Random Thoughts - 60s Flashback Edition

Sun nite on KGRR 97.3 FM the song 2 Hangmen by Mason Proffit came on. As I was listening to it I couldn't help but think how much things have changed. The 1 & only time I heard it back when it 1st came out was on KUNI-FM's alternative rock program late 1 nite. It wasn't until many years later after KGRR came on the air that I heard it again & found out who had recorded it. Obviously, the song made an impression on me.

The basic gist of the song is that is protesting the attempts of the US Government (LBJ & Nixon era) to silence protestors against the Vietnam War. A hangman has seen to many things done in the name of laws that weren't right that he finally spoke up. So they arrest him & try him & sentance him to death. However the hangman they sent for doesn't go along & ends up being hung himself.

I couldn't help but think how much things have changed. Back then it was the left that was protesting things & the government was trying to silence them. Nowadays it is the left that is trying to silence us who are defending life. They try, as the song says, to silence us for "FOR BELIEVING THINGS THAT DIDN’T FIT THE LAWS THEY’D SET ASIDE." Things like the sanctity of life & using fetal/embryonic stem cells is wrong.

2 prime examples of this is the recent article in the NY Time's Magazine, Is There a Post-Abortion Syndrome? (more on this in another post) & making it sound like those opposing embryonic/fetal stem cell research are opposed to all stem cell research. Then there is the biggest 1 of all from last Fall's election, Michael J. Fox's work in Missouri for the constitutional ammendment that legalized cloning etc in the name of stem cell research. This was, as I pointed out, a prime example of Ann Coulter's point about silencing opposition using victims.

Anyway, here are the lyrics to the song (I hilited the most pertinent lines):

TWO HANGMEN

© Terry Talbot

AS I RODE INTO TOMBSTONE MY HORSE HIS NAME WAS MAC

I SAW WHAT I’LL RELATE TO YOU GOIN’ ON BEHIND MY BACK

IT SEEMS THE FOLKS WERE UP IN ARMS

A MAN NOW HAD TO DIE

FOR BELIEVING THINGS THAT DIDN’T FIT THE LAWS THEY’D SET ASIDE

IT SEEMS HE WAS A SIMPLE MAN AS BEST AS I COULD SEE

HE WAS AN EXCECUTIONER, A HANGMAN JUST LIKE ME

I GUESS THAT HE’D SEEN LOOPHOLES FROM WORKIN WITH HIS NOOSE

HE’D HUNG THE WRONG MAN MANY TIMES TO COVER UP THE TRUTH

HE’D TALKED TO ALL THE PEOPLE FROM HIS SCAFFOLD IN THE SQUARE

HE TOLD THEM OF THE THINGS HE’D FOUND BUT THEY DIDN’T SEEM TO CARE

SO WHAT IF SOMEONE HAD TO DIE

TO KEEP -A RICHES IN THEIR HANDS

THEY LAUGHED AT HIM AND WALKED AWAY

HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND

AND SO THE HIGH SHERIFE CAME AROUND

HE SAID HE’D HAD ENOUGH

HE’D MAKE THE HANGMAN SHUT HIS MOUTH

AND PUT AN END TO ALL THIS STUFF

HE FINALLY ARRESTED HIM

AND THEN HE SENT FOR ME

TO HANG A FELLOW HANGMAN

FROM A FELLOW HANGMANS TREE

IT DIDN’T TAKE THEM LONG TO TRY HIM

IN THEIR COURT OF LAW

HE WAS GUILTY OF HONESTY

A CRIME WORSE THAN ALL

THEY SENTENCED HIM TO DIE

SO THE SEEDS OF LOVE CAN’T SPREAD

AND INFECT THE LITTLE CHILDREN

THAT’S WHAT THE LAW HAD SAID

SO THE HANGIN’ DAY CAME ROUND

AND HE WALKED UP TO THE NOOSE

I PULLED THE LEVER BUT BEFORE HE FEEL I CUT HIM LOOSE

THEY CALLED IT ALL CONSPIRACY AND THAT I HAD TO DIE

SO TO CLOSE OUR MOUTHS AND KILL OUR MINDS

THEY HUNG US SIDE BY SIDE

AND NOW WE’RE TWO HANGMEN HANGIN FROM A TREE

THAT DON’T BOTHER ME AT ALL

(From the lyrics page of the Mason Proffit website. Used under the fair use doctrine. All rights reserved to copyright owner.)

ASIDE: This song was alternative back then. It seems so mainstream now, esp in comparison to what is labeled alternative these days. Also in researching the lyrics I learned something else about the group I didn't know, Terry Talbot is John Michael Talbot's brother.