| "The 'Fish' Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Country Joe and the Fish | |
| Released | November 1967 |
| Recorded | 1966—March 1967 |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock |
| Length | 3:44 |
| Label | Vanguard |
| Writer | Country Joe McDonald |
| Producer | Samuel Charters |
"The 'Fish' Cheer / I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" is an anti-Vietnam War protest song by Country Joe and the Fish from their 1967 eponymous album. It is sometimes also referred to as the "Vietnam Song".
Contents |
"I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" was written by Country Joe McDonald in 1965, supposedly in less than 30 minutes.[1] It was due to be released the same year on the first album of the group, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, but Vanguard Records vetoed it, and it eventually became the title track of I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die.[2]
A solo live performance of the song by Country Joe McDonald was given at Woodstock Festival. It is featured on the documentary Woodstock, and on its soundtrack.
The guitar accompaniment uses G chords, the secondary dominant A chords, and E chords. It is usually played with a capo on the 2nd or 3rd fret, so that the effective tonality is B (like in the studio version), or A (in the live version).[3] Musically, the song is very similar to the old jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble".
The song begins with a "Fish Cheer", in which the band spells out the word "F-I-S-H" in the manner of cheerleaders at American football games ("Give me an F", etc.).[4] The "Fish Cheer" later gave way to the "Fuck Cheer", winning widespread approval from their audience and disapproval from others.[2] In 1970, Country Joe was arrested for giving the "Fish Cheer" in public, and was charged with obscenity.
The text of the song is a sarcastic invitation for young and able men to join in the Vietnam War. It culminates in urging parents to send their children to war as soon as possible, as to have a chance to be the first in their neighborhood to see their son coming back "in a box". It also features a signature chorus of
| “ | And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn |
” |
The album version ends with the sound of several light machine guns firing and a final explosion.
Country Joe gave an unexpected and unplanned performance of the song on the stage of Woodstock Festival, as a stop-gap between two other performers. He used a Yamaha FG 150 acoustic guitar, left lying around the back of the stage with a rope used as a makeshift strap. In the Woodstock: Now & Then documentary, he said that he was unprepared and used the excuse of not having a guitar to try to not play, and the Yamaha was given to him. He then said he couldn't play without a guitar strap, at which time the rope was tied to the guitar.
Country Joe reported being paralyzed by stage fright given the sheer size of the audience,[5] but then noticed that most of it was not paying any attention to him. He managed to gain wide and steady attention by giving his "Fuck Cheer".[2]
The song was never a big hit, but was nonetheless well-known, and at Woodstock the audience can clearly be heard singing along. In the 1970 documentary Woodstock, a sing-a-long style bouncing ball following the lyrics subtitled on-screen. Country Joe further taunted his audience by saying:
| “ | Listen people, I don't know how you expect to ever stop the war if you can't sing any better than that. There's about three hundred thousand of you fuckers out there. I want you to start singing. Come on. | ” |
These insults were welcomed with applause.
In 2001, the heirs of New Orleans Jazz trombonist Kid Ory launched a lawsuit against Country Joe McDonald, claiming that the music of I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag constituted plagiarism of Muskrat Ramble, a 1927 number by Ory. In 2005, courts ruled in McDonald's favour.
McDonald performed part of the song while playing a folksinging hippie named "Joaquin" in the Tales of the City TV miniseries.[6]
The Passion Killers, comprising several members of the band Chumbawamba, covered the song with modified lyrics on their 1991 single, Whoopee! We're All Gonna Die!, as a protest against the first Gulf War.[7][8]
Swedish rock singer Svante Karlsson covered it in 2003 on his album Autograph. This version features a solo performed by legendary guitarist Albert Lee.
The song has been featured in the films Woodstock, More American Graffiti, Purple Haze, and Hamburger Hill, and the HBO miniseries Generation Kill. It was also featured in the TV show The Wonder Years, in the season 2 episode, titled "Walk Out".
It was referenced on the 2008 edition of the AP United States History exam.[9]