MISSION: TEHRAN

[festus50]

Two hundred miles
outside of Baghdad
on my way to Tehran
Kashmir
is cranked
in my cammando van
getting the Led out
putting the hammer down
I got to get my sister
out of town
she could have been
a doctor or a teacher
but she loved the news
local talking head?
no way
she needs to be in the mix
Me? I've been sheep dipped
by the Mossad and the CIA
My ID is gone
I don't exist
I was born in Lebanon
grew up in Connecticut
been to Cairo, Damascus
the Sudan, Yeman
and beyond
but I call America
my home
I'm a Yale grad
I know all about
the Skull and Bones
Dad liked the spy game
always on the run
sometmes it was fun
but Dad liked the Shah
and the disco ball
that's the problem
I don't kow anythng about
disco
see, I liked my uncles
old albums
Kick Out The Jams, Fun House, Raw Power
In Too Much Too Soon, Volunteers,
Led II and III
Are you with me?

I'm a traveler of both
time and space

Yikes! I see way out
in the distance
some vehicles cutting across the sand
coming at me
maybe insurgents?
maybe double agents?
Wet Boys?
Where are my binoculars?
Looks like an old Chevy van
Hippies?
"We just left the convention
thought you might need our help?"
Good god it's the MC5!
When did I enter this
time vortex?
The MC5 just left the 1968 Demcatic Convention?
Another big bus approaches from the right
it's Kesey's Merry Pranksters!
My special secret weapon
should get me through
the roadblocks

"Don't slow down now Alen Freed"
I know that voice
I look in my rearview mirror
I see the familiar safari hat
the cigarette holder
a glass full of Chivas in one hand
and a grapefruit in the other
Gonzo!
"That's Dr. Thompson to you Freed
I'll get the secret weapon ready"
The roof of the van opens.
One mile out
get ready
The massive speakers
slowly assend
up though the opening
"Let it rip"
STOOGES;
"I'm a street walkin cheetah
with a heart full of napalm
I'm a runaway son of nuclear A- bomb"

"Yeehaww we made it through!
I'm really going to enjoy
covering this scene"

Gald you could make it Doc.
is Mr. Zevon going to make ths gig?

"He better and I know the Airplane
will land n Tehran"

Tehran is off in the distance now
The ancient city is in trouble
but not for long.

The riot cops are falling to their knees
the stage is set
the MC5 take the stage;
"Brothers and Sisters we are gonna blow this
thing all the way back to Tel Aviv
all the way back to Jerusalem
Brothers and Sisters I am here to testify
Brothers and Sisters
you have five seconds to decide
Brothers and Sisters
whether you are gonna be
the problem
or whether you are gonna be the
solution
I give you my testimonial
I give you
The MC5!!

DOC THOMPSON:
"The secret weapon is now blasting
away the oppression of all the rioters
protesting in the streets of this old dessert city.
It is working better than any ICBM or cruise missle
ever could. An American bomb has just gone off in Tehran
and the wretched and the doomed will be saved
from tyanny, from disco.
This is a jihad a rock-n-roll jihad
no bombs or tanks or guns in this town
only the the thunder of drums and the
screeching guitars
that echo off the buildings from here
to Cairo.
It is the music that transends all nations
all languages
"Rock Iran" is the call.
The revolution will be televised
so get in the groove or get the hell
out of the way!
I'm ot for now."
                      - Hunter

PS The sister was saved.
 

[rocha]

This is pretty spacey Festus.....even for you!... recklessly entertaining in that crazy acid/trip sixties style.....what an unlikely hero Hunter is.....or was....the world needs more lunatics .Like the mayhem. Good post.

[festus50]

Rock Iran!

I am the spaceman.

Thanks for reading

[jeannerené]

Well ... Koo Koo Ka Chu, and I am the Walrus ..... or do I have the spacemen mixed up ... there are others out there....

Wow.... this is really trippy ... one psychedelic revolutionary nightmare.

I know that there are several music related references throughout the entire piece and your use of these references in contrast to a current political tragedy was certainly a very unique way to rattle one's brain when confronting our crazy world.  Through it all I felt the urgency. 

I say Rock Iran too ... there's a generation or two in the streets caught in two worlds .....

Reading also made me pause to think of friends straddling two cultures.....

Great read festus ...........

[festus50]

Wow I had a few typos there

thanks for reading

[davidmm]

festus50
There are times when I find it difficult to know how to reply to your posts. I feel as if I have been standing in a crowd listening to someone giving a speech - a rant almost (sorry, that isn't intended to be an insult); or I have been present listening to someone telling a story as if he has to finish it now because tomorrow may never come.
In the UK we don't have this impassioned fervour about Iraq and Iran. Yes, we know what is happening, we know we are involved but there is no passion in our thoughts. Well, at least that is my view.

[festus50]

"Rock-n-Roll will always, always, always, always, always, overcome.. eventually."
- Pete Townsend