Congrats on 500, Jason! As to nefarious undertones in 60s pop music lyrics generally, and to drug allusions, here in this song specifically, I've come to the conclusion, after mountains of research for my '60s era gospel-themed novel, "Covered With Snow," that the entire phenomenon of readily accessible poetic popular music which we now take for granted, was spiritually coopted in myriad ways, both explicit/knowing and subtle/naive in an Ephesians 6:12 long battle, to move the West, a.k.a., nominal Christendom, toward satiation with secular, worldly "worship" i.e., of anything and everything other than the purpose it is meant to serve ultimately, and which it had served, in the main, with exceptions, for millennia: worship of the one, true, living God.
The Biblical premise underneath my conclusion is based on man's inability to serve two masters (Elijah at 1Kings 18, Joshua at Joshua 24, and Jesus at Matthew 7, e.g.) Or to put it another way, there is no neutral-innocent it-was-just-a-poem I-didn't-know middle... which Bob Dylan reprised with "ya gotta serve someone".
I won't insist on that super-big-picture view, but merely toss out there. The subtle/naive version is what I suspect happened here. The writers and singers thought there was a neutral middle. But in the early '60s, even if you were knowingly trying to undermine Western Civilization, you had to do it subtly, and apologize for it if caught, whereas a few years later, the invasion was shameless.
thank you for the gentle reminder to "keep [y]our speech seasoned with salt". In the internet age, words are plentiful & thus are cheap; many people feel they have to shriek, use hyperbole, or even [almost?] lie, to be heard at all. It's so easy to assume one's words mean little or nothing, & so it doesn't matter if we are kind or not.
But it does matter.
At the very least it matters to the One who invented words. "Oh be careful little mouth, what you say...there's a Father up above who is looking down in love, so be careful little mouth, what you say." Thanks for telling me my words do matter to someone.
“God multiplies our humble offerings…”. Thanks for sharing the story of this poem/song, and the integrity of the songwriter! Have always loved Peter, Paul and Mary, especially The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Leaving on a Jet Plane, and Stookey’s The Wedding Song (Which probably is worthy of it’s own post).
My dad did 4 tours in Vietnam, and he sang and played guitar. He had a love of folk and country music, and was often discouraged by antiwar message of the 60’s and early 70’s.
But, he loved this song, and he played it often. I can still hear his smooth rich baritone voice singing, “Little Jack Paper…”
I was born in 1966, and this was a popular record that my parents enjoyed in our home. They were definitely not hippies, and were mostly against the lifestyle promoted by the folkies of the era, but they never believed the song to have drug references. They only stopped playing the recording when I became a teenager, because they realized I was living the message of the song.
A great reminder that our words have power.
Congrats on 500, Jason! As to nefarious undertones in 60s pop music lyrics generally, and to drug allusions, here in this song specifically, I've come to the conclusion, after mountains of research for my '60s era gospel-themed novel, "Covered With Snow," that the entire phenomenon of readily accessible poetic popular music which we now take for granted, was spiritually coopted in myriad ways, both explicit/knowing and subtle/naive in an Ephesians 6:12 long battle, to move the West, a.k.a., nominal Christendom, toward satiation with secular, worldly "worship" i.e., of anything and everything other than the purpose it is meant to serve ultimately, and which it had served, in the main, with exceptions, for millennia: worship of the one, true, living God.
The Biblical premise underneath my conclusion is based on man's inability to serve two masters (Elijah at 1Kings 18, Joshua at Joshua 24, and Jesus at Matthew 7, e.g.) Or to put it another way, there is no neutral-innocent it-was-just-a-poem I-didn't-know middle... which Bob Dylan reprised with "ya gotta serve someone".
I won't insist on that super-big-picture view, but merely toss out there. The subtle/naive version is what I suspect happened here. The writers and singers thought there was a neutral middle. But in the early '60s, even if you were knowingly trying to undermine Western Civilization, you had to do it subtly, and apologize for it if caught, whereas a few years later, the invasion was shameless.
thank you for the gentle reminder to "keep [y]our speech seasoned with salt". In the internet age, words are plentiful & thus are cheap; many people feel they have to shriek, use hyperbole, or even [almost?] lie, to be heard at all. It's so easy to assume one's words mean little or nothing, & so it doesn't matter if we are kind or not.
But it does matter.
At the very least it matters to the One who invented words. "Oh be careful little mouth, what you say...there's a Father up above who is looking down in love, so be careful little mouth, what you say." Thanks for telling me my words do matter to someone.
“God multiplies our humble offerings…”. Thanks for sharing the story of this poem/song, and the integrity of the songwriter! Have always loved Peter, Paul and Mary, especially The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Leaving on a Jet Plane, and Stookey’s The Wedding Song (Which probably is worthy of it’s own post).
My dad did 4 tours in Vietnam, and he sang and played guitar. He had a love of folk and country music, and was often discouraged by antiwar message of the 60’s and early 70’s.
But, he loved this song, and he played it often. I can still hear his smooth rich baritone voice singing, “Little Jack Paper…”
I was born in 1966, and this was a popular record that my parents enjoyed in our home. They were definitely not hippies, and were mostly against the lifestyle promoted by the folkies of the era, but they never believed the song to have drug references. They only stopped playing the recording when I became a teenager, because they realized I was living the message of the song.