See my name?
That's a photo I published back in 2006, and I'm glad I put a Creative Commons license and made it easy to use without needing to ask. I don't check my email that often, and I'm happy to see the photo getting some eyeballs. I photographed things that other people made, some of it art, some of it utilitarian, so it would be especially absurd to be possessive about what part of this is mine. It makes more sense to claim the sunrise. I didn't even have the power to arrange those items. They were arrayed in a glass case.
Anyway. This morning I focused on that "poster" with the vivid line "I don't know where I'm going/But I'm on my way." It struck me as anti-war. If you don't know where you're going, stay put. First do no harm. But I learned that the seeming poster was in fact sheet music. And I think it celebrates willingness to do whatever "Uncle Sammy" has in mind. Read the sheet music and listen:
And I'll do my duty-uty night or day/I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way....
I still don't know what Paul Simon and Julio were doing down by the school yard, but there's that line I don't know where I'm going/But I'm on my way:
Of course, it's perfectly acceptable, speaking of copyright, for Paul to lift that line from the 1917 song, but who knows if he did? I see that in 1972, Paul Simon told Rolling Stone, he "never bothered to figure out what it was" that Mama saw him and Julio do down by the schoolyard, because it "didn't make any difference to me." And in 2010, he told the NYT the song was "a bit of inscrutable doggerel." So I'm sure he'd give an obscure answer to the question whether he was inspired by that war/anti-war song.
I like that he used it, if he used it. It's the folk music tradition, something Dylan does too. You patch things together, put them in a new context. It's vital and alive. A good thing.
Meanwhile, there are places on the internet that attribute to Carl Sandburg. I suspect that's one of those misattributions. And speaking of famous names... that really is Mickey Mantle.
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An English pop song, part of a movie: "I know where I'm going, but I don't know who's going with me. I know who I'll love, but the Devil knows who I'll marry."
"I don't know where I'm going/But I'm on my way" reminds me of "If you're in a hole, stop digging."
"I Know Where I'm Going" was the 1940s Powell/Pressberger film that featured the song.
It's unlikely that Paul Simon knew that obscure 1917 song, and likely that he did know what he was up to with Julio down by the schoolyard. It was just something that he couldn't say in those benighted times. We all had an inkling what was going on between them, but Simon's 1998 "Capeman" musical could have put other, still darker ideas into our heads.
I wish you could've arranged those items in the glass case. The presentation is muddled, and the interesting bits are hidden.
I Don't Know Where I'm Going but I'm Going Nowhere in a Hurry Blues by Steve Goodman
'I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on the way.' -- Carl Sandburg, Incidentals, 1900
"The" not "my," but it's in there. It's a nifty little book. That's not to say that it's at all good, but it does breathe the spirit of the day. Part Emerson, part Whitman, part Omar Khayyam, part Kahil Gibran. From the days when a young fellow could self-publish a book in Galesburg, Illinois and dream of fame. Today, with the internet there must be other scribblers in other Galesburgs getting their stuff out, but is it quite the same?
I'd forgotten about those big pre-walkman boomboxes. When a kid came into your subway car with one of those, you quickly moved to the next car.
"It's unlikely that Paul Simon knew that obscure 1917 song,"
Is it? Folk singers learn lots of songs and draw on them to write their "original" stuff.
Writing the post, I asked Grok, "I'm seeing this WWI song, "I Don't Know Where I'm Going But I'm On My Way" (1917), and I notice those words appear in the Paul Simon song "Me And Julio Down by the Schoolyard." Is this just a coincidence or did Simon mean to refer to that song?"
The answer: "Simon, born in 1941, was a keen student of music history and grew up in an era when older popular songs from the early 20th century, including those from the WWI period, were still part of the cultural fabric—passed down through radio, folk traditions, or even family singalongs...."
And to reinforce what I said in the post: I think it's BETTER if Simon lifted the line from that WWI song. It's deeper and more textured.
Enjoyed that song since I was a kid, but something has always nagged at me.
At one point in the song it sounds to me like Paul Simon sings "See you, me and Julio down by the school yard" instead of "Seein' me and Julio down by the school yard." As if to invite the listener at the end of the song to join in their schoolyard escapades.
The clip: The first time (standing next to Mickey Mantle) it sounds like the regular "Seein' me and Julio," but on the two repeats (in the group shot with the kids) it sounds to me like "See you, me and Julio down by the school yard."
