There But for Fortune
Phil Ochs Lyrics


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Show me a prison, show me a jail,
G Em Am D
Show me a prisoner whose face has gone pale
Em C Am
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
Bm G Am D
And there but for fortune, may go you or I
Show me the alley, show me the train,
Show me a hobo who sleeps out in the rain,
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, may go you or go I -- you and I.
Show me the whiskey stains on the floor,
Show me the dunken man as he stumbles out the door,
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, may go you or go I -- you and I.
[Extra verse... written by Noel Paul Stookey]
Show me the famine, show me the frail
Eyes with no future that show how we failed
And I'll show you the children with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I.
Show me the country where bombs had to fall,
Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall,
And I'll show you a young land with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I -- you and I.




You and I,
There but for fortune, go you or go I -- you and I.

Overall Meaning

Phil Ochs's song "There But for Fortune" is a song that highlights the uncertainty of life and the fragility that comes with it. The song begins with an invitation to show the singer a prison or jail where a prisoner's face has gone pale, and a hobo sleeping outside, and finally, a drunken man stumbling out of a pub. All of these situations are meant to reflect life struggles, and the singer then points out that there are so many reasons why someone would end up in any of these situations. The singer then goes on to say that there, but for fortune, may go you or I.


This phrase is used throughout the song to drive home the message that we are all susceptible to life's unpredictable twists and turns. The song also highlights how children suffer under poverty and famine, and how a country may be devastated by war, leaving behind ruins that were once so tall. The extra verse written by Noel Paul Stookey highlights the despair seen in people's eyes who have no future, emphasizing how society sometimes fails its people.


Overall, the song is a call to recognize the humanity in people and be kind to one another. By highlighting the various issues that plague society, Phil Ochs aims to convey how easily one could end up in any of these situations, and how quickly fortunes could change.


Line by Line Meaning

Show me a prison, show me a jail,
If you show me a prison, if you show me a jail, I will show you a prisoner whose face has gone pale, and I will show you a young man with so many reasons why we could also end up there. There but for fortune, may go you or I.


Show me the alley, show me the train,
If you show me the alley, if you show me the train, I will show you a hobo who sleeps out in the rain, and I will show you a young man with so many reasons why we could also end up there. There but for fortune, may go you or go I - you and I


Show me the whiskey stains on the floor,
If you show me the whiskey stains on the floor, if you show me the drunken man as he stumbles out the door, I will show you a young man with so many reasons why we could also end up there. There but for fortune, may go you or go I - you and I.


[Extra verse... written by Noel Paul Stookey]
This is an extra verse written by Noel Paul Stookey


Show me the famine, show me the frail
If you show me the famine, if you show me the frail eyes with no future that show how we failed, I will show you the children with so many reasons why we could also end up there. There but for fortune, go you or I.


Show me the country where bombs had to fall,
If you show me the country where bombs had to fall, if you show me the ruins of buildings once so tall, I will show you a young land with so many reasons why we could also end up there. There but for fortune, go you or go I - you and I.


You and I,
The singer addresses the listener by saying 'you and I'.


There but for fortune, go you or go I -- you and I.
He ends the song by stating that there but for fortune go you or go I - you and I.




Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: PHIL OCHS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@michaelmiller7160

@@gillygil8747 Lol. A joke? or was he a singer? Either way, the Left has no humor and can't laugh at themselves.
A genius and it had nothing to do with his politics. Just good melodies and lyrics. About 20 songs are worth my attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4MAF1o1AMs rate 9. Men Behind the Guns . lyrics not written by Ochs. The men below who fight the foe oh the men behind the guns!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUpE3hEXpL4&list=OLAK5uy_kbwJRDR9D3jqpVfTJ67HPC4BO9v8O3wuU&index=9 Changes . love this morbidity. 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxDD9CV-XJ4&list=OLAK5uy_kbwJRDR9D3jqpVfTJ67HPC4BO9v8O3wuU&index=11 When I'm Gone. Sweet beautiful song rate 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0BeEHXjXIM&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE there but for fortune .rate 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfkhBGWkQrs Cross my Heart. Moving, strings and orchestration make the song. rate 9.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZCr3VYZEi8 Celia. rate 9. A fascist prisoner sings a song to his lady. Corny by gut-wrenching. When will i lie beside my Celia neath the tree oh when will Celia come to me? (Listen to this song and feel the tears almost fall)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMMUcLCjnT8 Flower Lady rate 10. exponential poignancy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20O8xrv3F7g&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE&index=4 Tape from California. Rating 10 Jazzy cool psychedelic sound. One of his top 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB4xpqNSYpk&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE&index=33 The Marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo. Genius Lyrics. Few songs approach this kind of picturesque lyrics such as "And the crabs are crazy, they scuttle back and forth/ The sand is burning. And the fish take flight and scatter from the sight their courses turning. Later on: But the soldiers make a bid, giving candy to the kids/Their teeth are gleaming/ The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo"

