JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback MP3 Feedback Forum The Ballad of Robert Welch (The John Birch Society Song)

Back in the 1950s a group of wealthy businessmen and industrialists led by Robert Welch and Fred Koch (sire of the Koch Brothers) formed the John Birch Society to warn Americans of the dangers of Communism, Liberalism, Civil Rights, Big Government, Taxes and the Federal Reserve System. At first they were welcome in the Republican Party, but when they accused President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his brother Milton and Vice President Richard Nixon of being Communist agents or dupes, the party washed their hands of them and by the end of the ’60s they were without political influence and pretty much forgotten. Today, more than 40 years later, there’s been an amazing revival of the Bircher ideology. And this time it’s been welcomed back with open arms by the Republican Party.

So I figured it’s about time for a song about it. Seeing nobody’s hand go up, I volunteered for the assignment.

The backing music was provided by the Apple Loops Garage Band. The lyrics were slightly revised on 5/18.

The Ballad of Robert Welch

© Dan Sullivan 2013

Robert Welch lived a long time ago
He hated Godless Commies, Libs and Rock ’n Roll
He had a knack for making money and a nose for finding Reds
He even found one underneath Eisenhower’s bed

Welch placed Americans in one of four groups
The Communists, the ignorant, the uninformed and dupes
Now which group you fell into didn’t matter much
That’s the way he saw it, so that’s the way it was

In 1958 bankrolled by great wealth
The John Birch Society was formed by Robert Welch
And soon folks were following every word he said
Astonished that just one man could find so many Reds

When it came to politicians he never pulled a punch
Republican and Democrat got thrown beneath the bus
He found Reds in the churches, he found ‘em in the bars
But when he called Ike a dupe he probably went too far

By 1965 Welch was out of luck
The GOP disowned him, Bill Buckley called him nuts
The Bircher ranks dwindled, they faded away
But just like Lazarus, they’d rise again one day

In 1985 they put him in the ground
But guess who’s at the Tea Party hanging around
The Birchers and the Birthers it’s hard to tell who’s who?
Conspiracies everywhere and everyone unglued

The moral of this story the lesson to take home
Is man is made of more than flesh and blood and bone
And as long as fear and hatred fill the hearts of men
Guys like Robert Welch will always rise again

As long as paranoia fills the minds of men
Another Alex Jones is always just around the bend

This is wonderful in the full spirit of Woody Guthrie, Dan. Very bouncy and catchy as a bad cold. My favorite of yours to date and I've enjoyed many favorites from you.

Stevie

Great number Dan, and as Stevie commented very much in the Guthrie spirit
Best of luck with it
Travis

WOW,this is the coolest!I almost didn't take a listen cause i hate political songs but because it was penned by none other than Dan The Man,i had to hear it.Boy am i glad i did!This will be my friday treat!Thanx Dan!Mike

Hi Dan,

I always enjoy your work but this one is really cool. good job.

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

Nice work!...15 years ago I had a meeting with the JBS. Most members were older war vets who were not cooks but worried patriots. But I did find some of their ideas far fetched in some areas. Enjoyed this a lot. Thanks for sharing.

Stevie and Travis, This one DOES draws on the traditions of Guthrie and the folk singer movement of the '60s, which is just about the heyday of the JBS. Glad you enjoyed it.

Mike, This one kind of snuck up on me two days ago. But I remember Robert Welch from the mid '60s. One of my school mates was a big shot in the local chapter. He was always giving me Bircher stuff to read. I don't know why it took me almost 50 years to write a song about them but I'm glad you liked it.

Calvin, Thanks for listening to this little tribute song and giving it the thumbs up.

L. James, I'd kinda forgotten about the JBS after people like Goldwater and Nixon washed their hands of them. I'll bet the meeting you attended was fascinating. They look at the world a little differently than most Americans do, though they seem to be picking up more converts these days.

Dan the Man!

Really cool song and clever humor. I remember that movement a bit. This type of music is definitely IMO a good match for your vocal delivery--almost what I would call bluegrass/folk. I thought I heard a bass behind that banjo or maybe an acoustic guitar--I think an upright bass and stronger acoustic guitar support would really work well with this song--maybe even throw in a washboard! Nicely written Dan, a good demonstration and example how every song doesn't need a chorus. I'll be back for several more listens!

steady-eddie.

