Country Joe and the Fish- The Fish Cheer/I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag REACTION & REVIEW

Song Link: • The Fish Cheer / I-Fee...
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[@ericanderson8886]

The Woodstock version is a must listen. No carnival music but he get several hundred thousand hippies to sing with him.

[@gingerbaker_toad696]

One of the most beautiful and powerful moments ❤ gives me goosebumps every time.

[@karenmandeville7116]

and he ain't spelling fish either!

[@davemacmurchie6982]

And 99.9% of them knew all the words; I sure did and still do

[@revagreen2303]

Must watch Woodstock version! So iconic! So true!

[@revagreen2303]

The hippies anthem!

[@mandarinlearner]

During the Vietnam War Era a boy turned 18 and had to go register for the draft. Many of those 57000 names on the memorial wall in Washington were drafted

[@Sandy-dd4le]

The great thing about Fixin To Die is how relevant it was at the time, the sad thing about Fixin To Die is how relevant it still is.

[@frugalseverin2282]

Yes the gun industry is now manufacturing JR-15 rifles for children. Working assault weapons that only weigh 2 pounds so the young uns can shoot people too. This is sick.

[@brumleytwitch6265]

Of course, there was a draft then, so everyone reaching 18 knew they might get shipped off and sent home in a box, so this resonated with a whole generation.

[@edprzydatek8398]

Absolutely.

[@karenmandeville7116]

ESPECIALLY if their family was not rich. the poor kids were sent to die first.

[@davemacmurchie6982]

@@karenmandeville7116 I.e. if you weren't no fortunate son - CCR had something to say, too

[@jenniferlenfestey5335]

I heard the Fish cheer when they spelt a very different F word, I also met Country Joe McDonald a few years back and I’m happy to say he’s still very much a political/protest singer.

[@edprzydatek8398]

Good to know.

[@lawrencesmith6536]

A deep dive will reveal one of the best psychedelic bands ever. Barry Melton is a fantastic guitar player. Totally underrated

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

Couldn't agree more. I think the same applies to John Cippolina and Jorma Kaukonen!

[@healthybrand]

Great reaction! There's some personal stuff to unpack on this one, but first, Country Joe became a spokeman of sorts for veterans, who embrace and appreciate his ongoing support. Second, there's a great version of this song in the Woodstock movie, complete with the uncensored Cheer lyrics. Thirdly, A few days after Kent State, I was arrested in a protest on the campus of the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. I was 16 at the time. A couple of weeks after that I attended the Kickapoo Creek Festival, May 1970, in upstate Illinois, where Country Joe and the Fish were one of the groups performing. One of the highlights of the weekend was hearing this song combo live. Unrelatedly, 2 weeks after the festie I caught Jimi Hendrix in Tulsa. It was a hell of a month for a 16 year old me lolol.

[@daveking9393]

Yes that was a sweet month for sure!

[@XFLexiconMatt]

A semi iconic track from the late 60s and a big part of the legacy of Woodstock.

[@benjaminwellington8297]

I absolutely love this song. The dark humor is fantastic.

[@aarongonzalez7482]

This is their most famous song because of the singalong at Woodstock. But I think their most artistically compelling stuff is their debut album Electric Music For The Mind And Body. overlooked psychedelic classic

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

Hugely overlooked. Psychedelia at its very best!

[@MisterWondrous]

I would imagine that the recommendation had the classic Woodstock version in mind. It begins "Give me and F! Give me a U!...and so on. Half a mil join in. Must see.

[@korbal61]

I'm so happy that some people recall of Country Joe, the most underrated american artist. Justin, about the counterculture you sholul try a band called THE FUGS

[@robinpesek3657]

We held a deep anger toward the war and the slaughter of our young men. This song was sang in high school hallways because once we graduated we HAD to register for the draft for the war.

[@kenharness1417]

Great song. Great reaction. There is actually a secondary joke in the line "Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box." It was common on commercials back then for the voice over to say "Be the first one on your block to ...".

[@JustJP]

Ahhh ty for the info/context!

[@anthonyfoutch3152]

This was one of the most requested songs on Arm Forces Radio in Vietnam. You do realize this was an anti war song. 400,000 hippies yelling fuck at Woodstock was amazing.

