Willie Nelson Debuts Anti-War Ballad [Kucinich rally, brings down house]

[truthisfreedom]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/ap20040104_1084.html

Willie Nelson Debuts Anti-War Ballad


Willie Nelson Debuts Anti-War Ballad at Concert for Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich

The Associated Press

AUSTIN Jan. 4 — Willie Nelson has premiered his new anti-war ballad at an Austin fund-raising concert for Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.

"(Nelson) brought down the house," said Kucinich's media coordinator Susan Mainzer of the Saturday performance. "People were on their feet applauding."
<snip>

The song asks questions such as, "How much oil is a human life worth?"
It is the second protest song Nelson has written. He often performed his Vietnam-era protest song, "Jimmy's Road," at peace rallies during the 1991 Gulf War.
<snip>

Asked if his new song might cause a backlash with conservative country music fans, Nelson said, "I sure hope so. I don't care if people say, 'Who the hell does he think he is?' I know who I am."
Last spring, Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines' criticism of President Bush led to boycotts of the group's music.

[wryter2000]

1. The picture of them singing together is so cool

Is there anywhere I can listen to it?

Love ya, Willie :loveya:

[henslee]

2. here are the lyrics..... ( wonder if sales of song will go to Dennis)

What Ever Happened To Peace On Earth

"There's so many things going on in the world
Babies dying
Mothers crying
How much oil is one human life worth
And what ever happened to peace on earth

We believe everything that they tell us
They're gonna' kill us
So we gotta' kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier's life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

So I guess it's just
Do unto others before they do it to you
Let's just kill em' all and let God sort em' out
Is this what God wants us to do

(Repeat Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

Now you probably won't hear this on your radio
Probably not on your local TV
But if there's a time, and if you're ever so inclined
You can always hear it from me
How much is one picker's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

But don't confuse caring for weakness
You can't put that label on me
The truth is my weapon of mass protection
And I believe truth sets you free

(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth"

[Just Me]

3. I wish I could have been there!!!

Kucinich looked really good tonight during the debates, too. He rather shined beyond the in-bashing, in my view,...and, he seems far more confident and clear and articulate than past debates.

[twilight]

8. right you are!

I thought he was very sharp in the debate earlier today! He didn't let one of those idiots get him this time! :D

DENNIS J. KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004!!!!!!!!!



:dem: :kick:

[jmatthan]

13. But he missed his chance in this debate.

He kept harping back to a two points.

1. That the withdrawal of forces from Iraq was the be-all and end-all of all problems, and
2. That coupled with his 15% reduction in spending of the Pentagon would solve all the financial problems faced by the US.

I do not doubt that these are really the backbone for a good strategy but he must come over as having many more trumps up his sleeve.

He fared well but being such an articulate speaker and debater and a sincere individual he should show his full repertoire of his talents in the debates.

Power outage - I missed the last 15 minutes.

Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

[Tinoire]

21. The withdrawal of forces from Iraq is a critical domestic issue

For every dollar spent over there maintaining Halliburton's occupation, that's one dollar stolen from money for domestic programs.

$155 Billion dollars so far and counting...
$87 Billion coming thanks to another sterling bi-partisan effort

Not Greenspan can print the money fast enough to keep up with Bush.

Meanwhile, in the USA

no money for unemployment
no money for child-care
no money for job training
no money for education

and the soldiers keep coming home in transfer tubes.

This is the number one issue on our plate right now!

[cosmicdot]

4. Kucinich makes personal appearance to file for Texas ballot

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7621262.htm



What Ever Happened To Peace On Earth

There's so many things going on in the world
Babies dying
Mothers crying
How much oil is one human life worth
And what ever happened to peace on earth

We believe everything that they tell us
They're gonna' kill us
So we gotta' kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier's life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

So I guess it's just
Do unto others before they do it to you
Let's just kill em' all and let God sort em' out
Is this what God wants us to do

(Repeat Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

Now you probably won't hear this on your radio
Probably not on your local TV
But if there's a time, and if you're ever so inclined
You can always hear it from me


How much is one picker's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

But don't confuse caring for weakness
You can't put that label on me
The truth is my weapon of mass protection
And I believe truth sets you free

(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

http://www.kucinich.us/regionalupdates/texas.php

[Just Me]

6. You know that "find a first lady" for Dennis thing,...

I thought about entering it *LOL*, for a very brief moment. What was the outcome, anyway?

[eridani]

22. The poll was freeped

Several volunteers in the contest got shot down by massive freeping in favor of Gina Marie. Dennis was a good sport and went out to dinner with her anyway.

[revcarol]

5. Anyone attend the rally at the capitol?

"several hundred" DK supporters?

sounds like,"marginalize Dennis" to me!!

When Austin is the bastion of liberals in Texas, and more than a few hundred travelled many miles to go to the concert?Come on....

