Phil Ochs - Changes and the USA

This young man was a patriot and loved the American values of decency, loyalty, love of country and above all the truth. But he was betrayed by Richard Nixon and Mayor Daley. He was constantly harassed by the FBI, who had a very thick file on him but he fought back through his energy and his only weapon his music.




Disillusioned and abandoned by many of his so called friends like Bob Dylan, his dreams shattered, he became a drug user, drank a lot and became schizophrenic. He wandered around New York looking like a tramp and called himself John Train. Eventually he had enough and hanged himself, in his sister's home, at a tragically early age.




However his music remains and he has an ever growing fan base around the world. He wrote some of the most hauntingly beautiful music that I have ever heard - a gift that generations will cherish, as his music is timeless.



The following song was the last recording that he ever made. He said cherio to the crew in the recording studio and the production manager, concerned at his state of mind asked him what he would be doing. He replied, "I'll be around" and went away and hanged himself. He had had enough. Fought his fight and lost.


But he won and the world pays homage to what he stood up for and the legendary music.



This is sadly one of his last videos, singing the first chorus of the song. Look at the strain on the man's face:-



and here are the lyrics:-

Changes
By Phil Ochs
Capo 1st fret
Intro: G/A/D/Em/G/A/F#m/Bm/Em/A/D/Em/A/D
G A D Em
Sit by my side, come as close as the air,
G A F#m
Share in a memory of gray;
Bm Em A D
And wander in my words, dream about the pictures
Em A D
That I play of changes.
Green leaves of summer turn red in the fall
To brown and to yellow they fade.
And then they have to die, trapped within
the circle time parade of changes.
Scenes of my young years were warm in my mind,
Visions of shadows that shine.
'Til one day I returned and found they were the
Victims of the vines of changes.
The world's spinning madly, it drifts in the dark
Swings through a hollow of haze,
A race around the stars, a journey through
The universe ablaze with changes.
Moments of magic will glow in the night
All fears of the forest are gone
But when the morning breaks they're swept away by
Golden drops of dawn, of changes.
Passions will part to a strange melody.
As fires will sometimes burn cold.
Like petals in the wind, we're puppets to the silver
strings of souls, of changes.
Your tears will be trembling, now we're somewhere else,
One last cup of wine we will pour
And I'll kiss you one more time, and leave you on
the rolling river shores of changes.
(repeat first verse)