But "wires"? Before someone takes the time to unbend a wire hanger to use as a lash, one would far more likely grab a broom, belt, hairbrush, pan. Ropes? Not hard to imagine, if whips were not handy. Whips, certainly, were used by slave drivers. "You can beat us with wires" is an interesting turn of phrase, however. "You can beat us with chains." well, that was something that did, sadly, happen during slave days. The purpose of the protest, at least, seems clear in this case. This seems to have been true "back in the day" as well: "Nobody knew from time to time/If the plans were changed," Simon muses, let alone what those changes were for the plans. Throughout the sketch, the supposed rally leader is not able to get even two protesters to agree as to why they are there or what they are protesting. "Gay marriage!" shouts another protester. "Yes, that's important, but today we are here to talk about Iraq," corrects the bullhorn-holder. "Legalize it!" (meaning marijuana) responds a loud voice from the crowd. we want out of Iraq!" he says, pumping his fist. A protester takes a bullhorn and ascends the ledge of a public fountain to address a rally. There is a great Saturday Night Live bit about this. However, once some sort of authority within the movement is established, that authority is immediately challenged as being overbearing, self-seeking, and illegitimate.
Some responsible people need to see about parade permits and speak on behalf of the march to the media, for instance. Part of the problem with a peace movement is that it is by nature unorganized. Perhaps they were being smeared as communists, agitators against the "social order" and basically wanting to disassemble America brick by brick. Meanwhile, their detractors were hard at work, spreading falsehoods about their intentions that were proving hard to shake. The participants sit up all night, amazed as the powerful experience, discussing it in awe and in detail, declaring it a success: "Long past the midnight curfew, we sat starry-eyed/ We were satisfied." Even their act of staying up was a protest, in this case against the government-enforced bedtime. Once we have a march, we can imagine the results. As it was also itself peaceful in demeanor, it became the very image of peace. The subject of the march seems to be civil rights and, ultimately, peace between neighbors. Like a river winding its way through banks, a march winds its way down streets and past buildings, moving organically forward. Like peace, there is an order and orderliness in the marching and chanting. This is purely speculative, but the image of peace in the shape of a river calls to my mind a protest march. One can imagine the opposite of peace- chaos- running through a city in the form of a riot. The verb for a river moving is "running," as in "A River Runs Through It," or the Carly Simon song "Let the River Run." People are staying up late, "misinformation" is being spread about a group, and a sermon is given about civil rights (more on that second verse in a moment).īut how does peace move "through a city"? Let us take the word "ran" to apply to the metaphor of a river moving, and not necessarily quickly. The rest of our song is somewhat concrete. Specifically, 66:12- "I will extend to peace like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream."
The original source of the simile "peace like a river," however, is Isaiah. However, it comes from a late 1800s hymn called "It Is Well With My Soul," which begins: "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way/ When sorrows like sea billows roll/ Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say/ It is well, it is well, with my soul." (The reference to "sorrows" alongside "sea billows" is sadly personal to its author, Horatio Spafford, as the song was inspired upon his ship passing over the spot in the Atlantic where his daughters drowned.)
The opening line (and title) of this song seems mysterious.
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