Gorka was born in Edison, New Jersey. He received his first guitar as a Christmas gift, though Gorka alleges that his older brother stole it from him shortly thereafter. He eventually learned, instead, to play the banjo, and began performing in a folk music group at his church.
Gorka attended Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and joined the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band which would also include guitarist Richard Shindell. He later began performing solo at the Godfrey Daniels coffee house as the opening act for various musicians that toured there. These included Nanci Griffith, Bill Morrissey, Claudia Schmidt and Jack Hardy.
In 1984, Gorka took first place at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Since then he has toured with artists such as Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Michael Manring, Christine Lavin, Dave Van Ronk, Cliff Eberhardt, David Massengill, Frank Christian and Lucy Kaplansky.
As of 2005, he was residing in the St. Croix Valley area near Saint Paul, Minnesota.
In 2008, Gorka decided to return to Europe for the first time in fourteen years. In October that year, he played four times in the Netherlands, he played live on VPRO radio and he did a session for the John Gorka video site.
In 2009, Gorka toured in the USA and also in Ireland and the Netherlands. In October that year, Red House Records released the CD "So Dark You See". This is considered a more intimate, vocal and guitar-centered record than the last two albums.
Old Future
John Gorka Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The winged life we've led
So kiss the joy as it goes by
Poet William said
Blake the poet said
CHORUS
Cause the old future'S gone
You can't get to there from here
The old future'S gone
The old future'S dead and gone
Never to return
There's a new way through the hills ahead
This one we'll have to earn
This one we'll have to earn
CHORUS
Hunters in October
Raise their guns in sport
Is war another animal or
A beast of last resort
The beast of last resort
The old future'S gone
The old future'S gone
All passengers must disembark
The old future's gone
Fear took down the winged life
The winged life we've led
So kiss the joy as it goes by
Poet William said
Blake the poet said
CHORUS X2
In John Gorka's song "Old Future," the lyrics express a sense of loss and change. The opening lines "Fear took down the winged life, the winged life we've led" suggest that people's sense of freedom and possibility has been compromised by fear. The reference to the poets William Blake and William Butler Yeats in the lines "So kiss the joy as it goes by, Poet William said, Blake the poet said" adds a layer of literary depth to the song, emphasizing that this theme of loss and change is not new, but has been explored by poets throughout history. The chorus reinforces the message that the past is gone and cannot be regained. The line "You can't get to there from here" implies that people may need to take a new path or find a new way to move forward.
The second verse touches on the theme of violence, particularly hunting and war. The lines "Hunters in October, raise their guns in sport, is war another animal or, a beast of last resort" suggest that violence is a part of human nature, but it may be last resort to solve conflicts. Finally, the last verse repeats the opening lines, signifying that the message of loss and change is the primary theme.
Line by Line Meaning
Fear took down the winged life
Our fear destroyed the free and adventurous life we once had
The winged life we've led
We used to live a life full of hope, freedom and creativity but we no longer do
So kiss the joy as it goes by
We should cherish every moment of happiness we get and make the most of it
Poet William said
William Blake, the great poet, spoke of the importance of embracing happiness while we can
Cause the old future'S gone
We must accept and adapt to the loss of the positive future we once imagined
You can't get to there from here
We cannot go back to the old future, it's unreachable now
The old future'S dead and gone
Our past optimism for the future has vanished
Never to return
We can never get back the old future that we lost
There's a new way through the hills ahead
We can still find a different way forward, with new opportunities
This one we'll have to earn
However, we'll need to work hard to make this new path successful
Hunters in October
People hunting for sport in October, a symbol of human desire for dominance and control over nature
Raise their guns in sport
These hunters find pleasure in killing animals and treating it as a game or sport
Is war another animal or
War is often seen as just another violent game with winners and losers, like hunting
A beast of last resort
War should only happen as a last option, when all other peaceful solutions have failed
All passengers must disembark
We must leave behind our old hopes and dreams for the future, and face the new reality
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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