Ringing of Revolution has great lyrics. Think of the monumental Charles Dicken's "great expectations" lyrics were written in 15 mins? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tis4xaoddWA Lyrics should be studied in school


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnDLe8BCEFw Half a century High. eerie playful and soars. 9.5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Pd7azytEk&list=PLL-NbN8uTOiisJq6RcbVChEEBCEERnSB4&index=5 That was the President. Best tribute song to Kennedy. 8.5 here's a memory to share, here's a memory to fade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K49_39VTshI&list=PLT3sgb2bWiz5CepvP_8emluJSwCKVDNry&index=6 Another Age. Catchy. 8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsX8m_dLUA4 Pretty Smart on my Part. catchy. 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBLBvi67fw&list=PLT3sgb2bWiz5CepvP_8emluJSwCKVDNry&index=2 I kill therefore I am. country twang sounds good. 8 catchy too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3OiLBRh9X8&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE&index=30 Too many Marytrs. Topical folk song but still decent. 7.5



@excelsior999

The venue in this video looks like it might have been the legendary Gaslight Club on Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village, where I saw so many burgeoning singer/songwriters perform "back in the day," including two very special Shining Stars - Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan.

More than a few of those artists went on to become very successful in their careers, but none more so than Bob Dylan. Everyone in that circle knew he was going to "make it," but nobody could have predicted his meteoric rise to superstardom. In a word, it was astounding, probably even to Bob himself. I believe that when Dylan leaped ahead of his peers so quickly and in such an amazing way it had a marked affect not only on Phil Ochs but also on a lot of other young and talented performers who were on the scene at that magical time.

The title of the song which Phil was singing in this video is sadly ironic in light of his untimely death by suicide. Of course nobody can know what was in someone's mind when they take their own life, but I think that Phil, a dedicated share-the-wealth "progressive" (if not an actual Marxist) wouldn't be human if he hadn't been thinking something like,
'Here I am singing these mostly Lefty songs playing an acoustic guitar as one of "Woodie's Children" (Woody Guthrie), and soon after Bob Dylan "went Electric" (at the Newport FOLK Festival, no less) his career began to take off like a rocket. He's going to be rich and famous and I, like some kind of a schmuck, am going to be remembered (if I'm remembered at all) as a distant "also-ran". '

I believe that Phil Ochs felt that he needed to make a bold and swift move in order to play "catch-up" with Bob Dylan, and so he decided to perform a concert at Carnegie Hall. Good idea? Maybe, but it didn't turn out at all the way that he hoped it would.

The concert quickly Sold Out. Afterwards, a lot of dejected audience members felt that Phil Ochs himself had Sold Out. To everyone's shock and surprise, he appeared onstage in a gold lamé suit with an electric guitar and a Rock band. His program consisted mostly of a lot of popular R&R standards. No Folk Songs. No politically themed protest songs.

From all reports by those who were present, the audience was in a state of shock from the very beginning of the concert, and also appeared to be very disturbed at the bizarre event which they were witnessing. Some said that it was embarrassing to watch Phil Ochs trying to act like an Elvis wanna-be, rather than as the singer whom they knew and loved, known for his very moving ballades and especially for his strongly-worded, original Folk-Songs which protested economic and social injustice.

