“Was not their mistake once more bred of the life of slavery that they had been living?—a life which was always looking upon everything, except mankind, animate and inanimate—‘nature,’ as people used to call it—as one thing, and mankind as another, it was natural to people thinking in this way, that they should try to make ‘nature’ their slave, since they thought ‘nature’ was something outside them” — William Morris


Sunday, November 20, 2011

Occupation, Grass, Violence



A disturbing wonderful song by Robert Wyatt and Ivor Cutler. It seems very appropriate for a week during which the police have acted the way they acted towards our students, and towards my friends Bob Hass and Celeste Langan. For sitting on the grass. Lawns have ever been a strange place of republican dreams and nightmares.

Go and sit upon the grass
and I shall come and sit beside you.
Go and sit upon the grass
and I shall come and sit beside you.

And we shall talk.
And while we talk I’ll hit your head with a nail to make you understand me.
While we talk I’ll hit your head with a nail to make you understand me.

Go and sit upon the grass
and I shall come and sit beside you.
Go and sit upon the grass
and I shall come and sit beside you.

And do not mind if I thump you when I’m talking to you.
Do not mind if I thump you when I’m talking to you.
I’ve something important to say.

Go and sit upon the grass
and I shall come and sit beside you.
Go and sit upon the grass
and I shall come and sit beside you.

And when I’m gone you can feel the lumps upon your head.
And think about what I said.
And think about what I said.

Go and sit upon the grass
and feel your lumps.

2 comments:

Henry Warwick said...

Republican says:

GET OFF MY LAWN YOU KIDS!

IF YOU DON'T, I'LL CALL THE COPS!

Sarah Lew said...

you might like <a href="http://carbonfarm.us/KATALOG/blog/?p=27> the first singaporean grass sitting festival</a>! (it was illegal both to gather and groups and sit on grass there-not sure now)