Allen Ginsberg Reading Howl (Part 1)

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[@cosmicheruka6251]

Some historical context for the curious ones... Ginsberg was writing at a time (mid 50s) when the American counterculture was just beginning to emerge, before the Hippie Generation came full swing, but at a time when people were starting to realize how the conforming and cookie-cutter style morals of the Eisenhower era were hiding darker secrets, and repressed individuality and creativity. Howl is an anthem, a celebration and description of this new counterculture, while also a harsh criticism of the intensely capitalistic and consumerist society that led it to come forth in the first place.

[@elvispresley718]

+Cosmic Heruka Yes he was wrote some great poetry. what is the alternative to capitalism? Collectivism has been tried in a variety of ways but people still yearn to be free in NOrth Korea and Cuba. It is easy to tap into young people's unrest, but what is the answer?

[@cosmicheruka6251]

elvis presley I'm not exactly sure that there is a definite answer, and as for Howl itself, it doesn't really provide one. For the record, I never said I supported the establishment of a noncapitalist economic system. Just wanted to provide some historical background on the poem.

[@elvispresley718]

Cosmic Heruka I understand where it was coming from, it is still coming today. Go to City College in Manhattan and the kids are saying the same shit they said back in 1936! amazing, isn't it

[@elvispresley718]

+Cosmic Heruka interesting that Jews want money and status and all of the things which come with that, but condemn the machine which created those good things. I could think of a lot worse things than being an Ike supporter in the mid 50's/ And this all came after American came out of a Depression, defeated the Axis powers and liberated the Jews and other misfits from the concentration camps1 how is that for gratitude

[@ConvertAllStar]

+elvis presley King, seems like you're talking to yourself

[@llroadkill1]

This amazing poem sounds like the inside of my head after dropping a couple of blotters. Passing this poem around like a joint to read out loud while you're tripping and thought-looping is one of life's finer pleasures.

[@gnosis2871]

@SP Riggs ok conformist

[@sexobscura]

@SP Riggs agreed one hundred and fifty three percent

[@thedogcatreptileandplantla7169]

There's already an angry anti happy / freedom person. I'll pass this like a joint

[@cardholder_john]

I just bought a collected works of his at the used book shop on a whim, hearing how good he is. He is amazing. He has the audacity to literally tear down and utterly destroy the walls of comfort and undeviated norms humans have built up around themselves, and burns the secure feelings of everyday societal life. I love him. He is now one of my favorite poets.

[@hamfood9658]

I know other dislike the poem (and Ginsberg) but every-time I read it I see such a rich, psychedelic description of scenes, prose, with a lexicon unlike any other poem before it. I love HOWL. I think more should behold the power of Allen howling against the false media of his time, against the marginalizing establishment so many were suffering under~

[@raekansmyth]

+Isureamned you too eh?

[@subplantant]

+Isureamned Haha well if there were none in your first comment you sure as hell made up for it in the second. And should you still require clarification, check the subtext.

[@tarjet3867]

tfw no one continues the conversation for two years because you like Bukowski

[@RainbowWarrior1622]

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed...." So true isn't it? The greatest thinkers that ever lived existed in times of trouble.

[@marklewis7485]

the best thinkers are defined by trial and tribulation. If we lived in a universe in which slavery never existed we would have never known or needed MLK or Malcolm X.

[@jonathanalpart7812]

@@marklewis7485 Wouldn't that be better, though? Not needing them?

[@FlagAnthem]

@@jonathanalpart7812 lucky those countries which don't need heroes

[@patriciab7297]

I suffer from "madness" from same things... if I've gotta suffer same things I wish to god I'd been there (poet Blake experience = yeah!)... but , natch, born too late. FUCK capitalism.

[@richardrowe2615]

When haven’t there been signs of struggle in the world?

[@Gr3g3r9]

This is one of the most important poems of the 20th century. It´s not one of his best readings, but it´s still awsome. This is poetry!