I like the notion that returning vets are 'giving back,' when they were the ones who gave already.
"At one point in the song it sounds to me like Paul Simon sings "See you, me and Julio down by the school yard" instead of "Seein' me and Julio down by the school yard." As if to invite the listener at the end of the song to join in their schoolyard escapades."
You know, if one person does it they may think he's really sick... And if two people do it, they may think they're [gay]... But if three people do it... they may think it's an
organization. And can you imagine fifty people a day?... Friends they may thinks it's a movement!
Just checking that I'm not the italics culprit.
Love the Arlo Guthrie quote.
One of Simon's throwaway lines when he did this in concert, was that only when he played in New York did the audience understand that Rosie was not the queen of a Mexican beer.
I suggest italics perpetrator. Culprit implies certain criminality, rather than perpetrator's implied harm or immorality with merely possible criminality. YMMV, as may your creation of italics, and hopefully, your cessation thereof.
Lazarus beat me to it. I thought of the movie "I Know Where I'm Going," that takes place during World War II, about a woman who goes to a remote Scottish island to marry a rich man. She's the only one of the characters who seems to have not been impacted by the war. But, in the end, she ends up not going where she thinks she's going.
"I dont know where I'm going but I'm on my way" is the story of Army Regulars. They'd joined up, and didn't know where they'd end up. That was particularly true of WWII. Pacific, Europe, ComZ, where?
But even in WW 1 - they didn't know. Stay in the USA and guard the Mexican Border, or maybe France or Italy? And where in France? MacArthur and Patton went to the western Front. Bradley got sent to Montana. Ike spent the war in Pennsylvannia at tank training center.
As for, Paul SImon, i find that whole "Look me, a white man, loving POC's" So sickening and fake. "I'm reachin' out to you to me Amigo Julio, Que pasa?"
I used to like Simon and Garfunkle as a teen, then i learned more and realized they basically copied and pilffered a lot of songs and began to find their deriviative ersatz-folk songs like nails on a chalkboard. Not to mention they always seemed like efffeminate wimps.
Paul Simon makes Bob Dylan seem macho.
"That old guy you see shuffling around town in the Vietnam Veteran cap back in the day was more bad ass than you'll ever be.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d7/3c/da/d73cda117cdb56767ea45d3fbbd2d25d.jpg
John Henry
I've been getting all my 5 star Healthcare from va for 25 years now.
I used to get depressed seeing all these old guys from VN era. Even more because I I am one of them.
I'm not one of the real badasses, I was navy, shipboard never west of Chicago.
But tha since I saw that poster last year, I feel a whole lot better about them and myself
John Henry
.
I don't know where I'm going
But I do know what I need
And I'll get to where I'm gonna end up
And that's alright by me
Let's see action
Let's take lefties
Let's put their asses
In the jail
Let's see action
Prison stretches
Let them whine
And see who cares
h/t Teh Who
"And speaking of famous names... that really is Mickey Mantle."
Yep, it was. But why was he batting lefty when Simon was throwing lefty? The Mick was a switch hitter, he would have been hitting from the right side.
“Paul Simon makes Bob Dylan seem macho.”
Now do Hamas.
Money Manager,
Corona used to be a Puerto Rican beer. It went bankrupt in the 90s and modelo México acquired the us trademarks.
In the 80s and 90s any nyc audience, if they associated any beer wit corona, it would have been the pr brew.
John Henry
Love that song.
I have to say, I think so many of us in the late 60s/early 70s felt that "I'm on my way, but I don't know where I'm going" thing. Or maybe I'm just speaking for myself.
And yes, my papa did say 'Oy, if I get that boy..."
Currently reading "and the roots of the rhythm remain" by Joe Boyd. Title is from Simon's "under African sky's" on graceland.
Because of the book I've been revisiting Paul simon lately, esp graceland and rhythm of the saints. I've always loved the sound of his music. Never had any idea what it was about, the words generally sound like beautiful gibberish or doggerel.
John Henry
"Now do Hamas"
I like pie. And bunnies with pancakes on their head.
I was at Yankee Stadium on 8/13/1995 to see the Yankees play the Indians. Mickey had passed away overnight. The legendary Robert Merrill sang the Star-Spangled Banner, and then 45,000 people cried during the Mantle tribute. It was the most memorable game I ever attended.
