There But For Fortune

We went to see a documentary called Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune about the protest singer Phil Ochs who was well-known in his time, but isn't as famous now as he should be. He wrote a lot of beautiful, passionate songs and he organized and participated in political protests throughout the sixties and early seventies. He was deeply committed to ending the Vietnam War and his song "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" became the anthem for the anti-Vietnam movement.

It was the first day of spring, but it was a sad day. The weather was cold and gloomy. The theater was sprinkled with a few old lefties like ourselves. I doubt if very many young people have ever heard of Phil Ochs, much less know the details of the political struggle he and a lot of us oldsters engaged in. The sixties and seventies are depicted in the media as a time of sex, drugs and rock n'roll with a wave of nostalgia coloring it in cheery psychedelic bubble tones -- or on the opposite pole, it's portrayed as a crazy time filled with Charles Manson cults and wild-eyed drug-taking radicals. This film portrayed a more accurate version of the era. It was hard for us to watch as it took us through the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy. All our heroes were shot down and our bright hopes destroyed. It still hurts to see the footage. And of course, we had to grow up, which Phil Ochs wouldn't or couldn't do.

He committed suicide in 1976 at the age of 35. That was sad for Bob to relive because he knew Phil back in high school. It was sad for me because, as I watched him disintegrate on screen from a brilliant lively person into a raving alcoholic and drug-addled manic-depressive, it brought back painful memories of tormented people I knew back then. That was a dark time, after the student murders at Kent State, which is when the peace movement began to break up and disillusionment set in.

We came out of the theater overwhelmed with painful memories of the past. We felt down for the rest of the evening, but the film was so good, it was worth it. It made me remember that some things are worth being sad for -- and fighting for.