[@hannesmayer3716]

Great commentary of a great song. I liked the image of Uncle Sam as this carnival figure that invides you to the cool new ride or other attraction. Fits the spirit of this very sarcastic song perfectly.

[@desperateambrose5373]

Just FYI: The original Fish Cheer involved another 4-letter word beginning with "f". True Story: When I was an undergraduate, there was a guy in my dorm who, at noon every day, placed speakers in the window of his room and broadcast the original Fish Cheer all over campus.

[@jeromeblue3854]

The original was the Fish cheer, and it evolved into the other one.

[@erikahlander3489]

I remember this from the Woodstock album. When hearing it today I associate to the even older song of Tom Lehrer "We will all go together when we go" (cold war but before Viet Nam). I guess you have heard it!

[@peterblood50]

The suit was dropped because there was no copyrights until after 1929. This song is a "Rag", a type of music popular in the 1920's, You can't copyright a genre so the suit would have probably been thrown out anyway.

[@chriscousineau5934]

The music is based on the "Muscrat Ramble".

[@edwardthorne9875]

There was a small revival of 'jugband' music going on at the time. (Jim Kweskin/ Lovin' Spoonful?). I happened to love the style, and the message of peace, and the digs at the commercial aspect of Vietnam. War-a-go-go is still relevant.

[@xenialafleur]

This is one you needed to listen to just from a historical context.

[@benjaminwellington8297]

He sings it at Woodstock and it is pretty good.

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

"I don't know how you think you can stop the war, when you can't sing any louder than that' 🤩

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

Hippie anthem! 123 what are we fighting for...

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

"Gimme an F"! 😉

[@galandirofrivendell4740]

One of the best protest songs of the 1960s. I had never heard the studio version before, only the Woodstock performance. Somehow the carnival music adds to the song's satirical edge. I liked it.

[@gratefulkm]

One of the most important Folk songs of recent times

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

Their first two albums contain some of the most psychedelic music ever! Termed the 'San Francisco sound' this band were the real deal. Check out their Monterey performance from '67 where they achieved musical levitation. Man, i hope you're doing the whole album! Far out move Justin! 🤩 🎈✨️

[@maruad7577]

For some reason my mind went to Scott McKenzie's "San Fransisco" and Eric Burdun and the Animals "San Fransiscan Nights", both of which, iirc, were intended to honour and invoke memories of the summer of love.

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

@@maruad7577 Their performance was definitely memorable, but the sound of Barry Melton's guitar positively screamed acid. Like John Cippolina, i love that SF sound! 😵‍💫

[@jeromeblue3854]

They were from Berkely, California, not San Francisco.

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

@@jeromeblue3854 The 'Berkeley sound' doesn't have quite the same ring!

[@rafehr1378]

I bought their first albums. "F" cheer sold me on signing up for 'Nam in 1970. The war was over in 1973 Feb. 6 months heading to America. Rock & Roll, war. I didn't make it home, whole.

[@Drummingvulture]

As others have already said, the live Woodstock performance by Country Joe McDonald, solo, at the end of their set, is a must listen to performance. I've always had a soft spot in my music heart for their first album, 'Electric Music For The Mind And Body', especially the songs "Death Sound Blues" and "Superbird". Excellent psychedelic and blues sounds abound on this wonderful album. I'm not trying to take anything away from their second album, I just prefer the first one.

[@jamespaivapaiva4460]

Uncle Sam Was(Is?) a carnival barker.

[@daveking9393]

Glad you experienced it. Just a necessary stop on your journey...

[@michaellaporte4951]

The Fish were a big festival band in the San Francisco area in the late sixties, next to the Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. They're not well known these days, but their first two albums are really solid.

[@flash1660]

Did you know that Bob Seger had an anti war song called 2+2 is on my mind

[@jeffwright9239]

The Woodstock version of this song is the iconic one.

[@stlmopoet]

Appreciate your review. Even when I was listening to it as a kid after the war, it was still powerful. Especially knowing how the war ended. All that waste for something we ultimately had to walk away from.

[@marcribe6483]

At Woodstock, during the Fish Cheer, Country Joe spells out a four letter word beginning with F other than Fish.