Steady Eddie, That's an Apple Loop making all the music on the track. I just set the lyrics to it and blew on a harp in a kinda talking blues style. But it would be a good fit for a bluegrass band if they don't mind the politics of the song. Thanks for the comment.

Dan,

As always I love listening to your tunes. I dig the storytelling and the no nonsense of your lyrics done in a campfire folky setting. Wonderful.

Dave

Good choice in the loop Dan, it fits the lyrics, and your vocal to a "T"! Enjoyed the listen!

Todd

Dave & Todd, Thanks for the comments on the tribute to old Bobby Welch.

Being non American this is a very new theme and experience for me. Thanks for the wonderful insight into the past of American politics. Enjoyed it.

Allan, Thanks for weighing in from New Zealand. I imagine American politics leaves you and your countrymen scratching their heads. Unfortunately, this song is as much about present as past politics. Glad you enjoyed it.

Hi Dan --- As always, I love your delivery of these types of songs! Your storytelling ways are top-notch, in my opinion!

Regarding the subject matter...the song says that as long as there is hatred in man's heart, guys like Robert Welch will rise again. What do the Birchers do, or what have they done, that would characterize them as having hatred in their hearts? If that damaging word is to stand, for hisorical purposes, in a song about the John Birch Society, it seems like it should be very well-founded. I've done a few Google searches and can't find anything violent or hateful that they've done, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I have read that it is well-documented, even amongst their detractors, that if any John Birch member displays any signs of racism, they are immediately expelled from the organization. You've piqued my curiosity and I will continue looking.

Regarding fear and paranoia...it's too bad the Russian people, Chinese people, and Cubans weren't a little more fearful and paranoid, when it would have been wise to be so. Once liberties are lost, they're almost impossible to regain. As Ronald Reagan once said, "Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again."

--Lisa

Lisa, Thanks for your thoughtful comments. You're my favorite conservative topical songwriter. It's well known that Welch and the JBS opposed civil rights and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin. Draw whatever conclusion you want from that. Most people found it pretty extreme, if not totally paranoid, to accuse President Dwight D. Eisenhower of being a Commie agent or dupe. Again, draw your own conclusion. I myself don't think instilling fear and paranoia in people is a particularly patriotic or responsible thing to do. Others may disagree with me. As for Reagan, if he said what you said he said, he was wrong. Africans knew freedom and lost it on the slave ships to America, regaining it hundreds of years later through the Emancipation Proclamation. The Filipinos recovered the freedom they lost to the Japanese. As did the French who lost their freedom to Hitler's Huns. And those are just a few examples. Reagan was always good for a story. But his stories were often just that, good stories.

But thanks for your comments. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. And if they ever do, I'll get real worried real fast.

Hi Dan --

I also enjoy your thoughtfulness on the issues!

As an FYI, and because it seems appropriate on a thread like this to give their side of the story, the John Birch Society website says the following about those two issues...

"Myth: JBS is against civil rights because it opposed several Civil Rights acts.

Fact: Correcting civil rights abuses that do exist should be accomplished at the state and local level, something The John Birch Society members - of all races, colors and ethnic backgrounds - have always supported. Civil rights legislation should have come from the states and the communities rather than being used as a steppingstone toward our present-day out-of-control federal government.

Myth: JBS Founder Robert Welch called President Dwight Eisenhower a Communist.

Fact: Originally detailing some of Pres. Eisenhower's history in a 1954 letter sent privately to a few friends, Mr. Welch's research grew over several years into a full-length book entitled The Politician (1963). Once the book was published, its very existence was ignored while critics continued to dwell on only one of several possible conclusions offered by Mr. Welch.

The book provides 300 pages and 150 pages of footnotes and documentation, including covering one of Mr. Eisenhower's most immoral and despicable acts of authorizing "Operation Keelhaul"; which used American soldiers to repatriate anti-communist Poles to their certain death or torture. Read the book for yourself and discover what Mr. Welch did say and learn the role played by Mr. Eisenhower over his many years as one of our nation's military and political leaders."

Regarding Reagan....I do see your interpretation, but I always understood his quote to mean that a person, in his or her lifetime, won't see freedom again once he loses it. And I also give it poetic license as not being absolutely correct every time, but a reliable rule of thumb. And where it isn't accurate, it has taken a war and/or great human toll to regain those freedoms.

I've enjoyed the discussion -- thanks!

Lisa

Lisa, Fair play is fair play and I certainly don't object to you presenting the JBS side of the controversy. You're a happy warrior of the conservative cause in my book!