You know what? Yeah, i Rule
8:41 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
wow! so this paper topic got more and more narrow and i just KEPT writing! iw as up till about 3 last night, not bad!, and then woke up around 7:30 to come down to the computer lab and proof/print the final copy. and you know what, i'm damn proud of this paper. I found it incredibly interesting. So yeah, i'm gonna post it here. because i can. you don't have to read it if you don't want to, but i must admit, it's pretty good. ;) let's just hope ed (love of my life!!) thinks so too.
Yippie Subculture: Musical, Hairy, Protesting Activists
Hair. All mammals have it and humans are very particular are about it. Styles come and go in a relatively short amount of time. Women were expected to have long hair for centuries, and then short haircuts were at the height of fashion. Similar changes in style affected men as well. From Samson to Elvis, hair is as individual as the head upon which it sits. Political movements also come and go. Regimes rise and fall; protests are remembered and forgotten. What is remembered most from political revolutions can vary from movement to movement and person to person. Some succeed in the goals that were set forth; others are remembered only for superficial weaknesses. Politics and hair can be symbolic of a cultural movement, specifically, the subculture of the Yippies (Youth International Party). By closely examining the Crosby Stills Nash & Young (CSNY) songs �Chicago,� �Long Time Gone,� and �Almost Cut My Hair,� in conjunction with the Yippies and their protests, one can see how the merging of political activism and anti-conformity was reflected in popular culture.
In order to best understand the workings of the music, one must look to the political movements and countercultural revolutions that followed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This is, of course, far too large of a time period with far too many subcultures to examine in such a short paper, thus the focus will be directed on the protests and actions of the Yippies at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The Vietnam War had been escalating; the social and political problems were unstable and confusing. David Lewis Stein, a newspaper reporter and Yippie activist, claimed that the era of hippies had come to an end after an article about them in the July 1967 issue of Time (5). He also explained that they were being attacked by the police because of their fondness for drugs and persecuted by the �straight� world because of their belief in emotional and sexual freedom (5). Stein notes that �they were beginning to understand that society would not let them go in peace. They would have to fight back. The New Left Wing was fighting the old world too and the hippies were ready to make an alliance� (5). In general, the Yippies, or Youth International Party, was the combination of hippies, with their drugs, sex and reckless abandonment, with the political involvement and harsh activism of the New Left Wing.
During the DNC in Chicago, CBS news reported that the Yippies represent �a confluence of the student protest and hippie strains among America�s radical youth. They attempt, through their zany activities, to make the establishment up-tight and make visible what they deem to be the brutality and inhumanity of our government� (137). These zany activities included mediation in Lincoln Park as well as dropping dollar bills onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Yippies, to say the least, did not conform to society�s norms in any ways. CBS reported their leaders as having a �wild appearance� (137) and �needless to say, there will be various expressions of their own lifestyle such as way-out clothes, smoke-ins, and love-ins� (138). Abbie Hoffman, one of the founders of YIP, was an advocate of shocking and rebelling against the mainstream culture. His hair was wild and crazy; it could be deemed a white-man�s afro. He spoke his mind passionately, wore very loud clothes and had an attitude that said �I don�t care who I offend.� He has become a cultural icon, even if people do not know his name. With his crazy hair, American flag shirt and vulgar language, he was portrayed in Forrest Gump as the leader of the anti-war movement in Washington D.C. where Forrest gives his moving, albeit unheard, speech regarding the war in Vietnam.
The subculture of the Yippies was ripe with angst, paranoia and frustration. When asked what a Yippie was, Abbie claimed that a �Yippie was a hippie who has been beat over the head with a policeman�s club� (34). Stein notes that Abbie had once been a relatively peaceful radical. However, altercations with local police who, �beat the hell out of him� (9), made him realize that in order to be heard, he would have to become a revolutionary.
