I was thinking about the possibility of singing Neil Young’s “Ohio” for our upcoming Canada Fest. However, i decided that i couldn’t sing it without including some words about the deaths that occurred at Jackson State College shortly after the Kent State killings. Those deaths were pretty much ignored at the time, and forgotten in the passage of time (except at Jackson State).
So, i decided to add a verse or so about the Jackson State murders. I say murders, because they were done by Mississippi State Troopers (who were much better prepared for dealing with protesters than the green National Guardsmen in Ohio), and because one of the deaths (a high school senior) occurred behind police lines.
This song has evolved substantially. Originally the first part (through the Na na na …) were just the lyrics used on the CSNY version of the song. Then i decided that it was odd to have the first part in present tense and the part about Jackson State in past tense. So i changed the first part to past tense, and through several iterations, more and more of Neil Young’s words were replaced by my own. The tune and the bones, though, are still Young’s.