1.
A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit.
Phil Ochs
2.
America is two Mack trucks colliding on a superhighway because all the drivers are on amphetamines.
Phil Ochs
3.
In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.
Phil Ochs
4.
One good song with a message can bring a point more deeply to more people than a thousand rallies.
Phil Ochs
5.
In every political community there are varying shades of political opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken group on many subjects. Ten degrees to the left of center in good times. Ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally. Here, then, is a lesson in safe logic.
Phil Ochs
6.
And if there's any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there's any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara.
Phil Ochs
7.
Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt.
Phil Ochs
8.
The fortunes of the entire world may well ride on the ability of young Americans to face the responsibilities of an old America gone mad.
Phil Ochs
9.
It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life.
Phil Ochs
10.
It's always the old to lead us to the war. It's always the young to fall.
Phil Ochs
11.
Love is a rainbow curving down from the sky, falling crystals of color, shades of warm that never die.
Phil Ochs
12.
The truest protest is beauty.
Phil Ochs
13.
The final story, the final chapter of Western man, I believe, lies in Los Angeles.
Phil Ochs
14.
You can do right or you can do what you are told. And the prize of the victory will belong to the bold.
Phil Ochs
15.
Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why. But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high.
Phil Ochs
16.
Evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders, but the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers, and world of hunger in vengeance will always remember.
Phil Ochs
17.
Step outside the guidelines of the official umpires and make your own rules and your own reality.
Phil Ochs
18.
There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply into themselves and their actions, and musical poetry is perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every newspaper headline is a potential song.
Phil Ochs
19.
Show me the prison, Show me the jail, Show me the prisoner whose life has gone stale. And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why And there, but for fortune, go you or I.
Phil Ochs
20.
It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win.
Phil Ochs
21.
Does defending liberalism leave you friendless and perhaps wondering about your breath?
Phil Ochs
22.
God help the troubadour who tries to be a star. The more that you try to find success, the more that you will fail.
Phil Ochs
23.
Beneath the greatest love lies a hurricane of hate.
Phil Ochs
24.
When they show the destruction of society on color TV, I want to be able to look out over Los Angeles and make sure they get it right.
Phil Ochs
25.
Leaving America is like losing twenty pounds and finding a new girlfriend.
Phil Ochs
26.
Some people never get their feet on the ground, They're either sitting in a chair or theyre laying down.
Phil Ochs
27.
The Yippie demonstrations were merely an attack of mental disobedience on an obediently insane society... and if you feel you have been living in an unreal world for the last couple of years, it is particularly because this power structure has refused to listen to reason... Step outside the guidelines of the official umpires and make your own rules and your own reality.
Phil Ochs
28.
Call it peace or call it treason / call it love or call it reason / but I ain't marching anymore
Phil Ochs
29.
In the courtroom, watch the balance of the scalesIf the price is right, there's time for more appealsThe strings are pulled, the switch is stayedThe finest lawyers fees are paidAnd a rich man never died upon the chair
Phil Ochs
30.
Well I've seen travel in many waysI've traveled in cars and old subwaysBut in Birmingham some people choseTo fly down the street from a fire hose.Doin' some hard travelin'...from hydrants of plenty.
Phil Ochs
31.
In the town of Bethlehem many years ago, a man got religion and he changed the status quo.
Phil Ochs
32.
The only way to Cuba is with the CIA.
Phil Ochs
33.
One legged veterans will greet the dawn, and they're whistling marches as they mow the lawn, and the gargoyles on sit and grieve.
Phil Ochs
34.
If you ever get a war without blood and gore, well, I'll be the first to go.
Phil Ochs
35.
I'm gonna give all I've got to giveCross my heart, and I hope to live.
Phil Ochs
36.
So good to be alive when the eulogies are read.
Phil Ochs
37.
I wonder who I left behind on the other side of fame.
Phil Ochs
38.
I can spare a dime, brother, but in these morally inflationary times, a dime goes a lot farther if it's demanding work rather than adding to the indignity of relief.
Phil Ochs
39.
Is there anybody here who thinks that following the orders takes away the blame Is there anybody here who wouldn't mind a murder by another name?
Phil Ochs
40.
In the state of Mississippi, Many Years Ago, a boy of 14 years got a taste of Southern law.
Phil Ochs
41.
Oh you tell me that there's danger to the land you call your own, And you watch them build the war machine right beside your home, And you tell me that you're ready to go marchin' to the war, I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Phil Ochs
42.
God isn't dead - he's just missing in action.
Phil Ochs
43.
The people who carried the burden, who marked in strange field in search of an answer, and ended their journeys an unwilling hero.
Phil Ochs
44.
Mother Goose is on the loose, stealing lines from Lenny Bruce.
Phil Ochs
45.
So do your duty, boys, and join with prideServe your country in her suicideFind the flags so you can wave goodbyeBut just before the end even treason might be worth a tryThis country is too young to dieI declare the war is overIt's over, it's over.
Phil Ochs
46.
And I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm goneAnd I can't question how or when or why when I'm goneCan't live proud enough to die when I'm goneSo I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here.
Phil Ochs
47.
Show me a country where the bombs had to fallShow me the ruins of buildings so tallAnd I'll show you a young landWith many reasons whyThere but for fortune, go you or IYou or I.
Phil Ochs
48.
The painter paints his brushes black, Through the canvas runs a crack, Portrait of the pain never answers back...
Phil Ochs
49.
I write all my own songs and they are just simple melodies with a lot of lyrics. They usually have to do with current events and what is going on in the news. You can call them topical songs, songs about the news, and then developing into more philosophical songs later.
Phil Ochs
50.
The only possibility in the United States for a humane society would be a revolution with Elvis Presley as leader.
Phil Ochs