Category: History

E. B. White, The Beatles, and “Piggies”

e. b. white piggies On July 11, 1899, Elwyn Brooks White was born in Mount Vernon, New York. White became the famous writer we know as “E. B. White.”

As a young man, White joined The New Yorker in its early years and helped shape the magazine. In 1959, White reworked William Strunk Jr.’s The Elements of Style, creating one of my favorite handbooks on writing that is now commonly referred to as “Strunk & White.” But most of us first encounter White’s work as children.

Charlotte’s Web

White’s classic children’s books include Stuart Little (1945) and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970). His most famous book, though, may be the story of a pig named Wilbur who becomes friends with a spider named Charlotte, Charlotte’s Web (1952).

Several years ago, Publisher’s Weekly listed Charlotte’s Web as the best-selling children’s book of all time. Wilbur is certainly one of the most famous pig characters in popular culture, along with Babe, Arnold (Green Acres), and Porky.

The Beatles and “Piggies”

There are not many famous songs about pigs.  The most famous may be “Piggies” by the Beatles, even though the song is not really about four-legged porkers.

“Piggies” was written by George Harrison and appeared on The Beatles album, also known as “The White Album,” in 1968. As recounted in Steve Turner’s book, A Hard Day’s Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song, Harrison described the song making fun of the middle class as “as social comment.”

The lyrics are not very complex.  The song refers to people as “piggies.” And the song also notes that things are “getting worse” for the little piggies while the bigger piggies “[a]lways have clean shirts to play around in.”

Although “Piggies” is not on anybody’s list of top Beatles songs, the effectiveness of the song lies in its simplicity.  The song captures the sound of a classical nursery rhyme, as shown in the live version below.

Charles Manson

Unfortunately, “Piggies” is another song like “Revolution” that got hijacked by Charles Manson. Reportedly, the crazy man liked the line about the piggies needing “a damn good whacking.”  Also, variations on the word “pig” were written on the walls in blood at the site of Manson family murders.

Understandably, Harrison was appalled with Manson’s foolish interpretation of the song. The “damn good whacking” line was only added to the lyrics after Harrison’s mom suggested it as something to rhyme with “backing” and “lacking.”

E.B. White and Death

It was unfortunate that “Piggies,” designed as a short commentary, ended up associated with horrible deaths. But E. B. White, who wrote about the death of a real pig in a 1948 essay and passed away in 1985, understood that death is everywhere.

In White’s book about a pig and a spider, he wrote, “After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die.” The best we can do is try to live a worthwhile life.  That is not a bad lesson coming from a spider and a pig.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and “We Shall Overcome”

    Civil Rights Act On July 2 in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The important act, which had survived heated discussion in the Senate and the House of Representatives, made racial segregation in public places illegal.

    The law had an even broader impact.  It also prohibited discrimination on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in schools and in employment.

    The Signing

    President Johnson, who worked hard to push through the legislation after President John F. Kennedy’s death, used more than 75 pens to sign the legislation. He gave out the pens to many people who helped with the bill, including Martin Luther King, Jr. King later said the pen was one of his most cherished possessions.

    The video below features President Johnson giving the pen to King. It also includes some of Johnson’s speech before the signing.

    “We Shall Overcome”

    One of the songs that played a significant role in the civil rights movement was “We Shall Overcome.” The song developed from an African-American hymn first used as a protest song by striking tobacco workers in 1945.

    “We Shall Overcome” grew to help inspire changes that shook the world. Many continue to recognize its importance. In recognition of the song’s role in the civil rights movement, for the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, members of Congress joined hands and sang the song.

    The video below is from a recording by a number of artists — including John Legend, Joss Stone and The Blind Boys of Alabama — for Soundtrack for a Revolution (2011), an album of songs from the civil rights movement.

    One of the artists who helped popularize the song was folksinger Pete Seeger.  In this video, Seeger explains the history behind the song.

    Of course, the Civil Rights Act did not end racial discrimination.  But it was an important step in the ongoing process.

    One of the reasons “We Shall Overcome” is a great song is its timelessness. It is not a song of “we have overcome” about past accomplishments.  It is a song that reminds us that there are always more struggles ahead of us to overcome. And we shall.


    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    The Ozone Layer and the Man Who Saved the Earth

    Aerosol Pollution
    Aerosol Pollution

    On June 28, 1927, F. Sherwood Rowland was born in Delaware, Ohio. You may not recognize the name, but you should.  He helped save the earth.

    Rowland was a chemist at the University of California-Irvine several decades ago when he attended a talk on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).  At the time, CFCs appeared as refrigerants, as propellants in aerosol cans, and in other uses.

