richie havens riff

July 14, 2008 at 6:50 pm | Posted in writing | 17 Comments
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the end of all complex negotiations, when Che turned from that table and all and sundry contractual obligations. Not only a definition of brutal honesty but of perfect utility, precision, the truth as a weapon best handled with care especially in the hands of novices, he said, ho ho ho, lash me to the mast boys, here we go,

now there are some of you who dare to presume it is some earthly pleasure we desire, some booty or bounty, bliss in some port of call but we are pirates, the slow fuse suicide bombers of our times, it is freedom we fight for from all the hypocrisy of ordinary lies. If we sin let us sin in some real and grandiose way and throw away our lives simply for the experience of being and believing,

you cannot measure the morality of your actions by their consequences since you can’t possibly predict how many lived or died as a result of your butterfly. Kings are thieves all of them and the complete unreliability of memory if pondered makes knaves of us all. We are completely adrift, you drunken scoundrels, in a sea of instinct and only those who read the tides survive,    
       
 
(The link above goes to a letter by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara de la Serna hosted by Message in a Matrix.)

17 Comments »

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  1. And then it suddenly occurs to me that some people might not know who Richie Havens is which is sad.

    Comment by Paul— July 14, 2008 #

  2. Richie Havens is related to a friend of mine…say’s he still gives an awesome show. Ever notice how long his fingers are?

    If we sin let us sin in some real and grandiose way and throw away our lives simply for the experience of being and believing,

    So true…so true…
    Hi Tina, thanks. How are things going?

    Comment by Tina Trivett— July 14, 2008 #

  3. Anyone who has yet to be turned on to Havens is missing out on an unexhausted mine of soul, unerring guitar rhythms and a truly great, distinctive voice.

    Whew. Now that that’s been said, I think this is a really great piece of work. It has the flamboyance of a spirited, gin-soaked peptalk, a certain unmistakable air. One of the most satisfying pieces I’ve stumbled upon in some time.

    Comment by mothreed— July 14, 2008 #

  4. And yeah, he’s got ridicul0us fingers. His thumb-fretting is really something.
    Thankyou, that thumb fretting is wild,

    Comment by mothreed— July 14, 2008 #

  5. I hope we don’t throw our lives away just so we might feel something. This is poignant and pointed stuff Paul – amazing really.
    thankyou, Simonne,

    Comment by Simonne— July 14, 2008 #

  6. what if hypocrisy of ordinary lies is the booty, the freedom for wich we rattle our sabres?
    ouish
    I hope not but it often seems that way. Then again maybe it is just MY perversities that are my driving force.
    I should not so project
    Oz, we are polymorpheus perverse around here, my friend,

    Comment by ozymandiaz— July 15, 2008 #

  7. searing truth
    thankyou,

    Comment by tipota— July 15, 2008 #

  8. holy sh*t!!!!
    “you cannot measure the morality of your actions by their consequences since you can’t possibly predict how many lived or died as a result of your butterfly. ”
    picking myself up off the floor.
    yeah, that struck a nerve. hmmmm…. so i have the heart of a pirate?
    Absolutely. I have a spare eyepatch for you right here, and some boots which lace up the side and a pirate shirt cutoff at the midriff and and and, woohoo,

    Comment by Lakota— July 15, 2008 #

  9. dang pan… what if i just wanna never grow old… play baseball and eat imaginery pink ice cream.. does that mean i hafta vote too? now richie…he plays a beautiful guitar and has the soul of many unfound riches… that butterfly thingee… subtle strength of the story… existentialism e tu…
    thankyou again for all your wonderful comments, they are amazingly wonderful,

    Comment by pieceofpie— July 15, 2008 #

  10. I disagree. Do you know how long it took me to type that? haha… I do, I do, I disagree with practically all of it but then no matter how many berate me for it, that is my instinct and I can’t deny it. Besides, you know what happened to the pirates of old, eh? All that is irrelevant however, when one considers that the writing provokes a thought, an image and a desire in the reader as proven by the comments (except mine which just asks for another drink and listens to the band play on…) and so is, as always, exceptional.

    Comment by Mary P— July 15, 2008 #

  11. I didn’t mean for that to be a winky face… it was supposed to be a bracket and a comma… damned internet is way too clever for its own good, or an idiot, whichever. Winky faces, tsk…
    tsk, indeed, there was no winks in your comment, it was straight shooting and I don’t want no trouble, ma’am, so whatever you say goes,

    Comment by Mary P— July 15, 2008 #

  12. I utterly loved this. Absolutely beautiful, with a pace so typically enrapturing as yours, bouncing profound truths on top of simple rhythms…
    I especially loved the second stanza, and then the third when I reached it! 🙂

    you cannot measure the morality of your actions by their consequences since you can’t possibly predict how many lived or died as a result of your butterfly.

    – There’s that genius in you at work again…haha!
    Thanks, Sumedh

    Comment by Sumedh— July 15, 2008 #

  13. Thanks everybody, they are wonderful comments.

    Comment by Paul— July 15, 2008 #

  14. oooh yowzer…. “it is freedom we fight for from all the hypocrisy of ordinary lies. If we sin let us sin in some real and grandiose way and throw away our lives simply for the experience of being and believing,”
    i think my heart may have fluttered at the butterfly thing too. wow, excellent!
    Cool, thankyou,

    Comment by mrs. sarah OTT.— July 16, 2008 #

  15. Could my ancestors have been pirates? I like to think so. I wish Che hadn’t wanted to kill for his ideas. Kind of strange, since he started life as a medical doctor. But then he was martyred, good old CIA or whatever scary covert group that snuffed him out. So, do you take an existentialist view of morality? What about the copper rule? I just heard of that. do unto others as they would have you do unto them.

    OK, that’s all I can read for tonight. You’ve been prolific since I went away.

    Comment by christine— July 17, 2008 #

  16. “do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” I don’t know, Christine. There are some strange people who want some strange things done to them. I am amoral. I believe in practical things to assist the survival of the community or the family or the species. Don’t kill each other, try to make the people around you feel happy, safe and content, sometimes that requires a scary story into which one can weave a kind of instructional element. That, to me, isn’t a morality, it’s simple the best practical way to survive and prosper.

    Comment by Paul— July 17, 2008 #

  17. That was deep. “If we sin let us sin in some real and grandiose way and throw away our lives simply for the experience of being and believing”

    Yes. My ancestors were pirates and we descendants read the tides well.

    Rock on.

    Comment by Paul— July 18, 2008 #


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