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Ben "fucking" Harper

my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
edited April 2006 in Other Music
new double album "both sides of the gun" is great...disc one is typical slow ben...disc 2 I LOVE!!! very upbeat and POLITICAL...

i saw him perform his first single on letterman a week ago...and it ROCKED!


Black Rain

You left them swimming for their lives
Down in new orleans
Can't afford a gallon of gasoline
With your useless degrees and contrary statistics
This government business is straight up sadistic

Now you don't fight for us
But expect us to die for you
You have no sympathy for us
But still i cry for you
Now you may kill the revolutionary
But the revolution you can never bury

Don't speak to us like we work for you
Selling false hope like some new dope we're addicted to
I'm not a desperate man but these are desperate times at hand
This generation is beyond your command

And it won't be long
'til the people flood the streets
To take you down
One and all
A black rain is gonna fall
Post edited by Unknown User on

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    my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
    this is maybe my favorite song he has ever done...maybe one of my favorites period!!!

    better way

    I'm a living sunset
    Lightning in my bones
    Push me to the edge
    But my will is stone

    Fools will be fools
    And wise will be wise
    But i will look this world
    Straight in the eyes

    What good is a man
    Who won't take a stand
    What good is a cynic
    With no better plan

    Reality is sharp
    It cuts at me like a knife
    Everyone i know
    Is in the fight of their life

    Take your face out of your hands
    And clear your eyes
    You have a right to your dreams
    And don't be denied

    I believe in a better way
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    my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
    You're too young to know
    That you're too young to go
    There's no freedom to be found
    Lying face up in the ground

    Ashes from an unfinished life
    Are all that's left
    In a tear-drop-shaped locket
    Hanging from his mother's chest

    You whip the back of freedom
    'till it bleeds an oil stream
    Then you sail down upon it
    In your killing machine

    Old men who send children
    Off to die in vain
    They will hear death's constant whisper
    Call remember my name

    Gather 'round the stone
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    know1know1 Posts: 6,763
    Boy - you sure have a way with words with that thread title.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
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    ChuckinMontrealChuckinMontreal Posts: 25
    Its truly great to see how many artists of the world and america are really pushing for reform since the beginning of the century, perhaps more than ever since the 60s.

    Ben Harper and Pearl Jam are perfect examples of this and yet it boggles the mind to think of the tons of people (mostly americans) who claim to be fans of these people and their art and yet they just DON'T GET IT.
    <º))))><_.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·.

    Montreal 98
    WPB I & II 00
    Montreal,Toronto 00
    Montreal 03
    Montreal 05
    Toronto 06

    "Enjoy the water" - EV 2005-09-15, as we shook hands.
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    robbierobbie Posts: 882
    ben's new album has some great tunes, no doubt. he always seems to change direction and challenge himself with new styles. while i really like "both sides of the gun" nothing as of yet can compare to "welcome to the cruel world" and "fight for your mind" you want OUTSTANDING music with an outstanding message put those albums on. ben is the only artist i have traveled ridiculous amounts of miles to see. songs like "black rain" "fight for your mind" "people lead" "give a man a home" "excuse me mr." "how many miles must we march" "two hands" "better way" "welcome to the cruel world" "both sides of the gun" "glory and consequence" "i'll rise" and so many others elevate ben both in musical talent and the ability to conect at a personal level with socially concious content, to a level shared only by bob marley and pearl jam in my book. that is pretty exclusive company!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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    Skitch PattersonSkitch Patterson Posts: 642
    ChuckinMontreal wrote:
    Ben Harper and Pearl Jam are perfect examples of this and yet it boggles the mind to think of the tons of people (mostly americans) who claim to be fans of these people and their art and yet they just DON'T GET IT.


    and what, exactly, does that mean?
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    CM1847CM1847 Posts: 577
    Harper doesn't have an ever changing sound, his sound is his ability to mimmick a handful of styles on every album. It amazes me people can hear the same variety album after album and still find it amazing.

    The new album is decent, the rock disc is really good, I prefer those songs to the rockers on Diamonds on the Inside. But the soft/love disc is a little weak. He is a great musician, and I only gained more respect for him after hearing how vividly he spoke his mind on politics on the new album. There need to be more artists like him.
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    ChuckinMontrealChuckinMontreal Posts: 25
    Skitch Patterson wrote:
    and what, exactly, does that mean?

    Ignorance comes in many forms, and generalizing is one of them...I assume myself and own that, because I am capable of it.

    That being said, humility is a noun that I see being excercised quite seldomly by a vast majority of Americans that still consider the US "the best" and yet claim to be fans of these artists, which I find contradictory.
    <º))))><_.·´¯`·._.·´¯`·.

    Montreal 98
    WPB I & II 00
    Montreal,Toronto 00
    Montreal 03
    Montreal 05
    Toronto 06

    "Enjoy the water" - EV 2005-09-15, as we shook hands.
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    tremorsinmytreetremorsinmytree Posts: 57
    robbie wrote:
    ben's new album has some great tunes, no doubt. he always seems to change direction and challenge himself with new styles. while i really like "both sides of the gun" nothing as of yet can compare to "welcome to the cruel world" and "fight for your mind" you want OUTSTANDING music with an outstanding message put those albums on.

    I agree 100%, Ben's early work is his best, I also throw Will to Live in there.
    "I'll be hanging upside down, and there I will swing, for all e.........tern.............ni..............ty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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    my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
    know1 wrote:
    Boy - you sure have a way with words with that thread title.


    you should really try to stop taking yourself and others so seriously ;)
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    Skitch PattersonSkitch Patterson Posts: 642
    ChuckinMontreal wrote:
    Ignorance comes in many forms, and generalizing is one of them...I assume myself and own that, because I am capable of it.

    That being said, humility is a noun that I see being excercised quite seldomly by a vast majority of Americans that still consider the US "the best" and yet claim to be fans of these artists, which I find contradictory.


    I believe Eddie Vedder has said the the US is the greatest country in the world, while still acknowledging its problems. Believing something to be the "best" doesnt mean that you are ignoring its faults, or that you believe it to be perfect.

    and you said the key word. "artists". Art, like any form of beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Someone does not have to believe everything being said by the artist to acknowledge the quality of their art.
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