Posted on 05/26/2008 5:43:37 AM PDT by Nextrush
I sat in the same kitchen this morning and listened to the same song I heard on the radio every morning in late May and early June of 1968.
I knew nothing about a movie called "The Graduate" back then but my eight year old mind easily comprehended the common phrases Paul Simon put into the song.
Those lyrics were drummed into me:
"Jesus loves you more than you will know....
"God Bless You please Mrs. Robinson, heaven holds a place for those who pray......
"Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you..."
Of all those lyrics from the number one song at this time 40 years ago, these seem so relevant to now....
"Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon.....going to the candidates debate....laugh about it, shout about it, when you go to choose....everyway you look at it you lose..."
Those lyrics can strike a chord even in the times we live in now.....
They say one of the keys to a hit song is words that are common phrases the audience relates to....
"Mrs. Robinson" did just that 40 years ago today.
....laugh about it, shout about it, when you go to choose....everyway you look at it you lose...”
Ain’t that the truth for this election cycle!
Damn has it been that long? I was 15 so now I feel old.
For the “youngers” in the audience, The Chicago Seven were the people who were prosecuted as the ringleaders of the riots.
I remember watching the riots on TV and thinking, huh, more riots. Why don't the pigs just leave em alone? I was 11 at the time, and the previous summer, both my town and Detroit had gone thru horrid rioting. I guess I was just glad I didn't live in Chicago.
"Don't vote -- it only encourages them."
By early May and June of 1968, the nation's eyes were turned to pitcher Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was shutting out opposing teams, one after another.
This song is about the state of the nation in the late 60's. Ms. Robinson is an archetype of the generation that could no longer uphold the "perfectness" of the '50s no matter how good their intentions. (hence why Jesus loves you, there were lots of wrongs committed with the best of intentions) The entire older generation of the 60's was in a sort of institution, desperately trying to maintain an unmaintainable false image. Hide it from the kids, they'll rip off the covers and expose everything. Government is not helping, anyway you lose. Also, an excellent note from the movie: Notice how after they "succeeded" in toppling the establishment's expectations they sat in the back of the bus looking like they had no clue about what to do next? That was 60's youth, and that conflict with one side wrong and the other side confused and directionless is what this song is about.
I'm right there with you on feeling old -- I was 13 that summer and any way I look at the electoral scene (then & now), I lose.
Interesting you bring that up. That very same year, the OTHER (and arguably, slightly better) intimidator, Bob Gibson, was having the greatest pitching season I have ever witnessed. Throughout June and July, in 99 IP, he gave up exactly 2 runs -- one on a passed ball, the other on a barely-fair-ball bloop double. W/o those two weird moments, he had TEN shutouts. He went into August with an ERA under 1.0. Boy, those two righties were on fire that year. I think they lowered the mound because of it.
I was at the game in Chavez Ravine on May 31, 1968, at which Drysdale tied the record for shutouts in a game against the San Francisco Giants. The primary election was a few days away, and upon entering the stadium, a Democratic campaign worker asked, “do you want to vote for Senator [Robert] Kennedy?” I replied, “no, I don’t.”
The most dramatic moment came late in the game when San Francisco loaded the bases and a batter named Dick Dietz stepped up to the plate. Drysdale hit him with a pitch, but the umpire ruled that Dietz had leaned into it. The San Francisco manager was so angry that he was thrown out of the game.
Drysdale, of course, went on to win.
We can but hope that Denver will be a disharmonic convergence, in which every kook, every foul Moonbat, and every troubled radical ever encouraged by that party will come out of their dark and dank holes to go to that Mecca of Mayhem, as the bitter fruits of that twisted tree.
And then Hillary steals the convention.
At which point, the mixed metaphors reach critical mass.
Now that's the good stuff.
Poor Leo Durocher had to suffer as his father in law for a few years.
I can remember when they celebrated the 20th anniversary of Mrs. Robinson being at the top of the charts on WCBS. I was driving to visit my granmother’s grave (she having died a month earlier).
Looking at my own family, I can tell you that 1. they loved to drink (having been kids during the prohibition area) and 2. they fooled around just as much as folks do today.
Looking at my own family from THAT generation (the “older generation” in the 1960s), I can tell you that 1. they loved to drink (having been kids during the prohibition area) and 2. they fooled around just as much as folks do today.
Yes...and that was what the Graduate was trying to expose. I just saw that movie again recently. I still don’t think it’s as good as everyone said it was. But I was only 10 years old when it was released. But then again, I don’t think Mike Nichols is as good as everyone says he is. I thought his last big movie, CLOSER was the biggest pile of self-indulgent crap I’ve ever seen.
LOL. We were thinking of “They all s**k 08” or something in that vain.
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