[@georgesheffield1580]

The wealthy and the old military hated this ,especial the politicians and J Edgar Hoover ..

[@michaelfrank2266]

I have not ever heard this version of this famous protest song.

[@somthingbrutal]

i know they were still touring in the 2000's , they played the Bath music festival

[@corralescoyote]

Like your reactions, bro

[@JustJP]

Ty so much Corrales! Hope you've had a lovely holiday 😊

[@frugalseverin2282]

Funny how some people resent being drafted into the military and sent to a foreign country to kill other poor people. Some people fought back with sarcasm. For a more subtle anti-war song try 'To Susan on the West Coast Waiting' by Donovan.

[@jameskennedy721]

Every strategy was used to stop the war . One guy put his baby down at a safe distance , then set himself on fire . These guys used sarcasm and truths that were never aired on the news .

[@carolynschmidt5467]

You really understand this.

[@chulavista5239]

Woodstock version is a tour de force. No band backing him up, all by himself, and man, did he ever bring it.

[@rosmeeker1964]

At Woodstock the call and response was that other four letter word. I heard a story once about the police asking them to not say that word tonight. What word? That word.

[@alexhamilton4084]

Woodstock version, F**k instead of FISH. 😁

[@sopwithpuppy]

How very interesting! I have heard this song many times, but the only version I've heard is Live at Woodstock. When you said you didn't know what to expect, then said you guessed "country", mainly because of Joe's nickname - Well, the live Woodstock version is more like what you expected. But THIS version is DEFINITELY not what I expected at all! Very interesting. Give me the Woodstock version every time.

[@Jonni1027]

I remember seeing Country Joe McDonald do an acoustic free show by himself in the 70s at People’s Park in Berkeley. A great time was had by all

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

I envy you. Not old enough, and the wrong country! 😉

[@Jonni1027]

@@Owlstretchingtime78 Where do you live? I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and saw most of the big performers. I won tickets to see the Beatles when I was 6…my 2 older sisters were already going. My parents were astounded I won. At 9 my dad drove me and my sisters to Golden Gate Park to see Janis Joplin for free. Those are just a couple but when I look back I’m pretty amazed I grew up in such a time and place. I’m 65 now and me and my schoolteacher daughter 28 have decided since Covid to see all of the live shows we want to see. We’re now in San Diego. We realized that that sense of community and good vibes really help our mindset in these crazy times. Something to look forward to.❤️

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

@Jonni1027 I'm from the Midlands in the UK. Very close to Birmingham which is known as England's second city. I absolutely love the West Coast bands, specifically those from San Francisco, as well as The Doors, Love, Zappa, The Byrds, ad infinitum. I was born in '66, so was just a baby when it all started kicking off. I love a wide range of music, but have always had a soft spot for the late sixties. For what it's worth, i'm also a SF Giants fan. Cheers! 🌉

[@Jonni1027]

@@Owlstretchingtime78 Oh that’s so cool you’re into the late 60s psychedelic stuff. Have you ever heard of Sons Of Champlin? They’re from Marin County over the GG bridge and their debut double album came out then, called LOOSEN UP NATURALLY. It’s entirely wonderful and they’re STILL playing. Bill Champlin’s writing and vocals are sublime. I too love a wide range of music…I’m still so sad that Ryuichi Sakamoto died recently. Never got to see him live. My late mom was a HUGE Giants fan😄

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

@Jonni1027 The only Sons Of Champlin song i know is "Fat City". It comes from a 77 track 4cd Book Boxset from '07. I'm pretty sure it features songs that may be unknown to yourself. The Harbinger Complex, Country Weather, Frumious Bandersnatch, The Loading Zone, etc, etc. One of my favourites is a band called Kak, whose offering "The Lemonaide Kid" is a neat slice of psychedelia. I would advise you to google the title i've given you, to see just how familiar you are with this huge collection of bands. It does feature the obvious acts in Grateful Dead, Santana, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service to name but a few, but all in all it's a thoroughly entertaining listen/read. Like i said, google it and get back with how knowledgeable you are about the groovy bands and their music. Hope to hear from you pretty soon. Cheers and take care! 🤩

[@paulhansberry8168]

There were protest songs and then there's this one......... I'm in my 70's , I know the draft, and F4'd cuz deafness in one ear and asthma. Saw a lot people I knew go, and some didn't come back. There is another version out there with The F%*k Jeer/ I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag. Late sixties, early seventies saw this country change, a shift in from what it was to what it became, what all with the distrust with Government (like today), corrupt and crooked Nixon, Chicago 7 and subsequent protests. and the music reflected that. Interesting times.

