Phil Ochs

There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply into themselves and their actions, and musical poetry is perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every newspaper headline is a potential song.

Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make the attempt. That's morality, that's religion, that's art, that's life.

Show me the prison, Show me the jail, Show me the prisoner whose life has gone stale. And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why And there, but for fortune, go you or I.

One good song with a message can bring a point more deeply to more people than a thousand rallies.

In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.

A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit.