by Country Joe McDonald solo (without the band) can be seen in the documentary about the Woodstock Festival , Woodstock - 3 Days of Peace & Music ; the corresponding recording is on the soundtrack.

Music and lyrics

The melody is similar to that of New Orleans jazz - trombonist Kid Ory written Muskrat Ramble. The guitar accompaniment uses the G major chords (but plus the double dominant A major or the triple dominant E major). The piece was mostly played with a capo in the 3rd or 2nd fret , so that B major (as in the studio version) or A major (in the live version) sounds. The studio version has a tempo of 112 bpm , the live version from Woodstock is a little slower (106 bpm).

The song begins with the so-called " Fish Cheer " in which the band spells the word "Fish" in the manner of the cheerleaders involved in football games . Later, at a concert, the “Fish-Cheer” was changed to “Fuck-Cheer” and, given the positive public reaction, from then on presented in this variant.

In terms of text, it is an ironic invitation to the men of the country to fight in the Vietnam War. The generals had finally had a chance to wage war and the businessmen on Wall Street could get good business. Country Joe's sarcasm culminates in his encouraging American parents to send their sons to war as soon as possible in order to preserve the chance of being the first in the block of flats to have their son come home “in the box” (i.e. in the coffin).

The appearance in Woodstock

Country Joe's famous appearance at Woodstock was unplanned. In order to bridge a break in renovation, he was persuaded to take the stage. He was equipped with a Yamaha FG 150 acoustic guitar that had been lying around in the backstage area and around which a rope had been tied as a temporary shoulder strap. At first, Country Joe was overwhelmed by stage fright given the huge crowd. Then he noticed that most of them were talking to each other and hardly anyone was listening. He then started the "Fuck-Cheer" with the result that the crowd immediately gave him their undivided attention.

Although the song was never a hit, it must have been very popular in the scene because you can hear a large number of people singing along on the recording who apparently knew the lyrics very well. Country Joe cheers the crowd on in the middle of the song:

"Listen people, I don't know how you expect to ever stop the war if you can't sing any better than that, there's about three hundred thousand of you fuckers out there, I want you to start singing, come on."
"Listen guys, I don't know how you can believe we will ever end the war if you can't sing better, there are about 300,000 of you assholes out there, I want you guys to start singing, go! "

The crowd acknowledged the abuse with applause.

The litigation

In 2001, the heiress Kid Orys brought a lawsuit against Country Joe McDonald, alleging that the "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" was a plagiarism of the von Ory in the year 1926 written Rags "Muskrat Ramble". The process was decided in 2005 in McDonald's favor.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ countryjoe.com: How I Wrote the Rag
  2. ↑ a b c countryjoe.com: That Notorious Cheer
  3. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Schaal (Ed.): Jazz standards. The encyclopedia. 3rd, revised edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1414-3 , p. 332.
  4. ↑ countryjoe.com: text, melody and chords
  5. ↑ countryjoe.com: Woodstock 1969-1999
  6. ↑ countryjoe.com: The “Rag” Lawsuit