Wednesday, February 6, 2008

`Enemy Number One'


They call her “Public Enemy Number One”
They say she’s done wrong, they seem to want her hung
For many, many years she’s been fast on the run
It sure is “fun” being “Public Enemy Number One.”

John Dillinger was “Public Enemy Number One”
Like Billy the Kid, he learnt to use his gun
They jailed him ten years for robbing a small sum
It’s better than working, being “Public Enemy Number One.”

The men are all in love with “Public Enemy Number One”
Whenever she’s around, they each give her a hug
The sheriff and his posse, they often are quite stunned
For they can’t seem to locate “Public Enemy Number One.”

The courtroom is waiting for “Public Enemy Number One”
They’ve listed all the crimes the bankers say she’s done
To protect their stocks and bonds, they’ve spilt a lot of blood
Yet seriously they still hunt for “Public Enemy Number One.”

She sure does confuse me, “Public Enemy Number One,”
She seems very friendly and full of lots of love
I hope they don’t kill her for being kind to bums
She seems so symbolic, this “Public Enemy Number One.”

The Enemy Number One protest folk song (which was originally titled “Public Enemy Number One”) was written in the early 1970s for Bernardine Dohrn and the other Weatherpeople--when the FBI was attempting to capture the Weatherpeople for continuing to fight for revolutionary democratic change in the United States, in solidarity with people around the globe and within the U.S. who are oppressed by U.S. imperialism. While the Weatherpeople were underground in the early 1970s, I supported the demand for amnesty for the Weatherpeople.

Federal charges against most of the Weatherpeople were finally dropped by the end of the 1970s because of the illegal COINTELPRO methods used by the FBI in attempting to capture the former SDS activists who went into Weather, such as authorizing FBI agents to illegally break into Movement offices and the apartments of above-ground supporters of the Weatherpeople.

To listen to the "Enemy Number One" protest folk song, click on the following link:

http://www.last.fm/music/Bob+A.+Feldman/Protest+Folk+Songs/Enemy+Number+One


(To listen to other "Columbia Songs for a Democratic Society" protest folk songs, click on the following link: http://www.myspace.com/bobafeldman68music )

Next: Corporate Chicago’s Tribune/Los Angeles Times Company—Part 1