Ballad of American Skeletons

by Allen Ginsberg, 2/17/97

said the presidential skeleton, “i won’t sign the bill!”
said the speaker skeleton, “yes you will!”
said the representitive skeleton, “i object”
said the supreme court skeleton, “what do you expect?”

said the military skeleton, “buy star bombs”
said the upper-class skeleton, “starve unmarried moms”
said the yahoo skeleton, “stop dirty art”
said the right wing skeleton, “forget about your heart”

said the gnostic skeleton, “human form’s divine”
said the christian coalition skeleton, “no it’s not, it’s mine”
said the buddha skeleton, “compassion is wealth”
said the corporate skeleton, “it’s bad for your health”

said the old christ skeleton, “care for the poor”
said the son of god skeleton, “aids needs cure”
said the homophobe skeleton, “gay folks suck”
said the hertage policy skeleton, “blacks are out of luck”

said the macho skeleton, “women in their place”
said the fundamentalist skeleton, “increase the human race”
said the right-to-life skeleton, “fetus has a soul”
said the pro-choice skeleton, “shut up your holes!”

said the downsize skeleton, “robots got my job”
said the tough on crime skeleton, “teargas the mob!”
said the govenor skeleton, “cut school lunch”
said the mayor skeleton, “eat the budget crunch”
said the neo-conservative skeleton, “homeless off the streets”
said the free market skeleton, “use ’em up for meat”

said the think tank skeleton, “free market’s the way”
said the savings and loan skeleton, “make the state pay”
said the chrysler skeleton, “pay for you and me”
said the nuke power skeleton, “and me and me and me”
said the ecologic skeleton, “keep skies blue”
said the multi-national skeleton, “what’s it worth to you?”

said the nafta skeleton, “get rich – free trade”
said the mafiadora skeleton, “sweatshops, low pay”
said the rich gat skeleton, “one world, hi-tech”
said the underclass skeleton, “get it in the neck”
said the world bank skeleton, “cut down your trees”
said the imf skeleton, “buy american cheese”

said the under-developed skeleton, “we want rice”
said the developed nation skeleton, “sell your bones for dice”

said the ayatola skeleton, “die writer, die”
said the joe stalin skeleton, “that’s no lie”
said the middle-kingdom skelton, “we swallowed tibet”
said the dali lama skeleton, “indigestion’s what you get!”
said the world corp. skeleton, “that’s their fate”
said the usa skeleton, “gonna save kuwait”

said the petro-chemicals skeleton, “roar bombers, roar!”
said the psychedelic skeleton, “smoke a dinosaur”
said the nancy skeleton, “just say no!”
said the rasta skeleton, “blow nancy blow!”

said the demogogue skeleton, “don’t smoke pot”
said the alcoholic skeleton, “let your liver rot”
said the junky skeleton, “can’t we get a fix?”
said the big brother skeleton, “jail the dirty pricks!”
said the mirror skeleton, “hey good looking”
said the electric chair skeleton, “hey, what’s cooking?”

said the talkshow skeleton, “fuck you in the face”
said the family-value skeleton, “my family-value makes”
said the new york times skeleton, “that’s not fit to print”
said the cia skeleton, “can’t you take a hint?”

said the network skeleton, “believe my eyes”
said the advertising skeleton, “don’t get wise”
said the media skeleton, “believe you me”
said the couch potato skeleton, “what me worry?”
said the tv skeleton, “eat sound bytes”
said the newscast skeleton, “that’s all, goodnight”

Allen Ginsberg recites “Skeletons” with Paul McCartney on guitar at the Royal Albert Hall 10/16/95

Paul McCartney on Allen Ginsberg’s Poetry 

Allen Ginsberg’s biography

The poet laureate of the Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg was born June 3, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey.

He was educated at Columbia University and was a longtime resident of New York City’s East Village neighborhood.

 Ginsberg and the other “beat” writers are credited with starting a genre of American prose and poetry in the late 1940s that celebrated free-wheeling Bohemians skeptical of moral codes and political power.

Allen Ginsberg talking with Bob Dylan 

Ginsberg along with writers such as Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, William Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Lucien Carr came to embody the anti-establishment, non-conformist literary movement that experimented heavily with hallucinogenic drugs.

