Love Me, I'm a Liberal

About Love Me, I'm a Liberal

"Love Me, I'm a Liberal" is a satirical song by Phil Ochs, a U. S. protest singer. Originally released on his 1966 live album, Phil Ochs in Concert, "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" was soon one of Ochs's most popular concert staples. The song mocks the differences between what liberals say and what they do. Introducing the song on the live album, Ochs said: In every American community there are varying shades of political opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken group on many subjects, ten degrees to the left of center in good times, ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally. Here, then, is a lesson in safe logic. "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" is sung from the perspective of a liberal. In the first verse, the singer laments the assassinations of Medgar Evers and President John F. Kennedy, but says Malcolm X got what he deserved. Each verse ends with the refrain, "So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal." In the song's other verses, the singer says he supports the Civil Rights Movement and "love[s] Puerto Ricans and Negros as long as they don't move next door", but adds that if somebody suggests busing the singer's children to integrate their schools, he "hope[s] the cops take down [their] name". In the final verse, the narrator reveals that he used to be like the listener: more »