    Rowland began thinking about the effects that CFCs might have in the atmosphere when they broke down. Eventually, his studies confirmed that CFCs did break down at high altitudes.  And the released chlorine atoms worked to destroy the ozone layer that protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation.

    He and a colleague, Mario Molina, published the results in the journal Nature in 1974. For a more technical explanation, here is a 2-minute video about the effects of CFCs.

    How Rowland’s Work Saved the World

    After Rowland published the findings, corporations attacked the study.  Some of Rowland’s colleagues shunned him. No chemistry department in the U.S. invited him to give a lecture for most of a decade after the article appeared.

    But eventually other scientists discovered that Rowland’s conclusions were accurate. Rowland worked to get CFCs banned, and the discovery in the mid-1980s of an ozone hole above the South Pole helped persuade politicians to act.

    In 1987, major industrial nations approved a global treaty phasing out CFCs called The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The treaty went into effect in 1989.

    Songs Reflect Concern About the Ozone Layer

    At the time of the treaty and years afterwards, several songs invoked the growing concerns about the disappearing ozone layer. Public Enemy had one of the earliest songs mentioning the ozone layer, when they referenced it on “Public Enemy No. 1” on 1987’s Yo! Bum Rush the Show.

    Public Enemy also used the words a few years later on “Fear of a Black Planet” from the 1990 album of the same name: “I’m just a rhyme sayer/ Skins protected ‘gainst the ozone layers.”

    Neil Young has one of the most famous songs mentioning the ozone layer with “Rockin’ in the Free World” from 1989’s Freedom album (“Got Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer”). In 1989 in “Sick of You” on his New York album, Lou Reed sang, “The ozone layer has no ozone anymore/ And you’re gonna leave me for the guy next door.”

    Dire Straits sang “Don’t talk to me about ozone layer” on “My Parties” from On Every Street (1991). On “Run Straight Down” from Traverse City (1991), Warren Zevon sang, “Fluorocarbons in the ozone layer/ First the water and the wildlife go.”

    Don McLean wrote about the ozone layer within around three years after the publication of Rowland’s initial study. In 1977, he released “Prime Time” on the album of the same name, singing, “The weather will be fair, forget the ozone layer.”

    In more recent years, artists continue to sing about the ozone layer. David Lee Roth mentioned it on “You’re Breathin’ It” (not available on YouTube) from Your Filthy Little Mouth (1994).

    Eminem claimed some credit for damaging the ozone layer in “Role Model” on 1999’s The Slim Shady LP, “I’m not a player just a ill-rhyme sayer/ That’ll spray an aerosol can up in the ozone layer.”

    The Cranberries took a more environmental approach in “Time is Ticking Out” from 2001’s Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.   In the song, they conclude, “Looks like we screwed up the ozone layer/ I wonder if the politicians care.”

    Remembering Sherwood Rowland and Others

    It is funny that I knew the names of all of these artists who mentioned the ozone layer, but I did not know the name of the people who saved it. I also do not know of any song that mentions Sherwood Rowland or Mario Molina by name.

    Rowland, who died on March 10, 2012, did receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 with Molina and Paul Crutzen of the Max Planck Institute in Germany. But they deserve much more, including our thanks and that we remember their work.

    Photo of aerosol pollution over Northern India and Bangladesh via public domain.

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    Little Big Horn and “Little Big Man”

    Little Big Horn

    On June 25, 1876, Sioux, Arapahoe, and Cheyenne warriors led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wiped out Lt. Colonel George Custer and a large part of his 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Almost 100 years later, the event would provide a key moment in a great American film.

    Custer’s Last Stand

    In 1876, the 7th Calvary was scouting on behalf of two columns of U.S. soldiers.  The soldiers were trying to force the Native Americans onto reservations.  Another column had already lost a battle, unbeknownst to the other two groups.

    Custer’s scouts warned him about a large Native American village nearby.  But Custer thought the numbers were exaggerated and forged ahead instead of waiting for reinforcements.

    Custer divided his regiment and proceeded with around 215 men.  They were soon cut off by thousands of braves. All of the soldiers, including Custer, were killed at Little Big Horn in what became known as “Custer’s Last Stand.”

    “Little Big Man”

    My favorite movie with a fictionalized account of the incident is Little Big Man (1970).  The movie has a 96% critics rating and 86% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

    The movie is based on a revisionist comic Western novel by Thomas Berger.  In the film, Dustin Hoffman gives one of his greatest performances as Jack Crabb.

    The film follows Crabb, who recounts his life of adventure.  He was raised by Native Americans, and he later served as a scout for an inept and somewhat crazy Custer, played brilliantly by Richard Mulligan.

