Sixty-five years ago this month, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was finishing up some darshan with his followers and eager for rest when he was shot dead by a little man who thought he was going to do something big. A nobody, thinking he could be somebody.
Fifteen years later, another little nobody convinced he was somebody special decided the way he could get the world to recognize his greatness would be to kill the president of the United States. You might remember that one.
Just five years after that, yet another little no-account nobody decided his path to greatness would be found by gunning down the greatest organizer for human rights our country has ever produced.
History is filled with stories of nobodies looking to be somebody by taking away somebodies the world so desperately needs. A president victorious in a tragic war and eager to begin the work of binding a nation's wounds. A city Supervisor dedicated to equality for all people, no matter whom they love. An Islamic leader who forged a peace agreement with his Jewish neighbors.
You likely know their names. That was the point, really, you knowing their names. But I won't repeat them. I refuse to give them the recognition they crave.
They are Nobody to me, and they always will be.
As always, a direct link to the video is provided for those with embed difficulties.
Notes on the song
The particular nobody that inspired the piece is not referenced in it. I refuse to even mention his deed. And, on the tiny chance he's reading this, it's not you. You're nobody.
The recurring theme of "Nobody Wins" came from the last frames of the film "None But the Brave," about a different subject, but well worth watching if you haven't. It was the sole film directed by its star, Frank Sinatra.
The backing band on the track are The Moss Pickers out of Thibodeaux, Louisiana. This is the second cut released from sessions recorded with them over the last couple of years (the song/vid Highway 61 Memories is from the same sessions). I understand leading a release with a mopey heartbreaker and a peppy tune about political assassinations might not be the most savvy business move, but, hey, I write what I write.
Yes, the guest vocalist you hear really is the incomparable Dayna Kurtz, my single favorite living chanteuse. Check out her recordings and, if you ever get the opportunity, see her live. There is simply nothing like being in the same air space when she sings.
If you get the feeling you've heard the track before, that's because you have. An instrumental mix was used as the music bed for two political ads, "Big Bird" and "R Means Retire."
Postscript
A brief word about conspiracies: Yes, they exist. However, they are seldom as responsible for the taking of our compassionate warriors as they are credited. As Norman Mailer points out in his impeccably researched and thoroughly readable book Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery, it's just so very wrong and incomprehensible that people so dear and important to the world can be taken away by the tiny, miserable nobodies that often do so.
Arguing the pros and cons of myriad conspiracy theories on the assassinations of leaders was not the purpose of this song, video or diary. Perhaps we can enjoy that another time.
Peace.
"Tea Peace #2" Louie Ludwig 2000