Masters of War

Bob Dylan's lyrics from the 1960's are more relevant today than ever--but so what? While searching for an original way to engage my students in the task of raising their reading comprehension scores to the college level, I did a lyric search and found songs from Tupac and Kayne West. I also copied lyrics from Sinatra's Birth of the Blues and, of course, the lyrics from Masters of War. Profound ideas come a wide variety of packages--diverse voices converge into uncomfortable truths. "Kept my history of mystery but now I see/The American Dream wasn't meant for me." To the Masters of War Dylan says: "You fasten the triggers/For the others to fire/Then you set back and watch/When the death count gets higher/You hide in your mansion/As young people's blood/Flows out of their bodies/And is buried in the mud."

In the wake of Katrina, I hope we can all reexamine the sometimes empty promises of our democracy and begin the address the dangerous, widening gap between rich and poor in our country. The citizens of New Orleans reverted to "looting" because they had nothing to lose! I don't make false distinctions between "good" and "bad" looting--(oh how the inadequacies of moral absolutism are revealed in the face of such a staggering disaster!) A VCR or microwave? "Oh, how decadent and opportunistic!" Well, anything that can be turned into cash is fair game when you are trying to survive.

I can't get this disturbing dream out of my head--I'm in a lifeboat that is sinking and I am given orders to make sure no one else boards--We solemnly peel off the fingers of the drowning and release their bodies into the vast black water surrounding us.