[@tattoofthesun]

this is the best damn reading of the poem he ever did. his voice is full and his inflections are all at the first best places for them just like i read it in my head. his pauses are perfect, breath perfectly long just like on the page. the man had RHYTHM all we need is Kerouac in the back passing around jugs of wine going GO GO GO GO GO GO

[@breakyournails]

He reads this even more amazingly than I could ever imagine!

[@michaelwalker2676]

Allen Ginsberg reads his own poem very well I find.

[@DrippyHarryPotterObamaSonic]

well it is his own..

[@featherycoffee1401]

How surprising amirite

[@raymondisom6403]

Beautiful, prophetic and a man for all times and seasons. What an exposition `I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness` . Nothing changes.

[@Pearlhandledrevolver]

I can only wonder at a mind with the capability to describe it's experiences with such vibrant comprehension. ... stream of consciousness or not, l am in awe.

[@tattoofthesun]

this sound quality is gloriously real

[@hannahcoral2270]

this is everything. once you've read works of the beat generation you will never be able to look at literature in the same way… in a good way…

[@sugafree2700]

"Everybody likes little kids. … Naked kids have been a staple of delight for centuries, for both parents and onlookers. So to label pedophilia as criminal is ridiculous." - Allen Ginsberg

[@everdeneb4811]

A powerful poem that I can't help myself to read, again and again.

[@rogerrrubin]

Listen well.....this is strangely relevant today as it was yesterday, and as it will be tomorrow.

[@MrLudwig36]

In the late 90's, there was a documentary on A&E called "No More to Say, and Nothing to Weep For: An Elegy for Allen Ginsberg." It was one of the best documentaries I've seen on him. It is my hope that someone will post this.

[@SuperGreatSphinx]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegy

[@Khooper38]

wow how very insightful. I thought I could just live vicariously through Allen Ginsberg and do nothing ever. Thanks for showing me the light, O bastion of inspiration.

[@Jmcsj02]

I have finally found my people, and they are all gone.....so I weap.

[@mcsephiroth1312]

Played this with bebop in the background. Transcendental.

[@Ponpontutuss]

Meditation music as well! /watch?v=txQ6t4yPIM0&t=8185s

[@brianbousquet2136]

right on Parker,Davis, and my fave John Coltrane

[@mikeymacabre4032]

Genius, very unique and honest "FUCK YOU" if you don't get it "SQUARE".

[@jamesparthos6811]

+Mikey Macabre i could write a bunch of elaborate nonsense too and youd probably call me a literary genius aswell. idiot.

[@mikeymacabre4032]

If you truly believe this to be elaborate nonsense, why waste time on it ? Dumb shit.

[@jamesparthos6811]

Mikey Macabre same reason for why youd want to point out the stupidity inherent in my response thats also in yours too. dumb shit.

[@mikeymacabre4032]

james parthos Whatever square.

[@joefelice5062]

Prove it. You will have fame & fortune.

[@FilNovak1]

Just needs The Doors music playing in the background and it'll be perfect.

[@chophel1]

Philip Newman I liked your idea so much I pulled another browser and played the Doors 'Strange Days' at the same time as Ginsberg reading his pome.

[@FilNovak1]

***** Like it! Works well with 'Riders on the Storm' too.

[@sophiawaterman2504]

+Philip Newman I am a bit late as you posted this months ago but house or rising sun works so well too :)

[@bedeo10]

+Philip Newman I disagree this poem is insane on its own

[@StephaBlues]

+Philip Newman Yasss!

[@knivesandpeppers]

So entrancing... Image after image, with scattered bits of amazing humour. What I wouldn't give to go back and listen.

[@DwiteTheSpriteKnight]

He certainly gives you plenty to contemplate. I don't think I've ever heard someone talk about so much in just ten minutes.

[@totallyremiss]

My absolute favorite poet of this generation!