One song by CSNY that reflects the paranoia and frustration of the countercultural revolution of the Yippies is �Almost Cut My Hair.� In the song, CSNY sing:
Almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day
It�s getting� kinda long
I coulda said it wasn�t in my way
But I didn�t and I wonder why
I feel like letting my freak flag fly
Cause I feel like I owe it to someone
In this verse, the theme of being a freak is demonstrated by his long hair. The listener has a mental picture in which the character in the song almost gives in to the pressures of the �normal� world. This first verse shows the beginning of a desire to be different. He seems to be new to the protest groups of the late 60s and early 70s. He claims that it was getting �kinda long,� thus showing he hasn�t been part of the movement for a long time. He also thinks of an excuse as to why he hasn�t had a haircut. �I could�ve said it wasn�t in my way / But I didn�t and I wonder why.� He bypasses the easy answer and instead wants his �freak flag� to be apparent, thus exemplifying the growing anger towards rules, politics and social conventions.
The most interesting verse in this song, in regards to the Yippie paranoia, is the second verse, which is as follows:
Must be because I had the flu for Christmas
And I�m not feelin� up to par
It increases my paranoia
Like lookin� in my mirror and seeing a police car
But I�m not giving an inch to fear
Cause I missed myself this year
I feel I owe it to someone
In this verse, we see his general anxiety regarding structured authority. In addition to the general paranoia that most of the population experiences when seeing red and blue police lights in the review mirror, it is arguable that he believes that with his short hair, he will be seen as an authority figure. As he looks in his own mirror at home, he sees a compliant and fearful man like his father, represented by the police car. He refuses to give into the fear that he will become a conservative and constricting man, and keeps his hair long and proud.
The cultural revolution of the Yippies was, in part, based on shock value. The combination of hippies and new liberals, the integration of drugs and politics, as well as the idea of freedom, in regards to sex, were very scandalous in the mainstream culture. This shock value was clearly exemplified in the Yippie platform of 1968. Abbie Hoffman read the 18 demands for a small group of reporters (Stein 34). At first, they were typical of New Left Wing politics such as an end to the war in Vietnam, the end of �cultural domination of minority groups,� the disarmament of all people, and a prison system based on �rehabilitation and not punishment� (35). People may have expected these, but probably became uncomfortable when demands such as the legalization of marijuana and all other psychedelic drugs and the abolition of money were made (Stein 34). However, the fireworks truly went off when Abbie got to points 14 and 15 which read:
(14) An end to all censorship. We are sick of a society which has no hesitation about showing people committing violence but refuses to show a couple fucking.
(15) We believe that people should fuck all the time, anytime, whomever they wish. This is not a program demand but a simple recognition of the reality around us� (36).
Abbie intentionally used vulgar language to upset the general public and get them riled up. Stein mentions that �the TV men listened respectfully to Abbie, but when he got to the parts about �fucking,� I saw one of the cameramen look away in disgust� (37). What better way to get attention than to use the most (culturally agreed upon) foul word in a press conference?
CSNY spoke their minds politically as well, however, because they were not as revolutionary as the Yippies, their conventional sounding music sent a message of reform and activism to millions of listeners. In �Long Time Gone,� CSNY sing about how society is in a dark place and it will be a long time before things get better. They sing for change, love and acceptance, yet they do not advocate conforming to the ways of the conservative upper and middle classes. This is seen clearly in the second verse of the song:
Speak out, you got to speak out against the madness
You got to speak your mind,
If you dare
But don�t, no don�t no try to get yourself elected.
If you do you had better cut your hair.
And it appears to be a long, (yes it does)
Appears to be a long
Appears to be a long time,
Such a long, long, long, long time,
Before the dawn.
Arguably, by the first two lines, they believe in, and support, Abbie Hoffman�s courage to speak out against war, censorship and other issues. They enjoy Abbie�s willingness to �speak his mind� and let Americans know how crazy the politicians could be and the threats possible as a result of rich, selfish whit men. This song also shows the importance of hair in the political demonstrations of the late 60s. They�re communicating to the masses that hair, and an abundance of it, marked a man as being unafraid and willing to take a visual stand for what he believed in. The way to do this was not through politics, because both Republicans and Democrats were not representing their constituents (as far as the Yippies saw it). �But don�t, no don�t no try to get yourself elected. / If you do you had better cut your hair.� Thus, if one was to become a politician, he would have to cut his hair to conform to the �straight� world and then he would have lost his defiance and rebellion, just as Samson lost his strength after Delilah cut of his hair.
