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Song «An Open Letter To My Teenage Son» von Victor Lundberg.
Fakten
Veröffentlichungsdaten: 1967 09 (Single), 1967 (Album)
Label: Liberty 55996, Liberty LST 7547
Songwriter
Produktion: Jack Tracy
Genre: Nonmusic
Annotationen
Victor Lundberg war ein Nachrichtensprecher bei einem Radio in Detroit. Mit diesem offenen Brief auf Schallplatte warf er den jungen Amerikanerinnen und Amerikanern vor, dass ihre Jugendkultur unmoralisch, gottlos sei. Der Hintergrund der Platte war der Vietnamkrieg und die Demonstrationen dagegen, insbesondere die Draft card Verbrennungen.
Diese Single proviziert mindestens zehn Antwortsongs.
Im Hintergrund läuft die Battle Hymn of the Republic
.
Personen und Querverweise
Lyrics
Dear son You ask my reaction to long hair or beards on young people Some great men have worn long hair and beards George Washington and Abraham Lincoln If to you long hair or a beard is a symbol of Independence If you believe in your heart that the principles of this country Our heritage, is worthy of this display of pride That all men shall remain free That free men at all times will not inflict their personal limitations of achievement on others That demands your own rights as well as the rights of others And be willing to fight for this right, you have my blessing You ask that I not judge you merely as a teenager To judge you on your own personal habits, abilities and goals This is a fair request And I promise that I will not judge any person only as a teenager If you will constantly remind yourself that some of my generation Judge people by their race, their belief or the color of their skin And that this is no more right Than saying all teenagers are drunken dope addicts or glue sniffers If you will judge every human being on his own individual potential I will do the same You ask me if God is dead This is a question each individual Must answer within himself But a warm summer day with all it's brightness All it's sound, all it's exhilarating breathiness Just happened? God is love Remember that God is a guide and not a storm trooper Realize that many of the past and present generation Because of a well intended but unjustifiable misconception Have attempted to legislate morality This created part of the basis for your generations need To rebel against our society With this knowledge perhaps your children will never ask Is God dead? I sometimes think much of mankind is attempting to work Him to death You ask my opinion of draft card burners I would answer this way All past wars have been dirty, unfair, immoral, bloody and second-guessed However, history has shown most of them necessary If you doubt that our free enterprise system in the United States is worth protecting If you doubt the principles upon which this country was founded That we remain free To choose our religion, our individual endeavors our method of Government If you doubt that each free individual in this great country Should reap rewards commensurate only with his own efforts Than it is Doubtful you belong here If you doubt that people who govern us should be selected By their desire to allow us to strive for any goal we feel capable of obtaining Than it's doubtful you should participate in their selection If you are not grateful to a country that gave your father The opportunity to work for his family to give you the things you have And you do not feel pride enough to fight for your right to continue in this manner Than I assume the blame for your failure to recognize the true value of our birthright And I will remind you that your mother will love you no matter what you do Because she is a woman And I love you too, son But I also love our country and the principles for which we stand And if you decide to burn your draft card Then burn your birth certificate at the same time From that moment on, I have no son!