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Chickasaw Mountain (a tribute to Phil Ochs)

from Avalon is Risen by Leslie Fish

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about

I met Phil Ochs only once, shortly before he died, but I was impressed by his music – and later by the classic example of his career.

There are old legends about musicians or poets who traded their souls – or lives – for a limited time, usually seven years, of glory; there are all too many musicians who have lived out that legend for real.

Ochs, at least, dedicated his blaze of glory to ending a bad war.

lyrics

High up on the mountain of Chickasaw, they say,
There’s one patch of darkness that never yields to day.
Deep are those shadows, old as the mountain.
Something is waiting in there.
Call on her if you dare.
Seek no level of god or devil; she’s something older by far.
Call her Lady of the Morning Star.

She offers two bargains. The price is steep and dark.
The one takes your life and the other leaves a mark.
If there’s a third one, I never heard one.
Choose for yourself; what’s the fee?
Nothing she gives comes free.
Name your goal. She won’t ask your soul. She might even give you her own –
And maybe you’d be better off alone.

My old fellow rebel: I know what deal he made.
The power rang through every song he wrote and played,
Made him the best of his generation,
Sang to the end of the war –
And not a moment more.
Then it left him. The Power bereft him, left only one fate to see –
Hanging on his sister’s apple tree.

Forgive my old buddy who soon forgot my name.
I chose not to follow his seven years of fame.
He took the high road, I take the low road:
Sing second place, but sing long –
And have always one more song.
Take your stars and give me my scars;
I’d rather live long and be free –
So take his cup the hell away from me!

Whoever has wisdom can guess what lies unsaid:
The cost of the Gift to the living and the dead.
Still, if you feel you’ll gain from the deal
You’ll play with the Old Morning Star,
No need to travel far.
Don’t just count on Chickasaw Mountain;
If there’s a deal meant for you,
Any wild place on Earth will do.

credits

from Avalon is Risen, released June 10, 2012
Shira Kammen: fiddle
Nada Lewis: accordion
Mark Ungar: upright bass
Rob Wilson: bodhran

Song © 1983 Leslie Fish

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Leslie Fish Phoenix, Arizona

If there's one name that's practically synonymous with filk (Science Fiction folk music), it's Leslie Fish. Leslie has written literally hundreds of songs covering almost every subject, from the space program ("Hope Eyrie"), to Star Trek ("Banned From Argo") to urban life, history, and space fantasy ("Carmen Miranda's Ghost"). ... more

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