| Peter, Paul and Mary – The Great Mandella (The Wheel of Life) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Yes, Peter Yarrow is still alive and lives here in Austin and also has abodes in California and New York. Groujo comments above are very accurate and if you study Peter's writing very much at all you know he often is telling or protesting several stories and points of protest at the same time. When a member of Peter, Paul and Mary their selections often reflected the same philosophies of story telling. Therefore, the song speaks to me on several levels. Condemns Capitol punishment yes, for sure. War, maybe, but not so much, but taking responsibility for our life . . . yes indeed. At first I thought it was an interplay between Father and Son because of the first verse material and because the Richie Havens video with Peter has them in an intercourse of story telling but really it is the Father in the first verse telling the story and unlike what others have said about it might be a preist I for one believe that it's the boy's actual father in that story verse that is talking. Now. Are the other two verses a continuing of the story? It works either way for me. That's what I love about this writing style. Electric chair? no mention of it but it could be or it could be that it's just life in prison or it could be that life itself is the prison and that the subject is neither locked up or actually dies on the prison floor. Dying on the prison floor could easily mean the point the subject gives up on his own life, fails to be a prophet or a moyrter and never really makes any impact with his own life. Which ever way you view it there is one thing in certain, that the wheel of life/time keeps moving and that if you don't do something with your life your life will run out and the wheel will keep rolling on with or without your impact. The whole concept is really an amazing attempt to get us all thinking and I'm sure Richie Havens was right when he said that it's the greatest song Peter has ever written probably the greatest folk song ever written period. |
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