Her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom

Je voulais mettre d'abord l'une des plus belles chansons américaines sur ses valeurs, John Brown's Body (dans la version de William Patton) mais je ne trouve sur YouTube que les versions qui ont ajouté l'hymne religieux ("Glory, Hallelujah") dans l'hymne de bataille de la République (ce qui est certes dans le sujet, comme John Brown était vraiment un prédicateur mais du moins son fanatisme était pour la cause de l'abolition de l'esclavage).

Le troubadour Phil Ochs joue ici sur les chansons patriotiques (notamment la célèbre chanson communiste This Is Your Land de Woody Guthrie, dont la plupart des Américains ignorent qu'un des thèmes en est l'abolition de la propriété privée).



Une des plus belles chansons de Phil Ochs doit être la lugubre When In Rome (1968), descente aux enfers hallucinée de 13 minutes, dont voici le 8e et 9e couplet, où la Chute de la République dans l'Empire est prise comme une prophétie d'un éternel retour, comme dans sa célèbre chanson Crucifixion, où la mort de Kennedy devient un sacrifice rituel de la souveraineté solaire au Moloch de l'Etat.

The Bread and the Circuses came to be nearing
The Saviour or somebody must be appearing
Pagans and pageants were all disappearing
Inside my head.
The stones on the statues were staring and stalling
Caesar and Cassius were cursing and calling
The Empire had risen and now it was falling
Or so it seemed.
The Crown and the Cross seemed empty and lost in dark despair
And luminous lies, death in disguise were everywhere
The canvas was cold, the story was old, I said my prayers
Then I crowned him on the head
Oh, I blessed him as he bled
Oh At last, the King is dead
God save the Queen.
And all the high-born ladies
So lovely and so true,
Have been handed to the soldiers
When in Rome do as the Romans do.

Now nothing remained for building or burning
The losing of lovers was all I was learning
A time for escape and a time for returning had come to me
Back through the ashes and back through the embers
Back through the Roads and the Ruins I remembered
My hands at my side I sadly surrendered
Do as you please.
The hero was home, proven and grown, I fell on the floor
Mad with romance they started to dance, their star was born
I bled like the rain, exploded in pain, then I screamed for more
Oh, make me feel sublime
Release me from my mind
Oh, Kill me one more time
And set me free.
And all the high-born ladies
So lovely and so true,
Have been handed to the soldiers
When in Rome do as the Romans do.

Par ailleurs, je crois que Mme Penchard devrait passer plus de temps avec sa famille.