William S. Burroughs - Thanksgiving Prayer

[swag]

Run time: 03:56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Z_08o108E   Posted on YouTube: April 17, 2015 By YouTube Member: YouTube Help Views on YouTube: 5935878   Posted on DU: November 21, 2006 By DU Member: swag Views on DU: 2060

 

[Poll_Blind]

1. Thanks. So true. n/t

PB

[IndyOp]

2. Depressive Realism. Sucks.

:(

[Redstone]

3. How about if we just fucking relax and enjoy ONE DAY with our families, without

being fucking preached to.

OK? Just ONE DAY? Or is that too much to ask?

Redstone

[FredScuttle]

4. Who held the gun to your head to play the video?

It's William S. Burroughs, for Christ's sake, not Paul Anka. What did you expect?

I applaud the OP for posting this. I like a little cynicism in my treacle.

[stevedeshazer]

6. This IS how I enjoy Thanksgiving with my family.

We all have the sarcasm gene.

[swag]

14. Apparently you missed National Corduroy Appreciation Day,

though I can't imagine how.

[bridgit]

16. i still have a jacket i picked up special for National Corduroy Appreciation Day...

:thumbsup:

[swag]

18. That jacket looks absolutely

smashing on you!

[bridgit]

19. i like this Burroughs snippet too, thanks for posting it...

did you see Ginsberg's "HUM BOMB?" down the way...earlier, i kicked it just for you

[tigereye]

22. ah ha

:rofl:

I love you, Swag. In that most literary, metaphorically appreciative, of ways.

[bridgit]

15. yes daddy...

:eyes:

[jonnyblitz]

24. opines one of DU's most sanctimonious preachers! project

much?! :rofl:

[stevedeshazer]

5. Thanks, swag

I'm a big WSB fan myself.

I think I'll watch "Drugstore Cowboy" again, just to get in the mood for Thanksgiving.

[swag]

7. You betcha, Steve.

I'm so sad that the Nob Hill Pharmacy is now a cafe, with no sign over the prescription counter declaring in all-caps magic marker, "WE DO NOT STOCK DILAUDID, COCAINE, MORPHINE . . ." But all things must pass.

[BlueEyedSon]

8. Text for DUers with slow connections (like me)

Thanks for the wild turkey and
the passenger pigeons, destined
to be shit out through wholesome
American guts.


Thanks for a continent to despoil
and poison.

Thanks for Indians to provide a
modicum of challenge and
danger.

Thanks for vast herds of bison to
kill and skin leaving the
carcasses to rot.

Thanks for bounties on wolves
and coyotes.

Thanks for the American dream,
To vulgarize and to falsify until
the bare lies shine through.

Thanks for the KKK.

For nigger-killin' lawmen,
feelin' their notches.

For decent church-goin' women,
with their mean, pinched, bitter,
evil faces.

Thanks for "Kill a Queer for
Christ" stickers.

Thanks for laboratory AIDS.

Thanks for Prohibition and the
war against drugs.

Thanks for a country where
nobody's allowed to mind the
own business.

Thanks for a nation of finks.

Yes, thanks for all the
memories-- all right let's see
your arms!

You always were a headache and
you always were a bore.

Thanks for the last and greatest
betrayal of the last and greatest
of human dreams. k

[Gregorian]

9. A brilliant piece.

The first time I heard this was in the 90's. It blew my mind. I totally loved it. Best use of the word "modicum" ever. I didn't know there was video of it.

I guess it's treasonous to be anything but happy about our beloved holidays. Well I for one have always hated NoThanksgiving. But I guess that's why I loved his prayer.

He was one of the greats.

[Susang]

10. People don't use the word "fink" enough these days

I love that word. So descriptive, especially when paired with the word "rat". :-)

[Texifornia]

13. I was thinkin' the same thing

What a great word...great onomatopoea (sp?), like all the best words.

[calmblueocean]

11. I remember how strongly I felt about this piece when I first saw it. Now it seems so quaint.

I first saw Burroughs' "Thanksgiving Prayer" in high school, and it seemed so radical to me then. "Yeah!" I said to myself, nodding. "That's the real America, the one they don't show in Norman Rockwell paintings. This country sucks."

Many years later, I see old Bill still preaching the same old sermon, and I want to reach through the screen and give the old geezer a hug. In the decade or so since high school, I grew up. Now, watching Burroughs complain about America reminds me of a guest showing up for Thanksgiving dinner and griping that your turkey's too dry, your mashed potatoes are lumpy, and your gravy tastes burnt. "How about lending a hand?" you think to yourself.

It took many years of growing up before I realized that complaining wasn't the radical act of rebellion I thought it was. I could criticize this country with the best of people, but I came to realize that the more effort I put into that line of thinking, the more energy I wasted. I guess the common way of saying this is, "Better to light one candle than curse the darkness." I cursed the darkness for a long time, but I'm into candles now.

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, and we in America have so so much to be thankful for. We may be living through a rough time, but when you look at pictures of Hoovervilles from the past or slums across the developing world, it seems shameful to complain about all the riches we've been born into. I'm proud of what we've accomplished in this country in the past, and I'm inspired to think about the job ahead. Remember when being old meant being thrown out on the street because you couldn't earn a living anymore? Yeah, me neither, because we changed that. Remember when getting seriously hurt on the job meant becoming a beggar for the rest of your life? It's still true in much of the world, but not here. And I give thanks for that.

