The Verge presents, an original poem by Shawn McBride:
I woke up this morning with such a sad frown as I sat and listened to the 59 rounds.
From one ear and out the other the audio goes, coming through my grand mama’s radio.
The music playing brought no such pleasure.
I wanted more Springsteen than gangster.
No racketeers, no criminals.
There was a need for glory in these times of struggles.
For years the fight waged on between the north and the south.
I wish only had a better solution been figured out.
During which time the world said so long to friends Buddy, Richie, Bopper, and Roger.
It was the day the music died Don’s Miss American Pie.
How the nation wept and moaned before first entering the Twilight Zone.
We were also witnesses to Montreal raising Stanley, Tommy Lee racing through Kentucky, A Beantown
Sweep, Chicago’s failure to dodge the Blue, and Colts becoming Gigantic.
Even with these at home victories we were and still are finding our own sense of Barbie.
For Charles and Dale it was Suddenly, Last Summer.
They were the first to fall where history debates if there was a winner at all.
Back in the U.S.A. people waited for love ones to return.
In many cases A Hole in the Head put end to High Hopes.
Sorry Chuck, but we are not Almost Grown.
In battle, people lost their lives.
This was the war cry of 1959.
Sources Come From:
-The Gaslight Anthem and their song The 59 Sound, used here to represent the year 1959 and the sounds of the Vietnam War
-The music playing represents the sound of war heard through the radio
-What Bruce Springsteen represents vs. what gang violence represents
– The Vietnam War and not being satisfied with its purpose and its results
-Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, and Roger Peterson (pilot) died in a plane crash. The Day the Music Died referenced by Don McLean in his song “American Pie”
-Twilight Zone first airs in 1959
-Montreal Canadians wins the Stanley Cup
-Tommy Lee, an American Thoroughbred racehorse, wins the Kentucky Derby
-Celtics sweep the Minneapolis Lakers 4-0 in NBA Finals
-Los Angeles Dodgers win 4 games to 2 over the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.
-NFL Championship – Baltimore Colts won 31-16 over the New York Giants
-Barbie means foreign woman. It represents the continuing fight women are in for the same rights and respect men have had and to be seen as equals
-Charles Ovnand and Dale R. Buis were the first Americans killed in the Vietnam War
-“Suddenly, Last Summer” film in 1959
-“Back in the U.S.A.” is a song by Chuck Berry in 1959
– “High Hopes” is a popular song first popularized by Frank Sinatra, with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head
-“Almost Grown” is a song written and performed by Chuck Berry in 1959.