[@blissbite]

And it can still apply today. That's one of the things I find so cool about it.

[@cpearl3]

One of the most astonishing truthers of our time. Bless all of who take this in and getit, for we too are as Genius. I love all of Allen he is the best Beat Boy there ever was.

[@fartburgerNG]

I saw the greatest minds of my generation destroyed by facebook

[@aethikv]

And bullshit work😂

[@petelarose998]

I just wanted to say that I think this is one of the greatest songs ever written and Allen Ginsberg was one of the greatest poets and thinkers of all time good he is also great at reading the poems good I wish I could have known him and some of the other beat writers expecially Jack Kerouac. God bless all of them.

[@MsCrazytoo]

Such a tender and truthful poem,so personal, so full of intellect and observation of such waste . A man clearly knowing the deepest love , that of his fellow man. I to see the waste of our generation . Dearest and kindest thoughts of Howl remain constant in my life , what a gem of poetry.

[@lucydonnellan9222]

remember , then relocate, then represent and experience the moment as so relevant.

[@notsusan]

There really is no comparison to actually hearing this read out loud instead of just reading it. Especially when you can hear the crowd laughing at parts - it really gives the whole thing a different energy than if you just open the book, thinking "ok, culture time" like some people sadly do.

[@JG-iy2qb]

im from fucking Mexico and i understan this shit

[@SuperGreatSphinx]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico

[@weseeyoualexander]

I like how you refer to our world being ignorant and only concerned with pop culture yet you found out about this through an element of pop culture hah! But this poem could never be lost, this work is a literary benchmark. Pushing the envelope for what is socially acceptable to reference in literature, Ginsberg is, and will continue to be, remembered by our world's literary rich community.

[@nayen96]

Whenever I read this book I have Jim Morrison on my mind, two genius minds and because it was his favorite book. God bless their souls

[@Andazi]

Makes no direct sense for those who toils to get certain meanings out of it , but its a poetry where you are free to visualize the senseless sense and to feel it from your own perspective then only you will find it great and dynamic than other mainstream literature.

[@Shattered0Platinum]

thank you so much for the download link. Holy the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent kindness of the soul!

[@delamerde666]

This poem is the shit, and this reading at naropa is the best version ever... thanks for upping this!

[@adrozemog]

The line at 0:20 almost brought me to tears. I literally am not sure why... The only time before this that I've ever heard this man's poetry was in snippets of the film "Magic Trip." But the phrase "starry dynamo in the machinery of night" struck such a chord with me (i believe due to a few particular past experiences). But anyways, WOW. Just, WOW.

[@TheAnimeist]

Listening to this is a good way to fall asleep.

[@DrSmooth2000]

You're not there

[@AaRaN8]

This type of poetry is so influential and inspiring to me.

[@Darnellius]

I came here after watching 'Howl' and its amazing how well James Franco captures Ginsberg's way of speaking.

[@adamstokke]

aum mani padme hum. I saw you Mr. Ginsberg, at Berkeley in 1992. What an amazing epiphany and I can say, sir... you and Whitman insisted, positively motivated, MOTIVATED me to make somewhat use of my life. I love you. Wish I could see your thrusting your arms through the peat and dirt toward me. But that's a poem, too. aum mani padme hum.

[@abhijitsarmahwritespoetry]

The only poem that made me a poet. Hoooooooooooowl!

[@SuperGreatSphinx]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl

[@tylerdurden7387]

Silly Frog, Shallow Pond……. Splat.

[@cieobt2]

Allen, allen, alone, you: one of the best liberating/playful minds of my generation, still.

[@erikakathleen509]

Definitely not. He is an unimpressive, simple human. Bore.

[@shovingwords]

this is youthful energy and passion and confusion made into sour mash by a genius of the word! a sharp Beat whisky of the bespectacled skull, willing to weep at baskets of onions.

