Guthrie et alia: Blues in the belfry



Photo by Aaron Logan

After all these years, you’d think that Arlo might have been able to move past Obie.  But no – he’s still needing to conscientiously sing those Alice’s Restaurant belfry blues. 

As part of Macy’s 2010 Thanksgiving Day Parade, Guthrie proclaimed his sad truth once again.  Folks got to hear - some for perhaps the very first time – all about how the bell tower played a subtle (yet instrumental) role in garbage that went down long ago (but continues to fester deep within the American soil).

You see, if Alice hadn’t lived in the bell tower, she might have lived in the sanctuary - and if she had lived in the sanctuary, she might have been more prone to taking out the garbage - and if she had been more prone to taking out the garbage, then Arlo might never have needed to get stuck on replay for years to come. 

But that’s not what I came to tell you about, as Guthrie would say.  Came to talk about a belfry across the pond.  The one that’s been leaning way left these days.

It seems that while Guthrie’s been promoting his message, students in Italy have been doing the same with theirs.  They, too, became entangled with a belfry.  More specifically, they “captured” the Leaning Tower of Pisa by encircling it with a 2,000-strong human moat.  Their plea regarding Italy's education-reform plan is this:  No cuts, no profit!

This certainly got Italy’s attention – every bit as much as Arlo has gotten America’s.  Hopefully, both countries will finally take more heed of their prophets than of their profits.

Resources

http://www.thirdage.com/news/arlo-guthrie-plays-macys-parade-alices-restaurant-lyrics_11-26-2010

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7020644246?Italian%20Students%20Protest%20Against%20Education%20Reforms

Copyright November 27, 2010 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved