WW III Blues

A well known then, but probably forgotten now, song of the 1960's was Highway 61.

It was a song with lyrics that described, among other things, a seemingly mythical place.

A seemingly mythical place where strange financial goings on and warfare machinations could take place.

Those types of events could take place there even though such events were unlikely to take place elsewhere:

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?”
God says, “Out on Highway 61”
...
Now the rovin’ gambler he was very bored
He was tryin’ to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes I think it can be very easily done
We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61

(Highway 61 Revisited, emphasis added). Highway 61 is also a metaphor for a state of mind that enables unseemly behavior, the sort of state of mind that develops prior to a democracy descending into a plutocracy, where a plutonomy replaces an economy.

That place, Highway 61, has been the main thoroughfare running through the middle of Washington, D.C. during the Glory Daze, then continuing alongside the green river, which flows all the way to a place where the accounting of the Pentagon, Enron, and GE is done (which could not be done legally elsewhere except on that branch of Highway 61 at a place called Wall Street).

A recent photo shows The Spirit of Saint 1% travelling down Highway 61 to make another "free market" killing.

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Highway 61: the lyrics of this song are here:

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