[@michaelgray5100]

This reminds of another band that put out songs like this is "Crowbar" and the only album I have is "Bad Manors - Golden Hits Vol. 1". Also kind of reminds me of the band "The Fugs" as well.

[@O_Towne_Bear]

Always loved this.

[@geneharvey7]

The song is being a bit forgotten and you are absolutely correct to call it important if we care about true history vs. revisionist history. I'm not knocking revisionism as it works both ways. Although I did not hear the song in '67 as I was too busy riding my bike, I came to hear it a few years later and totally understood the message and satire. I remember watching my cousins watch the draft lottery on TV sweating bullets. The cousin that did go to Vietnam is still alive today and is the quiet one. Go figure. Thank you JP for doing this song.

[@dannylgriffin]

We all remember our draft numbers. Mine was 305, so I was safe from the draft.

[@geneharvey7]

Lucky you.@@dannylgriffin

[@dannylgriffin]

@@geneharvey7 I take it you, not so much. :( Although even without that I would have had a college deferment, so... But still, it was not a good time for a war that we should never have been in. There is a time to fight, but that was not it. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie by the White House. The Southeast Asia Communist domino theory was a lie by the White House. And even if it hadn't been, that was no reason for us to get involved. We simply can't police the entire world with military force, nor should we. Btw, I'm a proud member of the vast right-wing conspiracy as Hillary named us. Johnson claimed that Goldwater would get us into a war, but Johnson was the one who got us into a war.

[@AP-gb3eh]

Joe was a Vietnam Vet

[@tessasnow]

You’ve gotta watch the Woodstock version 🇨🇦🖖🏻

[@DavidImiri]

Timeless classic - and an important piece of music history. And yeah, you should catch the Woodstock version...

[@jerkedevries]

It’s a jam😊

[@murdockreviews]

Well....the Woodstock version uses another f-word for the opening cheer ;-)

[@maruad7577]

I remember listening to this from the Woodstock soundtrack over and over again until I knew all the lyrics. This song was intensely political at the time as it was supporting the anti-war movement.

[@barryschalkwijk9388]

I don't know whether i'm impressed or appalled that you went with the record version lol. Thew woodstock version is THE version of this song.

[@shacharh5470]

One of the best anti-war anthems, but musically not one of their best (and not a good entry point to their style). They're one of the big names of the San Francisco acid-rock scene of the 60's, their first 2 albums were very trippy in parts. You should check out some of that

[@anthonyfoutch3152]

Watch the old counter culture movie Zachariah with C J and the Fish The James Gang Doug Kershaw a very young Don Johnson and others. It's on KZbin.

[@somthingbrutal]

i agree with the commentators that the live woodstock version is better

[@diogenesagogo]

Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine. My favourite track of theirs, just thinking about takes me back 50 years, gives me thrills; something about the opening tinny organ/guitar intro really affects me. No political messages, but this track made me think of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band; a really fun bunch. Try this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKjOpKawp6mMhNk

[@shemanic1]

the most iconic anti-war song ever. & what an intro, Live the letters were F. U. C. K. What's that spell?

