Recorded in Cafe Istanbul, New Orleans, during Poetry Ball 2, February 26, 2013. Video and editing by Paul Punzo.nPiano Tom Worrell, drums G...
Recorded in Cafe Istanbul, New Orleans, during Poetry Ball 2, February 26, 2013. Video and editing by Paul Punzo.nPiano Tom Worrell, drums Gary Underwood, electric guitar Herve Bluebird.nn It Must Be Love /n Word Passed Down through Forbidden Radion(for Chuck Kinder and John Sinclair on their birthdays)nnnThe voices beside your pillow, nFriends past midnight,nWailing from the River and wailing for the miners,nWhistling--"Whoo-hoo-hoo--Hoo-hoo ..."--for the Gras,nBring tales and tones so pure and sexual nThey lift you like a knife.nRaising heroes from the outlaw, nRacing in the streets,nTheir guitars and drums like Indians, nSlaves and Gospels freed,nAll they say truer than what's on nYour parents' new black-and-white TV.nn The Hill!--the Hill!--n shines beyond Highways' humming finsn The Hill!--the Hill!--n gives you Muddy Waters and Hazel Dickensn The Hill!--the Hill!--n is gained by going far out past Main Street n The Hill!--the Hill!--n asks you to dance like one who can't be seennn Ree-bel! Ree-bel!n Ree-dob-a-dob-a-domp Ree-dob-a-dob-a-domp n Ree-bel Hey-yay-ay! Hey-yay-ay! Hey!-Yay!-Yes!-Yes!nnWhat is this dreamt-for America but promisesnThat those left out, cast out, strung-out,nMay rise according to their worth?nWhat is it but best minds and hearts nIn red jackets ripped apart?nWhat Wars and wars haunt Desks nOf Insurance agents?nWhat results may be outright nWhen the long brown path, the Road, is open,nFields are more or less level, and Old Dean Moriarty's WobblynChoices are abundant?nWhat more might happen to Motor Cities, Iron Cities, nAfter Bebop, Doowop, and John Coltrane chords--nYea-Ay-Om!--Chords from notes!--nHave joined Highland melodies?nWhat more might you do with your hungry ears,nThe wound and bow from pillows' pain?nnJohn reached out to make Rock free as jazz.nJohn reached out to enrich White with Black.nJohn reached out to smoke and drink and fucknUpside-down, under the bed, out in the Lake,nOr any other way or place he liked.nJohn risked his life for all he felt gave some light.nChuck punched his way out of West Virginia parking-lots.nChuck claimed seven Armed Robberies when age seventeen.nChuck dove into Elizabethans, Matthew Arnold,nThe Golden Bough, and McCluhan with the same drive.nChuck brought friends West to share in edges' glownTalk and walk naked wherever would go.nnDecades pass. Partners split nAnd losses wrench.nKnives of Indians and Blacks show outside bars. nWater Follies lap against corpses found beside the Ocean.nA Jimmy Carter, a Ronald Reagan, a Bush and a ClintonnAre U. S. President. nJohn and Chuck smoke and drink, nTeach, create, promote and inspirenMore who listen and talk around kitchen tables. nThey keep pumping up forbidden radio. nThey can be ignored but not stopped.nTheir beards thin to catch light.nn What is the word abideth Night?n What is the sound of Spirits bright?n What holds the hand that grips your handn On what might have been your death-bed?n What moves the horns of devotees n Who play to be a force for good? n What is the force made strangers by your bedn Call you to know their worlds, to be their friendsn To sing through the wounded throats of wild birds?n What is the word, the sound, the force, you heard?nn It must be love. It must be love. It must be love.n Like a knife. Like a bell. Like Gods' own bells. n Raging love. Tender love. n Unbending and undying love.n Calling you to go out there, n Do your thing and make it ring.n Like endless light in giant night.n The word, the sound, the force, you heard,n So 'way back when and all your life,n Clifford Brown and Patsy Cline,n "Milk Cow Blues" and Dock Boggs,n Archie Shepp and Dolly Parton,n From Tunica to Ben Bulben,n The light they shone your road ahead,n The light you bring your road aheadn They gave to give. All will be well n If we can love. The fire in rose.n The hand in yours. The voice in ears.n They gave to give. It must be loven They gave to give. It must be love.... Less