    This scene from the film captures Crabb simultaneously warning and daring Custer about what awaits.

    Arthur Penn directed Little Big Man, which also starred Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, and Chief Dan George. The movie is fictional satire that has moments of great humor.  But it also realistically reflects the victory and the tragedy of Little Big Horn and the plight of the Native Americans. If you have never seen the movie, you should.

    Although the Native Americans won the day, “Little Big Horn” became a rallying cry for the whites as more soldiers came to eventually track down Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the other Native Americans. In less than fifteen years in 1889, the area around Little Big Horn became part of the new state of Montana.

    “The Custer Fight” painting by Charles Marion Russell via public domain.
    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Three Missing Civil Rights Workers in 1964 Mississippi

    Missing Civil Rights Workers On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers traveling in Mississippi disappeared. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner had been working in the state as part of efforts by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to do civil rights work and help register African-Americans to vote.

    Goodman and Schwerner had originally traveled from New York and were working with Chaney, a young black man who lived in Mississippi. One afternoon, after the three were driving back from investigating a church burning, Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price arrested them.  The sheriff arrested the driver Chaney for speeding, and he arrested the passengers for “investigation.”

    The sheriff took the three men to jail, where they were booked by 4:00 p.m.  Late at night after almost seven hours at the jail, the three were released.  Then, they disappeared.

    Disappearance & Discovery

    The disappearance of the three men created a national outcry, focusing attention on what was going on in many places in the South. Others previously had disappeared and been murdered. But this case likely garnered more attention because two of the civil rights workers were white.

    Below is a 1964 NBC News Special Report about the disappearance that occurred during Freedom Summer. The show aired on television while the men were missing and before their bodies were found. As you can see, after the three disappeared, some white officials argued that the missing men were pulling a publicity stunt.

    More than a month later on August 4, 1964, FBI officials found the remains of the three men buried in an earthen well. Goodman and Schwerner were each shot in the heart, while Chaney had been beaten and shot several times.

    Investigators concluded that after authorities released the three civil rights workers from jail, KKK members pulled over the car. Then, the KKK members shot and killed the three men and also beat the African-American Chaney.

    The murders had been planned and organized while the three men were held in jail.  And, in fact, the KKK had been tracking Schwerner’s activities in the South for some time.

    The country focused its attention on the murder, the investigation, and numerous other instances of violence during Freedom Summer. This national attention energized the civil rights movement, and helped bring about some changes.

    “Here’s to the State of Mississippi”

    The investigation into the case also affected pop culture. For example, the crime inspired a fictionalized account of the events in the movie Mississippi Burning (1988), starring Gene Hackman.

    The murders also inspired singer-songwriter Phil Ochs to write one of his most controversial songs, “Here’s to the State of Mississippi.” Ochs came up with the idea for the song while he was traveling through Mississippi to promote voting registration with the Mississippi Caravan of Music.

    During that trip, Ochs encountered threats firsthand and also learned about the discovery of the bodies of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. As a result, Ochs wrote one of his most scathing songs, indicting the state of Mississippi as a proxy for the perpetrators of racial violence.

    Oh, here’s to the land
    You’ve torn out the heart of,
    Mississippi find yourself
    Another country to be part of.

    According to Michael Schumacher’s excellent 1996 biography of Ochs, There But for Fortune: The Life of Phil Ochs, some of Ochs’s friends criticized the song for attacking Mississippi so directly. They told Ochs that he was wrong to single out a single state because racism flowed across all states, including ones in the North.

    Also, some blacks in Mississippi reminded Ochs that they were a part of Mississippi too. But Ochs believed it was his obligation to report what he saw.

    Quest for Justice

    While the murders motivated many people to work for change, it took longer for the state of Mississippi to accomplish some individual justice. In 1967 a federal court jury convicted several men of conspiracy for their involvement in the murders.  But Mississippi did not convict anyone for the crime until June 21, 2005 — the 41st anniversary of the day the three young men disappeared.

    On that date in 2005, a Mississippi jury convicted white supremacist Edgar Ray Killen of three counts of manslaughter. Killen was sentenced to sixty years in prison.

    Although authorities did not believe Killen did the actual killing, they thought he was a significant organizer of the murders. It had been the policy of the KKK for organizers and leaders to avoid actual killing.

    The 88-year-old man lost his appeal in November 2013.  He subsequently has said little about the murders.

    It is too bad that Phil Ochs, who passed away in 1976, was not around to see the conviction. I wonder what type of songs Ochs would write if he were still alive. And I also wonder what the three brave men who were killed in 1964 would think of our country today.

    Photo of FBI poster via public domain.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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