[@jettimite]

For any reading this who have not enjoyed the exhilarating emotional relief of spewing out a steady stream of pure unbridled unconscious thoughts regarding whatever out of your buzzing mind, putting it down unchanged and unwarranted on paper and then reading it to a crowd should go do it right now. It will help you to understand this poem a lot better than reading useless comments not unlike this one :)

[@thepoetrykingdom6307]

great share, thanks for procuring this audio clip

[@carryandfloat]

@alwayswinit4real he reads it as he understood it and as he perceives it. your own understanding is a beyond even secondary sourcing and you are obviously free to read it however you like.

[@Reporterreporter770]

an American poet and one of the leading figures of both the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the counterculture that soon would follow

[@SuperGreatSphinx]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950s

[@DistortedFaiths]

I think what he is saying is don't do drugs and stay in school, kids.

[@DrSmooth2000]

Ultimately

[@bluesboy25000]

Such a great poetry and prose. His language will live forever

[@aide2memoire]

Does anyone happen to know where you can get this recording anywhere other than the link in the description? It doesn't seem to work for my computer and anywhere else that I look for this only has the clips from the movie 'Howl' with James Franco.

[@nicolecreature]

Can't wait to see the movie Howl.

[@DigitalEelRich]

Thanks uploader.

[@robinhoodstfrancis]

Awesome stuff. The words that bring me, can bring us, back to an open mind. Still, all the howling is good to come back to basics of the need to build good will among people, as Mondragon Co-op did in Spain under Fascism...."...bleak of brain...."

[@SuperGreatSphinx]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

[@Cara_Shrieke]

When is this recording does anyone know? Is it set when he'd just released it or is this a reading from much later in life?

[@RobertLowellPoetry]

I'd recommend "American Scream" (University of California Press, 2004) by Jonah Raskin. It's got about everything you'd need to know about "Howl" and Ginsberg's life during the Beat era.

[@Drowningindarkness6]

allen ginsberg,a lyrical genius.both tragic and wonderful.i salute you!

[@ahoffman2011]

this man is a GENIUS.

[@bellito2009]

go away and do not use such inflammatory and offensive language against a man with such a beautiful soul and the most genuine of intention of mere personal expression.

[@lauralanenicholson7957]

The poem was first performed at the Six Gallery*** in San Francisco on October 7, 1955. [***3119 Fillmore Street in San Francisco]

[@lauralanenicholson7957]

[10:01] www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179381

[@SEIngraham]

+Laura Lane Nicholson - when it was illegal to have it in print or read aloud; it was the McCarthy era and Ginsberg and the other Beats did not sit well with old Joe. Ferlinghetti who owns City Lights couldn't give a crap, put the book in the window and kept letting him read it there. It was a "rage against the machine" type of thing and stands the test of time.

[@tattoofthesun]

this is the best damn reading of Howl ever

[@amandaflory5009]

It ever gets old ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@bustub2]

He was a member of NAMBLA

[@dietlindvonhohenwald448]

He was Jim Morrison’s favorite Poet. He read “Howl” at age 10.

[@MichaelBallack91]

@CraigKramer The beat generation wasn't about thinking. it was about talking. Anything that came to mind. Unfiltered, uncensored talking. Whether good or bad. If you don't like it, that's your own choice, but Howl is regarded one of the most respected poems of all time.

[@alexbretscher9392]

I like the video a lot, but I don't understand anything. Can someone help me?

[@vtricko2391]

I gotta be stupid or something but what the hell is he talking about

[@ROGERWDARCY]

Are the Hippies able to give a glass of wine to the drunken street beggar?

[@SuperGreatSphinx]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine

[@TheBillyFrom1997]

He was a visionary.

[@thefinalkayakboss]

I read heard this when i was... idk, 17? And if you asked me then i would have probably told you i understood it but i failed to appreciate it. 15 years later i have had my chance to see some of what old allen here is talking about first hand.