 In 1956, Ginsberg published “Howl and Other Poems,” a book of free verse considered the preeminent poetic work of the “beat” movement.

 “Howl” begins:

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.”

Howl, overcame censorship trials to become one of the most widely read poems of the century, translated into more than twenty-two languages.

Ginsberg became a celebrant of the counterculture movement of the 1960s, a ubiquitous figure at poetry readings on college campuses, a critic of the war in Vietnam and an advocate for gay rights. He saw himself as a part of the prophetic tradition in poetry begun by William Blake and continued by Walt Whitman.

In the 1960s and ’70s, Ginsberg studied under gurus and Zen masters. He went on to co-found and direct the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute in Colorado. He taught English at Brooklyn College and has written more than 40 collections of poetry. His book “Fall of America” won the National Book Award in 1972.

Ginsberg died April 7, 1997, of a heart attack related to terminal liver cancer. He was 70. Ginsberg died in his apartment surrounded by about 40 family members and friends.

deletereply starfishred wrote on Apr 21, ’08 Thanks for doing someone I always really admired he had- he had shutzpah he was great

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Apr 21, ’08 I think the word you are looking for is chutzpah, LOL!!! Thanks Heidi !

deletereply bostonsdandd wrote on Apr 22, ’08 You know this would be funny if it wasn’t true :o(. Thanks for the intro of Allen Ginsberg. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him before. Nice chose as usual :oD!

deletereply danceinsilence wrote on Apr 22, ’08 Great post this time around. I remember reading Howl and other Poems, when I was 10, the year after its release. My mother took it from me saying it was trash and threw it away. When she wasn’t looking, I grabbed it and put it under the mattress in my bedroom and would read it late at night by flashlight. http://danceinsilence.multiply.com/journal/item/267/Poetry_Wednesday_Ellis

deletereply shankarg wrote on Apr 23, ’08 said the mirror skeleton, “hey good looking” the above is the best i would take, for, life is just a mirror and one sees only what one shows further one gets encouragement when saying “hey good looking” i hear it now and am elated thanks for sharing Gita chapter I essence of the insight of fight and greed explored “good and bad are just relational” http://shankarg.multiply.com/journal/item/70

deletereply tickypaper wrote on Apr 23, ’08 So many skeletons – so little time…alas. Talking heads, stuffed shirts, the poster boy for..pick your target.  It would seem it doesn’t matter which way you read (top to bottom or vis versa) each bag of bones has a special message. Here is mine http://tickypaper.multiply.com/journal/item/39/Welcome_360_poem

deletereply lilyiris wrote on Apr 23, ’08 thanks for posting this- I’d never seen it before! I’m not very familiar with Ginsberg’s work…

deletereply photospoems wrote on Apr 23, ’08 I’m new to this from Sans poetry Wednesday…..enjoyed this post. http://photospoems.multiply.com/journal/item/172 Art

deletereply lonewolfwithin wrote on Apr 23, ’08 new character for me… thank you for the education! ^..^

deletereply mindsnomad wrote on Apr 24, ’08 Never read him.  The bookworm skeleton says – “thank you for the introduction” :).

deletereply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Apr 24, ’08 Laurita~ What a fitting selection as we endure this campiagn of 2008. It gave me a chuckle. Interesting character,Ginsberg! As usual, really educational stop here! Thank you.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Apr 24, ’08 Thank you everyone for all the great comments ! For those of you who are not familiar with his work, I hope this was a treat for you.

deletereply jayaramanms wrote on Apr 24, ’08 It is a great and awesome poetry by Allen Ginsberg, who was one of the most celebrated figures in contemporary American literature. He was a leading member of the -Beat Movement and helped lead the revolt against Academic poetry and the cultural and political establishment of the mid-20th century. Thank you for sharing this. Please see my entry at – http://jayaramanms.multiply.com/journal/item/134/POETRY_WEDNESDAY.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Apr 25, ’08 Thanks for your comment, jay. I will come and read now !

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 3, ’08 I thought this might be cool for the 4th of July !