The only man of energy
Yes, the revolution's pride
He trained a hundred women
Just to kill an unborn child
Leonard Cohen
The following message is an open letter to anyone espousing the views of Charles Manson (hippy cult leader and convicted serial killer) and venerating him as if he was a hero...
Could you please clarify your intentions - it is obvious that a single collaborative global community would be a better world, but how is associating yourself or this standpoint with Charles Manson going to help our cause?
From your tone I detect that it is likely that you are sincere in your belief that Manson was not responsible for the killings, I wasn't there so I don't know, but this is irrelevant - everybody thinks he is a mass murderer, why attach a noble cause to such baggage?
William Blake wrote 'All Religions Are One' two hundred years ago - why not associate yourselves with him?
The list goes on and on and on - why not John Lennon? Krishnamurthi? Jim Morrison? Buddha? Leonard Cohen?
Clearly he was charismatic and spoke some truth, but there are so many others who have expressed the same ideals with greater eloquence and without so many negative connotations for so many people. How can you expect to achieve anything in this manner?
At times I have considered distancing myself from the cause because I might not be its most wholesome spokesperson - this seems utterly absurd when compared to the amount of damage you might be doing by connecting your beautiful ideals with a convicted serial killer.
The only conclusion I can reach is that you are opposed to peace, that everything you say is a lie, a lie designed to sully the cause you pretend to espouse. If I am just confused please set me straight
x
I wrote the above letter because I heard the Leonard Cohen song 'The Future' and wondered what he meant by his prediction:-
"all the lousy little poets coming round, tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson"
Leonard Cohen
So I Googled to find out what "tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson" would entail - to my alarm he sounds very like me, except not a pacifist. I would like to believe this is a critical difference.
"Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that"
Martin Luther King Jr
On reflection there are two other differences that I would like to point out - his grasp of the English Language is primitive and he is a hippy - I AM NOT A HIPPY.
Thank you, goodnight
x
Do I look like a hippy to you? I would love to be a hippy, but it is not in my nature.
I intend to be Sawbridgeworth's foremost not-a-hippy advocate of hippy ideas.
For a start, "hippy" isn't just about the clothes. Also, we so called hippies never called ourselves hippies. We called ourselves freaks (or freeks). Hippy is just a terms used by straight/main stream people back in the day, and it stuck.
ReplyDeleteBut OK, hippy. If you have "hippy ideas" then I guess you are a hippy. It's not how you dress or do your hair, it's how you think.
Welcome freek :)
PS: why do you start your posting with a quote from "Diamonds in the Mine"? I thought I was the only one who knew that song was about the end of the 1960s and referred to Manson.
Haha, I AM a hippy.
ReplyDeleteI wondered what Cohen meant by "all the lousy little poets / coming round / tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson"
So I read some Charlie Manson. And he sounded just like me.
It was in this light that I wrote this defensive little article
x The Freek