Sadly, the concert which many of his fans had been eagerly anticipating was an unmitigated disaster. Phil had to endure shouts of "Where's Phil Ochs?" and (probably for the first time in his career) a lot of booing. This may have been just too much for him to handle. In fact, it may have been his "last straw."

The death of the great Philip Ochs - singer/guitarist, songwriter, social activist, humanitarian and poet, was not only tragic. It was a tremendous loss for his friends and family and for us, his fans and followers. As his peer Don McClean put it in his song remembering the Life and Death of Vincent Van Goth, "This world was never made for one as beautiful as you." R.I.P., old friend.



All comments from YouTube:

@jeanphillips1030

His songs are still relevant in 2024.

@stevefreno

Or more so …… powerful stuff

@JaneFrieman

The way he enunciates each word, his gestures, his melodic voice and his playing of the guitar captivates each and every listener.

@gillygil8747

Yes. Reminds one of John Goodman.

@michaelmiller7160

@@gillygil8747 Lol. A joke? or was he a singer? Either way, the Left has no humor and can't laugh at themselves.
A genius and it had nothing to do with his politics. Just good melodies and lyrics. About 20 songs are worth my attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4MAF1o1AMs rate 9. Men Behind the Guns . lyrics not written by Ochs. The men below who fight the foe oh the men behind the guns!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUpE3hEXpL4&list=OLAK5uy_kbwJRDR9D3jqpVfTJ67HPC4BO9v8O3wuU&index=9 Changes . love this morbidity. 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxDD9CV-XJ4&list=OLAK5uy_kbwJRDR9D3jqpVfTJ67HPC4BO9v8O3wuU&index=11 When I'm Gone. Sweet beautiful song rate 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0BeEHXjXIM&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE there but for fortune .rate 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfkhBGWkQrs Cross my Heart. Moving, strings and orchestration make the song. rate 9.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZCr3VYZEi8 Celia. rate 9. A fascist prisoner sings a song to his lady. Corny by gut-wrenching. When will i lie beside my Celia neath the tree oh when will Celia come to me? (Listen to this song and feel the tears almost fall)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMMUcLCjnT8 Flower Lady rate 10. exponential poignancy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20O8xrv3F7g&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE&index=4 Tape from California. Rating 10 Jazzy cool psychedelic sound. One of his top 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB4xpqNSYpk&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE&index=33 The Marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo. Genius Lyrics. Few songs approach this kind of picturesque lyrics such as "And the crabs are crazy, they scuttle back and forth/ The sand is burning. And the fish take flight and scatter from the sight their courses turning. Later on: But the soldiers make a bid, giving candy to the kids/Their teeth are gleaming/ The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo"

Ringing of Revolution has great lyrics. Think of the monumental Charles Dicken's "great expectations" lyrics were written in 15 mins? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tis4xaoddWA Lyrics should be studied in school


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnDLe8BCEFw Half a century High. eerie playful and soars. 9.5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Pd7azytEk&list=PLL-NbN8uTOiisJq6RcbVChEEBCEERnSB4&index=5 That was the President. Best tribute song to Kennedy. 8.5 here's a memory to share, here's a memory to fade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K49_39VTshI&list=PLT3sgb2bWiz5CepvP_8emluJSwCKVDNry&index=6 Another Age. Catchy. 8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsX8m_dLUA4 Pretty Smart on my Part. catchy. 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBLBvi67fw&list=PLT3sgb2bWiz5CepvP_8emluJSwCKVDNry&index=2 I kill therefore I am. country twang sounds good. 8 catchy too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3OiLBRh9X8&list=PL17BA62A30D809DFE&index=30 Too many Marytrs. Topical folk song but still decent. 7.5

@leonardc.middelkamp1797

All these Phil Ochs songs are still so very relevant today.

@xyz2121

There's still bums sleeping in the rain and drunkards stumbling out the door.

@madisyngolab330

Even more so in 2020, especially with Too Many Martyrs

@jamesbeebe2870

@Madisyn Golab lol what martyrs?

@madisyngolab330

@James Beebe It's a song by Phil Ochs, with an alternate title "The Ballad of Medgar Evers"

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