When I heard David Crosby and Graham Nash were going to perform their ’60s hits for Occupy Wall Street’s fetid gathering in lower Manhattan, it inspired me to rewrite Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” an iconic version of which Crosby, Still and Nash recorded in 1970.
Start the video below and sing along using my new words. I think it has a certain je ne sais quoi.
Peace, man.
Wall Street
(With apologies to Joni Mitchell)
Well, I came upon a whining child
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, Tell me where are you’re going?
This he told me
Said I’m off to Occupy Wall Street
Gonna join a dependency band
And I got to destroy the banks to set my soul free
We are spoiled, we are slackers
We are protesting against carbon
And we want to help destroy capitalism
Well, then can I walk beside you
I have come to kill the rich
And I want to participate in collective squatting
And maybe it’s my college loans
Or my useless three degrees
But I haven’t found myself
And my life is rotting.
We are spoiled, we are slackers
We are protesting against carbon
And we want to help destroy capitalism
We are spoiled, we are slackers
We are protesting against carbon
And we want to help destroy capitalism
By the time we got to Wall Street
We were several dozen strong
And everywhere was righteous indignation
And I dreamed of bankers and brokers
Burning in hellfire
Turning into cinders
In the conflagration.
We are spoiled, we are slackers
We are protesting against carbon
And we want to help destroy capitalism
(New parody lyrics by Jon Ham)