I like the song too. Its sorta catchy. Of course, back then they had to write songs that people could play on the piano and sing, because sheet music is where they got their $$$.
Too bad Mick killed himself with the booze and the cigs.
And John Madden is the ignored coach at the end.
Darkisland said...
Thanks for posting the "Badass". The company I worked for hired combat vets nearly exclusively. USMC and ARMY, but mostly from I-Corps, South Viet Nam.
No finer crew to have worked with in my 70+ years.
According to a comment on the WWI song video, "I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way" is a Voltaire quotation.
The word on the street back in the day was that Paul and Julio were burning their draft cards, but who knows? Apparently, not Paul.
"I still don't know what Paul Simon and Julio were doing down by the school yard"
But we know, don't we? Julio still can't sit in a normal chair.
"I Know Where I'm Going" -- One of my favorites, particularly Catriona and her deerhounds.
“I like pie. And bunnies with pancakes on their head.”
I notice you’ve left out all the rape (young girls up through old women), torture and killing (babies up through the elderly) associated with Hamas and their civilian underlings.
OT, but great Wisconsin - Michigan State game on, now in late 2nd half.
Interesting note about the song. When he says "I belong to the Regulars" that is a line with meaning. He was not a draftee, nor even a member of the Reserve. He was a member of the Regular Army (or Navy or Marines) and not a part time soldier. He would have considered himself a professional soldier, and different from the Reserves or draftees.
ROTS is a classic, both musically and lyrically.
Tim, I wouldn't place too much emphasis on the lyrics. "Regular" just fits better than some other term, and the version I found ends with "I've joined the army."
Fairman may have not understood the relationship between Regulars, Marines, volunteers, and conscripts, and didn't need to.
Says he also wrote coon songs.
Sandburg Incidentals 1904 page 8
https://archive.org/details/incidentals00sand/page/n11/mode/2up?view=theater
This being here, I at first thought that was a New Yorker cover.
I remember the video came out in the late 80s even though the song was from the early 70s. For me, Paul Simon is second only to Dylan in folk rock.
I thought of the opposite song "Over There". And that it's over over there. We can be proud that those on our side and most of our defeated enemies became prosperous, mouthy SOBs. And leave them to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15R6Qv5PZqE
“Too bad Mick killed himself with the booze and cigs.”
He didn’t smoke. Booze did the job quite effectively all by itself.
I read that Simon wanted to use Mickey Mantle’s name in Mrs. Robinson but couldn’t make it work, so he used Joe DiMaggio instead. Maybe this is how Simon made up for that.
My father was a doctor. About 6 months before Pearl Harbor he figured, The US will be going to to war soon, and when we do, they'll draft all the doctors, so I'll enlist now and get ahead of the crowd. So he enlisted, and was commissioned as a Lieutenant. Right after Pearl Harbor, the Army started drafting doctors and commissioning them as Captains. So much for planning.
Dad was stationed in the US throughout the War, until after VE Day. Then the focus became the Invasion of Japan, which was expected to be the bloodiest battle in world history. Then Dad got orders to report to the Pacific Coast and await further orders. That implied Japanese Invasion, which would require A LOT of Army Doctors.
Dad was about midway across the country when (unbeknownst to him or most Americans at the time) the US dropped its second A-Bomb on Nagasaki, the Japs surrendered, and Dad got order to return to the East Coast.
"Thank God for the Atom Bomb".
"I don't know where I'm going/But I'm on my way"
It reminds me of the spirit of a Dr. Seus book. It’s how I felt walking the plank at my bs graduation.
It's strange to watch Peanuts cartoons made in the 1970s and find the kids singing WWI songs at camp, but those were the songs that Charles Schultz would have sung in camp between the wars, and they were still well-known songs decades later. I really doubt Paul Simon was digging deep enough into Tin Pan Alley flops from 50 or 60 years earlier to come up with Fairman and Burrs' opus. He might have come across some of the hits, old standards, and as much blues and actual folk music that he could find, but "I Don't Know Where I'm Going" was certainly out of the way. Maybe Bob Dylan knows the song, but Paul Simon? Anyway, we'll never know unless somebody asks him and he can still remember.
I thought it came from the movie "Paint your wagon" Lee Marvin sings it.
what do I know?
So Alan Jay Lerner took made it mainstream
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