I could go on all day. Every one of us here is changing the world for the better in our own way, and I love reading how each of you are accomplishing the unique transformations of the world that only you can do. I'm thankful for you, DU.

So let's all give Bill a mental hug, and get back to basting the turkey. :)

[swag]

17. An air of unreality prevails.

"Remember when being old meant being thrown out on the street because you couldn't earn a living anymore? Yeah, me neither, because we changed that. Remember when getting seriously hurt on the job meant becoming a beggar for the rest of your life? It's still true in much of the world, but not here. And I give thanks for that."

I have Hoovervilles in my relatively affluent city. I had Hoovervilles in my last city, our Nation's Capital. I have elderly homeless on the streets of my city asking me every day for food money. I have a President and a complicit Congress trying to steal what's left of their meager Social Security. I have disabled unemployed and disabled veterans on my streets every day asking for money.

And I remember when this started in my lifetime: it started with the first Reagan Administration and it hasn't ended yet. I wonder where you live, because I have seen the conditions I'm describing across the US, beginning in the early Reagan 80s and showing no signs of stopping.

"Thanksgiving is about giving thanks."

Some would say it's about a highly successful ex post facto feel-good marketing campaign to transform a rather ugly history into a glorified TV dinner, embellished with football games for the caring.

"It took many years of growing up before I realized that complaining wasn't the radical act of rebellion I thought it was. I could criticize this country with the best of people, but I came to realize that the more effort I put into that line of thinking, the more energy I wasted. I guess the common way of saying this is, "Better to light one candle than curse the darkness." I cursed the darkness for a long time, but I'm into candles now."

Joe Lieberman, is that you? Your happy talk and candles have not shone or shown a way.

[calmblueocean]

21. There's a lot to be bitter about, but I've found bitterness doesn't help.

Don't get me wrong, I have my moments of rage and disgust. I'm sure my posting history here at DU reflects that. My handle here is a reminder to me not to let myself get consumed by anger over what some people do. And it's not always easy.

But when those moments pass, I find that:

a) Spending my time in a negative funk about how awful things are just robs me of energy I could be using to make things better.

b) I can see how the circle of freedom and opportunity has widened throughout America's history. We went from holding slaves to freeing slaves to a civil rights movement. We went from child labor to child labor laws. We went from using workers up and throwing them in the streets to protecting them with Worker's Compensation. That doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means that it's my turn to fix what needs to be fixed now. That's my part in the story.

I can completely understand how that sounds like "happy talk" to you. But it works for me, and I believe it.

And regardless of the politics of the holiday of Thanksgiving, the actual act of giving thanks is transformative. You find yourself grateful for so many things you take for granted. For instance, I can get up out of this chair and go for a walk. I can breathe on my own. I can button a shirt and drive a car. I remember when I was in an accident a few years ago and couldn't do some of these things. I'm thankful for them now.

You said that "your happy talk and candles have not shone or shown a way." You're right in that there will always be problems and no one knows how to make the world a perfect place. But I'll place focused optimism and empathy over depressed nihilism any day of the week as a path for making things better.

[Mabus]

12. Burroughs lived and died a few blocks from me

Every once in a while I'd see him at the local grocery store buying cat food. Sometimes Ginsberg would be with him. Once it was Kurt Cobain. So many memories.

Thanks for the video. fwiw, a friend of ours, who was a close friend of WSB, is coming to dinner Thursday. I'll make sure he sees this. Our friend took care of Burrough's White Cat and nursed it back to health. It died last year from old age.

Thanks. :hi:

[swag]

20. Lawrence always seemed like a nice place,

though it was usually asleep when I passed through.

Best to you.

edit: and the white cat link is lovely. My own white cat is 21, and I've recently read of the demise of two white cats befriended by Gore Vidal, so am all pro white cat, especially the deaf ones with one blue and one orange eye.

[Mabus]

23. Shoot me a PM the next time you're planning on coming through

If you've just been through Lawrence when you're asleep, you've missed one of the best things about Lawrence: the Free State Brewery, the best microbrewery around. It's got a great front porch that's packed most evenings. We have our Drinking Liberally meetings there. Besides. the local DU'ers are always ready for a meetup. We'd love to meet you. We can usually get a group together with a few hours of notice. Plus, I/we could take you by Burroughs' house and maybe a visit inside of it.

One of the cool things about Lawrence is, you just never know who you are going to run into when you roam around town. I've had friends who have ran into and had a couple of beers with Marilyn Manson, GWAR and Penn Jillette in downtown Lawrence. They were in town for concerts and wandered around before their respective shows.

Roger loved that cat. He took the responsibility of it very seriously. He loved Burroughs, as did a lot of us, and felt very honored for the opportunity to take care of one of Burroughs' most trusted friends. I think he mentions that he and WSB had collaborated together on the White Cat website. He's got a video he made that was shown on "Night Flight" back in the 80's that features WSB. I'll try to get it posted on youtube.com. It probably has more interest for those who live locally but it is definitely one of Burroughs' lesser known works.