[@sicko_the_ew]

I'd say "The Bomb" means an atomic bomb. As far as the song goes, I'm in a few minds about it. For starters, it's never looked to me like this was a struggle between good and evil, as the storytellers are instructed to craft it. In those terms, I think I might go for "evil versus evil", but those terms are probably question-begging and misleading. It was a struggle of elite interests vs elite interests, fed with combustible peasant flesh on both sides, and the final result was a slight tilt in the balance between those interests of the various elites (I should've made it tripartite or quadripartite, with multiple elites, all ready to cut the other's throat at the least opportunity). I'm pretty sure it wasn't a nice simple matter of "America" (meaning those who held most of its control panels) saving the world from communism. I'm also pretty sure that the kind of "Liberation" received by ordinary Vietnamese in the end is the kind of "Liberation" you might wish on other people if you're not prepared to waste the time it would take to develop a truly deep understanding of those circumstances. I mean there were Boat People, remember? I don't think you become a Boat Person if you feel like you received a Grade A Liberation, and the best Freedom and Worker Unity ever. (But as is evident, this is the shallow skepticism of someone who's too lazy to dig in, and go find out what really happened in Vietnam. And as soon as this little bit of scrupulousness has scrupled out, I'm going straight back to keeping whatever point of view is least at risk of bringing me ostracism for deviating from the Received Truth of the matter.) Ja, ja. I've seen the beautiful Struggle stories set against their ugly reality too much to ever be taken completely with any overly celebratory version of a history like this. And the opinions of the people living there today are irrelevant. They've been told what to think about this for a very long time, so or course they're going to feel most at peace with the point of view that got one into the least amount of trouble. Just like all of us. And with that in my mind, it actually strikes me at times as a bit of a stupid song, even if it was "for a good cause". For starters, it follows the morality of fleas. Someone's put the powder on. Let's get off this critter. Makes sense, but it's just following the survival imperative. Why stay away from Vietnam? Because it's Wrong to go there and interfere in their affairs in ways that involve killing more people than their civil war, left alone, might have had killed? Wrong? What's that? Don't go there cause you might get killed. Don't go fight Hitler because you might get killed? Just to offer a contrasting situation, where we've decided there was a just war in that case. It reduces something that if you were to waste your time getting involved with would be more complex, to pretty much a kindergarten level of simplistic ...simple something. Oversimplification. As in dumb it down for the dummies. My aversion to the song has grown with this thinking about it. It was a mild unease - something not quite right. Now I think I might dislike it. (That said, the sensible thing would've been to just leave the Vietnamese to get on with killing each other, until "some kid had won the fight"? I have family who worked on that approach. Dad/grandad got his innards messed up by the Germans, and said never again. Moved to Australia to get far away from the next great war. And then Aussie participated in Vietnam, so he left there. And now they're back again. Sensible. Let other people have their own problems if at all possible.)

[@hlawrencepowell]

You really had to have grown up during the Vietnam War. Lots of protest music. Country Joe was at the forefront.

[@dannylgriffin]

Um...the Woodstock version is the one. Uses a bad word, though.

[@nedludd7622]

You don't seem to understand that this was a serious issue for those of us at the time. What would you do if you had received a draft notice to go to someplace like Iraq? A later song by by Country Joe was "Cakewalk to Baghdad" protesting war criminal George Bush's criminal war on Iraq. You are so glib.

[@jfergs.3302]

Thought you'd done with politics :) A quirky, catchy, irreverant anti-war song. Always gets a play when Vietnam, and/or Woodstock get a mention re film, tv, doco's etc. Don't think i could name another song by them... though i may be wrong.

[@jayburdification]

Oh….oh no. This is not the version you want. This whole album is a self-indulgent, psychedelic wankfest. When Frank Zappa did We’re Only in it For the Money, it was albums like this he was lampooning. You want the country Joe McDonald version from Woodstock. It’s just Joe, an acoustic guitar, and half a million people singing along. Iconic. You should skip the rest of what’s on here and go to Country Joe & the Fish’s first album which is light years better. “Section 43” and “Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine” are must listens.

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

Although the debut is definitely superior, i believe that both album's are essential acid rock milestones.

[@jayburdification]

@@Owlstretchingtime78 it has its moments for me, but they are few. Thought Dream I like.

[@jhamptonjr]

It's so funny. As a kid about 11 years old I went to a neighbor's house and heard this album when the guy and his brother were playing it no names here. Anyway here we are 45 years later almost 50 years later and I mentioned something about hearing that album for the first time at his house and I posted it on Facebook just as a casual conversation to him and I got chewed the f out! He denied ever having the album denied that he ever played it for a 12-year-old and all kinds of crap went off on the timeline. Finally I just said hey sorry to have mentioned a childhood memory and left it at that.