The Yippies are arguably best known for their riots in 1968 at the DNC. Stein writes about how a friend, Jerry Rubin, was arrested at the riots and sent a speech with a mutual friend to be read as a warning to the Yippies about what was most likely to happen. In it he writes:
The three cops came out of the car and pulled me by my hair and pushed me into an unmarked police car and drove away. One cop said, �Now that we�ve got you, all the trouble will stop on the streets. The other cop said, �We�re gonna take you in an alley and take care of you.� And another cop said, �We�re gonna dump you in the river and nobody will ever know the difference.�
These riots and police brutality, coupled with the conflicts in Vietnam and political scandals and disappointment led CSNY to write �Chicago.� The lyrics are obvious references to the protests, conventions and riots that were scheduled to take place at the DNC that August. The lyrics lead no room for error or confusion as to what the artists thought about the convention and the actions of the police and politicians. The song is relatively long, but must be seen in its entirety.
So your brother�s bound and gagged
And they�ve chained him to a chair
Won�t you please come to Chicago, just to sing?
In a land that�s known as freedom, how can such a thing be fair?
Won�t you please come to Chicago for the help that we can bring
We can change the world. Rearrange the world
It�s dying�to get better.
Politicians sit yourselves down, there�s nothing for you here.
Won�t you please come to Chicago for a ride?
Don�t ask Jack to help you, �cause he�ll turn the other ear.
Won�t you please come to Chicago or else join the other side.
(chorus)
We can change the world. Rearrange the world.
It�s dying�if you believe in justice
It�s dying�if you believe in freedom
It�s dying�let a man live his own life
It�s dying�rules and regulations, who needs them? Open up the door.
Somehow people must be free. I hope the day comes soon
Won�t you please come to Chicago, show your face
From the bottom of the ocean, to the mountains of the moon
Wont you please come to Chicago? No one else can take your place.
(repeat chorus)
This politically motivated song cries out not only to the Yippies, but to all of America. It begs for acceptance and understanding of freedoms Americans thought they had. The freedom of speech and protests were being taken away from them before their very eyes. CSNY reminded the mass that unification is powerful. Getting a plethora of people to go to Chicago would show the solidarity among those who wanted to see progressive change and unification among those with the same ideals. They accuse politicians of not doing their job. �Politicians sit yourselves down, there�s nothing for you here,� screams that the politicians failed in their jobs and that the only hope left was for civilians to pick up where they left off.
In the grand scheme of life, the Yippie movement may not have been as monumental as the civil rights movement. It may not have been as atrocious as the Civil War. In fact, overall, it is arguable that it was a complete failure. Their demands were not met, they were hunted down by police officers, and they are generally forgotten in today�s society. However, the success of the Yippies is seen in the music of CSNY. These musicians, who were upset with politics and games, saw what the youths of the country were doing. They were combining th forces of hippie drugs and love with the political activism of defiant, bold liberals. CSNY took their songwriting talents and introduced a new audience to forward thinking and criticism. They reflect, in their music and even in their lifestyles, the attitudes of the young people of the time. Drugs, sex, resistance, and freedom were crucial both to their music and the Yippie�s cause. The song �Chicago� introduced to a whole new world of people what can happen at riots. �Almost Cut My Hair� reflects the paranoia and anxiety that was prevalent in the late 1960s in regards to authority. �Long Time Gone� is a woeful political cry that sees a culture as just entering a tunnel and the light that is inevitably at the end is a very long ways away. Because of CSNY�s popularity, their songs keep educating future generations about the importance of free assembly, freedom of speech and solidarity. The Yippies were full of life, dared to grow their hair and be a �freak,� and, literally, risked their lives for a cause they believed in. Crosby Stills Nash & Young saw this and in their music and lifestyles reflected this young subculture to the masses. These musical, hairy, and politically protesting activists had a huge impact on our culture, even if their names are now forgotten.
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