[silverlib]

9. Yes

and I'm not a very good gage of numbers, but I, too, think this was underestimated. He was wonderful and for the first time I was able to see why I think the media is scared of this man. This was a great rally!

As far as him not speaking at the concert, my feeling was that he wanted the music to speak, and that it did. He also had a fundraiser event immediately after the concert at La Zona Rosa where donors or $75 or more could mingle with him and the performers. He may have wanted to save his voice. Two of his powerful speeches in one day would make even the best speaker hoarse.

He came out and stood beside where my husband and I were sitting while Bonnie R. was singing and he shook our hands. We may not have appreciated those "far east" seats when we first arrived, but they ended up being one of the best in the house!

On edit - my husband, who is better at this than I am, says 500 minimum, but closer to 1,000. People were rather spread out.

[Dover]

7. Dennis looked like he was having a great time up on stage last night.

He didn't sing the ballad with Willie, but did go on stage with all the night's performers at the very end to join in for several songs.

It was a great night. All the performers were in good form and gave excellent, inspiring performances that had everyone clapping and on their feet much of the time. It was FUN, lively and empowering to connect with so many like-minded souls!

Afterwards, though, I heard several people (and some of them were "important" people in the community) complaining that Dennis didn't really SAY much to us, the audience...even when Willie tried to give him an opening by suggesting that he "....get political". (He said "Let's get political" as he turned the cheering crowd over to Dennis at the end). Dennis threw out a few slogans with fist raised but never really took possession of the crowd or TALKED to the audience like they were sophisticated, knowledgable political supporters interested in hearing from the man they had paid to see and support. Instead he treated the expectant audience more like a crowd of swooning teenagers who could be satisfied with a little cheerleading.

He told someone, who was imploring him to speak, that the night was for celebration and music...not speeches. I think this was a BIG missed opportunity. If Willie Nelson, Bonnie Rait and so many others contributed their time, their hearts and efforts to create such a huge event and had all those constituents (or potential constituents) on their feet in support...then the LEAST Dennis could have done was shared just as much of himself in return. He just didn't get that. He did speak during a peace rally, and was available to speak at different functions throughout the day, but those tickets were much more expensive than the concert tickets...and the concert was THE big event and a great venue.

..........sigh

Well....my best friend is a Kerry supporter and my sister is a Dean supporter and I have heard similar stories of disappointment about their own candidate's performances at events. But the learning curve handicap should no longer be necessary going into primaries. Get it together Dems.

On edit: Dennis DID do really well in the debates today....articulate and relatively relaxed. And he's always great in person, one-on-one...very warm, personable, authentic and present.

[Voltaire99]

10. Bravo, Willy

And good on you, too, Dennis -- you're a Democrat I'm not ashamed to support. If we could clone you, we'd have a party worth the name.

[DaveBrestensky]

11. Way To Go Willie!!!

Here's a guy that has hit the nail on the head!!! We had no business being in Iraq they had no WMD's. Maybe if we went after Bin Laden we won't be in this heighten Terror alert!! We went after the wrong guy and America is no safer!!

[silverlib]

17. How did I miss that '1'?

What a great first post. Willie should be honored!

Welcome and Enjoy!

[DemoTex]

12. Ahem! Cough-cough. Ahem!

Willie Nelson of Texas. Just when it ain't safe for a lie-beral to be from Texas anymore. Thanks Willie.

[silverlib]

14. Yep

We get a bad rap because of Bush - but people forget about Molly Ivans, Jim Hightower, Willie, Bonnie R, Michelle Shocked, the Dixie Chicks, Lyndon Baines Johnson and his civil rights victories - and many more!

[Dover]

16. ...don't forget Lloyd Dogget and Bill Moyers

..

[silverlib]

18. Absolutely! (n/t)

[laruemtt]

15. welcome dave!

:hi:

[0007]

19. Hats off to Willie and Dennis

you guys rocked.

[westman]

20. Good for Willy!

I just hope he didn't forget the words as he did when he sang the national anthem at the 1980 Democratic convention!

[Gato Moteado]

23. i was at the concert too!

my friend and i got 7th row seats from a scalper right before the show started.

some guy named tim reynolds opened the show....he was pretty interesting. michelle shocked and tish hinojosa played too.
michael mcdonald and pat simmons of the doobies rocked! bonnie raitt did too. then willie played and he was awesome. most of the performers had kucinich shirts on, and you could tell that they all genuinely loved dk. it was a great time.

i also saw dennis speak at the rally earlier in the day. in fact, i met silverlib and her hubby there for the first time. dennis sounded good, although he really only talked about getting the troops out of iraq in 90 days. since it was a peace rally, he didn't talk about any other issues. the best speech i saw dk give in austin was at the campus greens' rally for radical change a few months ago.

anyways, i'm still fighting for dk and holding out some little bit of hope that this nation has evolved enough to actually elect the best and most honest candidate. hey, we accidentally did it in 1976. dk is the best candidate out there today.