Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues”, also known as “Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues” and “Talkin’ John Birch Blues,” is a talking blues song written by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 1962.[1] It is a satirical song, in which aparanoid narrator is convinced that communists, or “Reds” as he calls them, are infiltrating the country. He joins the John Birch Society, an anti-communist group, and begins searching for Reds everywhere: under his bed, up his chimney, down his toilet and in his glove compartment. After exhausting the possibilities, he begins to investigate himself.
wikipedia
- Dylan wrote this about the John Birch Society, an ultraconservative political organization formed in 1958 to fight Communist threats in the US. This is a parody of the organization, which Dylan thought was a threat to free speech because they accused anyone they didn’t like of being a communist.
- In the ’50s and ’60s, many famous musicians, including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Doors and The Rolling Stones, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Dylan never did, and this is the song that kept him off. On May 12, 1963, he was scheduled to appear on the show, but refused to go on when they would not let him perform this.
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is a conservative advocacy group supporting anti-communism and limited government.It has been described as radical right
Businessman and founder Robert W. Welch, Jr. (1899–1985) developed an organizational infrastructure in 1958 of chapters nationwide. Its main activity in the 1960s, said Rick Perlstein, “comprised monthly meetings to watch a film by Welch, followed by writing postcards or letters to government officials linking specific policies to the Communist menace”After an early rise in membership and influence, efforts by those such as conservativeWilliam F. Buckley, Jr. and National Review led the JBS to be identified as a fringe element of the conservative movement, mostly in fear of the radicalization of the American right.
Originally based in Belmont, Massachusetts, it is now headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin,with local chapters throughout the United States. The organization owns American Opinion Publishing, which publishes The New American.
A Historian Talks the John Birch Paranoid Blues
In The World of the John Birch Society, D. J. Mulloy, associate professor of history at Wilfrid Laurier University, offers a concise examination of the ideology of the infamous, conspiracy-minded right-wing organization. While in no way endorsing the ideas of the John Birch Society (JBS), Mulloy offers an empathetic look at the group and places it within the context of post-World War II American society.
The arrangement of The World of the John Birch Society is clear and simple. The book is organized into six chapters. The first three chapters trace the organization from its beginning in 1958 to its expulsion from the conservative movement by William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review in 1965. The final three chapters take a thematic approach, covering such topics as civil rights, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and conspiracy theories.
Much of Mulloy’s account will be familiar to scholars of the JBS and conservatism. He examines the rise of JBS founder Robert Welch, a child prodigy turned candy manufacturer turned crusading anti-Communist. Welch regarded the death of missionary John Birch at the hands of the Chinese Communists in 1945 as the beginning of the Cold War. In 1958, he formed the John Birch Society and dedicated it to challenging the ubiquitous threat of Communism. To Welch, the Communists had infiltrated every aspect of American life and were clearly winning the Cold War. Signs of Communist infiltration could be seen in the White House (Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Communist agent, according to Welch), the Supreme Court, public education, the civil rights movement, and the United Nations.
read more at : https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=43113
Well, I was feelin’ sad and feelin’ blue
I didn’t know what in the world I wus gonna do
Them Communists they wus comin’ around
They wus in the air
They wus on the ground
They wouldn’t gimme no peace . . .
So I run down most hurriedly
And joined up with the John Birch Society
I got me a secret membership card
And started off a-walkin’ down the road
Yee-hoo, I’m a real John Bircher now!
Look out you Commies!
Now we all agree with Hitler’s views
Although he killed six million Jews
It don’t matter too much that he was a Fascist
At least you can’t say he was a Communist!
That’s to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria
Well, I wus lookin’ everywhere for them gol-darned Reds
I got up in the mornin’ ’n’ looked under my bed
Looked in the sink, behind the door
Looked in the glove compartment of my car
Couldn’t find ’em . . .
I wus lookin’ high an’ low for them Reds everywhere
I wus lookin’ in the sink an’ underneath the chair
I looked way up my chimney hole
I even looked deep down inside my toilet bowl
They got away . . .
Well, I wus sittin’ home alone an’ started to sweat
Figured they wus in my T.V. set
Peeked behind the picture frame
Got a shock from my feet, hittin’ right up in the brain
Them Reds caused it!
I know they did . . . them hard-core ones
Well, I quit my job so I could work all alone
Then I changed my name to Sherlock Holmes
Followed some clues from my detective bag
And discovered they wus red stripes on the American flag!
That ol’ Betsy Ross . . .
Well, I investigated all the books in the library
Ninety percent of ’em gotta be burned away
I investigated all the people that I knowed
Ninety-eight percent of them gotta go
The other two percent are fellow Birchers . . . just like me
Now Eisenhower, he’s a Russian spy
Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy
To my knowledge there’s just one man
That’s really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell
I know for a fact he hates Commies cus he picketed the movie Exodus
Well, I fin’ly started thinkin’ straight
When I run outa things to investigate
Couldn’t imagine doin’ anything else
So now I’m sittin’ home investigatin’ myself!
Hope I don’t find out anything . . . hmm, great God!
sources : https://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=686
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talkin%27_John_Birch_Paranoid_Blues
