Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) is an American m… Read Full Bio ↴Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe & The Fish.

McDonald was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in El Monte, California, where he was student conductor and president of his high school marching band. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy for three years and was stationed in Japan. After his enlistment, he attended Los Angeles City College for a year. In the early 1960s, he began busking on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California. His father, Worden McDonald, from Oklahoma, was of Scottish Presbyterian heritage (the son of a minister); he worked for a telephone company. His mother, Florence Plotnick, was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants and served for many years on the Berkeley City Council. In their youth, both were Communist Party members before renouncing the cause, and named their son after Joseph Stalin.

McDonald has recorded 33 albums and has written hundreds of songs over a career spanning 40 years. In 1965, he and Barry Melton co-founded Country Joe & the Fish which became a pioneer psychedelic rock band with their eclectic performances at the Avalon Ballroom, the Fillmore, the Monterey Pop Festival, and both the original and 1979 reunion Woodstock Festivals.

In the fall of 2005, political commentator Bill O'Reilly compared McDonald to Cuban President Fidel Castro, remarking on McDonald's involvement in Cindy Sheehan's protests against the Iraq War.

In 2015, McDonald (with assistance from Alec Palao), formed The Electric Music Band; the intention of the group was to perform the early psychedelic material of the early career of Country Joe And The Fish. The band has performed 'Electric Music For The Mind And Body' in its entirety, and band members include Palao, The Rain Parade's Matt Piucci and Derek See of The Chocolate Watchband.

In 2017, McDonald released an album on his own Rag Baby label entitled "50".

McDonald was married to Kathe Werum from 1963 to 1966 and married Robin Menken a year after his divorce from Werum.[12] In 1968, Menken gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Seven Anne McDonald, in San Francisco. Seven, formerly a columnist for LA Weekly and now a movie producer and artist manager,[13] had a previous career as a TV child actor in the late 1970s and early 1980s, managed Johnny Depp's Viper Room nightclub and the alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins in the 1990s, and wrote for Details, Elle and Harper's Bazaar magazines in the 1990s and 2000s. According to Ron Cabral's biography on Country Joe and the Fish, Seven was the subject of and inspiration behind the song Silver and Gold. McDonald has noted that his ex-girlfriend at the time, Janis Joplin, showed much anger for breaking up with her to be with Menken but asked him to write a song about her; the result was "Janis".

McDonald has four other children, Devin (b. 1976) and Tara (b. 1980) from his marriage to Janice Taylor, and Emily (b. 1988) and Ryan (b. 1991) from his marriage to Kathy Wright.

As of 2012, McDonald still lived in Berkeley, California.

Playing With Fire
Country Joe McDonald Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Dynamite Charlie was a loser
Building bombs in his flat
Filled up his head with too many words
You know where that's at.
One day while he was working
He made a bad mistake.

He was playing with fire

Playing with fire, yeah,
Playing with fire
But it was too late.

Said he was playing with fire
Playing with fire
Playing with fire
But it was too late.

Double Head Danny was a heavy
He would try anything.
He thought he would take
A good look at himself
Dropping some L.S.D.
When the doors were open
He knew he made a mistake.

Hey he was playing with fire, ha,
Playing with fire, yeah
Playing with fire
But it was too late.

I said he was playing with fire, huh uh,
Playing with fire, yeah
Playing with fire
But it was too late.

Alright come on play it one time!
Oh come on!
Yeah!

Acid Mary was a dealer,
She had a mission in life.
Soon as everybody was turned on
Everything would be alright.
When she sold speed to a narc girl,
She made a bad mistake.

Yeah she was playing with fire, ha!
Playing with fire, yeah
Playing with fire
But it was too late.

Said she was playing with fire, huh uh,
Playing with fire, yeah
Playing with fire
But it was too late.

I said she was playing with fire, huh uh,
Playing with fire, yeah
Playing with fire
But it was too late.

Alright, playing with fire, now now now

She was playing with fire, huh huh huh,
Said she was playing with fire, but it was too late...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Country Joe McDonald's song Playing with Fire offer a cautionary tale about the dangers of getting involved with drugs and dangerous activities. The verses each highlight a different individual who, in their own way, played with fire and ended up regretting it. Dynamite Charlie built bombs and filled his head with too many ideas, leading to a fatal mistake. Double Head Danny experimented with LSD and ended up losing control of his actions. Acid Mary was a drug dealer who ultimately sold to the wrong person and paid the price.

The chorus, which repeats after each verse, emphasizes the theme of playing with fire and the consequences that follow. The lyrics suggest that while these individuals may have enjoyed the thrill of dangerous activities or drugs, they ultimately faced dire consequences that they couldn't avoid. The song serves as a warning to listeners to think twice before getting involved in risky behavior.

Line by Line Meaning

Dynamite Charlie was a loser
Charlie, who tried building explosives and ended up failing, was a nobody.

Building bombs in his flat
Charlie was attempting to build bombs in his flat.

Filled up his head with too many words
Charlie had taken in too many words and ideas, causing him to become confused.

You know where that's at.
The outcome of Charlie's actions was inevitable, given his state of mind.

One day while he was working
While he was trying to create bombs,

He made a bad mistake.
Charlie made an error in his experimentation.

He was playing with fire Playing with fire, yeah, Playing with fire But it was too late.
Charlie was attempting to manipulate a dangerous substance, but he had already made a fatal error.

Double Head Danny was a heavy
Danny was a frequent drug user.

He would try anything.
Danny was open to trying any drug that was offered to him.

He thought he would take A good look at himself Dropping some L.S.D.
Danny decided to do some introspection while on LSD.

When the doors were open He knew he made a mistake.
Danny regretted doing LSD when he began experiencing heightened sensory perception.

Hey he was playing with fire, ha, Playing with fire, yeah Playing with fire But it was too late.
Danny was taking a risk by using LSD, which had already resulted in an undesirable outcome.

Acid Mary was a dealer, She had a mission in life.
Mary's life purpose was to distribute psychedelic drugs.

Soon as everybody was turned on Everything would be alright.
Mary believed that universal understanding could be achieved through drug use.

When she sold speed to a narc girl, She made a bad mistake.
Mary sold drugs to a law enforcement officer, which put her in jeopardy.

Yeah she was playing with fire, ha! Playing with fire, yeah Playing with fire But it was too late.
Mary took a risk by selling drugs to a police officer and regretted it afterward.

Alright, playing with fire, now now now She was playing with fire, huh huh huh, Said she was playing with fire, but it was too late...
Mary's actions were dangerous, and although she knew that, she put herself at risk by associating with drugs.

Lyrics © ALKATRAZ CORNER MUSIC CO

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