Talkin' Bout Dead People

Talking 'Bout Dead People.....

I saw Jesse Welles at the World Cafe Live last night. I had been following him for a couple of months since he randomly appeared in my Instagram feed one day singing a song about United Health. In the video, it was just him and his guitar, playing and singing original songs outside in a field or forest, seemingly recording himself on his cell phone.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to become obsessed, I began searching out his songs and even trying to imitate his inimitable prowess at lyric writing. When I saw that he was scheduled to perform at the World Cafe in Philly, I went looking for tickets. After all, being in Philadelphia after years in Santa Fe and then rural Montana, I didn't always have the chance to see the kind of theater and concerts I have access to here. Best take advantage! He was, of course, sold out, so I ventured into the world of Stub Hub, got two SRO tickets for way more than face value ( I took my friend Risa Yaffe along as a birthday present ) and showed up on Walnut Street last night for the concert.

It may be safe to say that whether we looked it or not, Risa and I were the oldest people there. We met people who'd traveled from as far away as Maine for this concert and it was clear that the majority of the audience were equally devoted to this guy.

When I first shared his music with my kids ( you know.. to show them how hip and cool Bubbe can be) I was informed that some people were calling him anti-semitic. Said something about Israel in a song against war... So I looked it up.

The song is called "War isn't Murder" and it's a bitingly satirical anti war chant in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. And yes, he calls out Netanyahu and yes he calls out plans to "develop" the Gaza strip by Kushner -- and this was BEFORE trump was elected and made his preposterous proposal. ( In the before-trump days a story like that would be considered brilliant satire along the lines of Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal but since the inauguration we have moved officially into a post-satire era.)

So a couple of things I want to say here -- One is about the song which Jesse played as his final encore while many in the audience sang along. I later learned that it was this song out of dozens of others which caused him to blow him up on the internet and increased his audience exponentially.

Criticizing the acts of a government or a corrupt leader is not an attack on the people of that country or group. So I reject and repudiate the accusations of anti Semitism in an anti-war song -- even if that song critiques the actions of the Prime Minister of Israel.

But the other thing that feels really important to me about this concert, this artist and this moment in history is that Jesse Welles knows that he is part of a long line of artists who have used their talent and megaphone to protest fascism, racism, injustice and inequality. Jesse paid homage to his musical ancestors by including a Dylan cover ( Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven's Door) in the acoustic part of his set.

He also seemed to channel Dylan by doing his first ten or so numbers alone on the stage with just his guitar and harmonica. I was surprised by how good he sounded! I had really only heard him on those home made videos.. so to experience him in person, with great sound equipment and up close, I could appreciate just how masterful he is on guitar and harmonica. The audience would go wild every time the harp would find his mouth.

Then in a move that was reminiscent of Dylan “going electric,” Jesse called his band to come out - a drummer and a bass guitarist. The whole mood shifted and suddenly we were at a rollicking feel good rock concert. When these three long haired laid back musicians played a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover song, while the audience danced and cheered, I turned to Risa and said, "We could be back at the Atlantic City Rock Festival. It feels like 1969!"

Only it's 2025, and our country is broken and the world is veering towards autocracy and all the social movements and changes that occurred between the 1960s and the 2020s are being systematically dismantled before our eyes, as hate and cruelty become the organizing principle of the trump/musk/republican party agenda.

We need artists like Jesse Welles. Humor, wit, biting intelligence, and a way with words to channel our collective righteous anger. He and others like him ( Kendrick Lamar's halftime show comes to mind here ) are the sound track of our resistance.

lyrics to War isn't Murder below the video

[Verse 1]
War isn't murder
Good men don't die
Children don't starve
And all women survive
War isn't murder
That's what they say
When you're fighting the devil
Murder's okay
War isn't murder
They're called casualties
There ain't a veteran
With a good night's sleep

[Chorus 1]
Let's talk about dead people
I mean a dead people
The dead don't feel honored
They don't feel that brave
They don't feel avenged
They're lucky if they got gravеs

Call your dead mother
Ask her whеn she died
It's a deathly silence on the other line
The dead don't talk
But their children don't forget
So in 20 short years
You could live to regret that

[Verse 2]
War isn't murder
There's money at stake
Hell, even Kushner agrees
It's good real estate
War isn't murder
Ask Netanyahu
He's got a psalm for that
And a bomb for you
War isn't murder
It's an old desert faith
It's a nation-state sanctioned righteous hate

[Chorus 2]
Let's talk about dead people
I mean a dead people
War isn't murder
It's the vengeance of God
If you can't see the bodies
They don't bloat when they rot
And the flies don't swarm
And the children don't cry
If war isn't murder
Good men don't die

So in a short 20 years
When you vacation the Strip
Don't think about the dead
And have a nice trip