5 Responses to

1. Shanna Philipson says:

   December 26, 2010 at 4:36 pm

   Thank you, Eric. PSR&T was the second CD I purchased, back when CDs were the newest technology. I would play this song over and over. Today I’m reminded of a similar piece, written a hundred years before the turbulent mid-60s.

   I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
   Their old, familiar carols play,
   And wild and sweet
   The words repeat
   Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

   And thought how, as the day had come,
   The belfries of all Christendom
   Had rolled along
   The unbroken song
   Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

   Till ringing, singing on its way,
   The world revolved from night to day,
   A voice, a chime,
   A chant sublime
   Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

   Then from each black, accursed mouth
   The cannon thundered in the South,
   And with the sound
   The carols drowned
   Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

   It was as if an earthquake rent
   The hearth-stones of a continent,
   And made forlorn
   The households born
   Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

   And in despair I bowed my head;
   “There is no peace on earth,” I said;
   “For hate is strong,
   And mocks the song
   Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

   Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
   “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
   The Wrong shall fail,
   The Right prevail,
   With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
2. awordedgewise says:

   December 25, 2010 at 5:13 pm

   Amanda, what’s most interesting I think is that the news DID sound like that in 1966. But at least it was news…not entertainment.

   I had every S&G album, knew all songs by heart….used to do my art homework to them……so interesting the astrological moment e mentions, as that time (1964-1974ish) was hugely important for me. I shall have to look this over and see what dots my pea-astro-brain can connect between then’n'now.

   Thanks – and again a Joyous Merry Happy to All.
3. Eric Francis says:

   December 25, 2010 at 2:26 pm

   In 1966 the world was in the midst of the conjunction of Uranus/Pluto in Virgo opposite Saturn/Chiron in Pisces trine Neptune in Scorpio. It was an alignment similar to what we are experiencing now, as part of 2012. Uranus and Pluto are back in a quadrature aspect for the first tie since the mid-60s, and this is most of what we are describing as 2012.

   That, and a Venus transit of the Sun, along with other Mayan issues.
4. PandorasWood says:

   December 25, 2010 at 1:18 pm

   I haven’t heard this song for decades. What a litany of news for those times when I was young. Wierd that so much was happening all at once.
5. Amanda Painter says:

   December 25, 2010 at 11:34 am

   oof. amazing how something can be subtle yet pack a real wallop at eh same time.

   juxtaposition can be such a powerful tool — really engages the listener/viewer/etc in active meaning-creation & strips away the illusion of passivity in spectatorship.

   i don’t know if i’ve ever heard this track before.

   was curious who did the “newscast,” since it clearly sounds like a roundup of the worst news, not a typical nightly newscast. according to wiki: “The voice of the newscaster on 7 O’Clock News/Silent Night was that of Charlie O’Donnell, then a New York disc jockey.”