[@duffman10x]

Are there any versions in German? My English is not so good, that i can catch the whole context of that awsome text ;)

[@GsOrtega93]

@DarioColon one of the best poems of all time

[@denofcool]

Allen Ginsberg was a member of NAMBLA. Just found that out today. The more you know...

[@robertlepper5460]

And ... your discovery means you can cancel him lol

[@carryandfloat]

@alwayswinit4real he reads it as he understood it and as he perceives it. your own understanding is beyond even secondary sourcing and you are obviously free to read it however you like.

[@kfarizo1]

Embodied Brilliance.

[@TraductorDeTemas]

I realy don't know... It would be so incredible to hear it, verse by verse, by those whom heard it the very fisrt time (considering that we wouldn´t hear from Him again)... It is obviously an owesome reading... but I bet, Ginsberg nailed it...

[@coineye]

We who understand this Poem. We must be worthy of this Words we are blessed.We are they who never Surrender.Rest in Peace Allan you are the best guide.that we ever has been.Love You Forever as We All.

[@mayukhbhattacherjee4214]

Asseri Makkonen you are a fucking idiot.

[@duchyofwarsaw]

allen zoidberg

[@DemianJanssen91]

You should watch the movie howl, it explains it pretty much. Where, off course, it is always open for interpretation.

[@dariusmolark6820]

brilliant. just brilliant

[@defsink1]

Allen Ginsberg is A Genius .

[@SG-wi5wx]

It's not hard to understand if you know the context. The first line says it all, "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness." The rest is descriptions of who those best minds were and how they lost their sanity, capitalism and how it is like Moloch (demanding sacrifice of what we hold dear), and how we are all Holy no matter the circumstance. Hope someone finds this helpful, I know i didn't understand it at first but there is true literary value to Ginsberg's work.

[@sdaberle]

Where and when was this recording made, anyone know?

[@m16pig]

poesia = infinito = constante

[@idic5]

when and where did this recording occur?

[@looneytoons4008]

university in portland in the 50's i believe

[@67hippielove]

Happy Birthday Allen

[@THS1537]

thank you - could you PM me a link to some analysis on Howl? i'm very interested in the counter-culture movement of the '60s, and would love to learn more about this very influential poem.

[@EnjoyTheSurface]

like a powerful tsunami of beautiful words....

[@lazarazal6539]

Hey do you know if i can use some of these words for a mix ?

[@SEIngraham]

+Lazar Azal - depends how well you mix them; you don't want to plagiarize Ginsberg. Trust me.

[@JeffKerouactheMusicalWriter]

One of the best poets of the 20th century, next to Ts Eliot and Sylvia Plath.

[@irishdeadhead005]

As On The Road by Jack Kerouac manifested the Beat Generation....so was the same essence of On The Road came from Allen Ginsberg's Howl...

[@hugowindsor-carnegie8111]

reads like you are using your poetic license here

[@nickelei]

@sheepneverlearn I first read and heard this reading of Howl in university in Canada... but I'm defintely sure there are many schools out there who wouldn't bother to teach his poetry.

[@imamuslim44]

love this man to death, initiated interest in poetry, and as far as the assinine comments that insinuate that the "young hipsters" dont understand, that is a far too generalized statement the reality is most of this poem is very specific and relates to very specific experiences of his, however it is poetry and thus the point is that there is an incredible amount to draw from them even just the language.

[@benfeatherstone12]

He will lead and I will follow

[@soulofL]

well, tonight, i'll sleep to this. hopefully i don't have a nightmare ...

[@DaCawffeeQueen]

I'm actually doing a 30 minute presentation on this cant wait

[@bucefal_157]

cool, just saw the "howl" movie, thanks for the rs link :)

[@mrgnome-ew3fc]

can some recommend more stuff like this

[@Alterbridge321]

+Roy Sanchez Walt Whitman.

[@angelodiberardino1248]

"Have you felt so proud to get at the meanings of poems?"