Mark Germino

Last night I saw Mark Germino in concert at Anderson Fair.

It was a very entertaining concert. Lise Liddell and Lance Smith performed a nice opening set. The Poet Laureate of the State of Texas was even in attendance!

Mark Germino is a great songwriter who deserves wider recognition. The best songwriters are truly poets and Mark Germino is such a songwriter. His recordings can be difficult to find but are well worth the search.

Last night's set featured a number of newer songs that have not yet been recorded. Hopefully a new cd will be forthcoming in the not too distant future. Some of the newer songs he performed included a song inspired by Shakespeare's Othello, an ode to the year 1971, the "Greatest Song Ever Written", "Another Kind of Needle and a Spoon" and a powerful politically-themed song on Al-Qaeda and the post 9/11 world.

Germino's "Al Qaeda" song (I'm not sure of the actual title) is probably the finest folk song I have heard in years. Someone PLEASE record this song! A few of the lyrics from the song (that I can remember) include:

"Your martyrdom is as weak as it gets"

"You're tactics are mad, they're pathetic and sad, and nothing about them is bold"

"Now it is I you must fear not the Jew, If I see you I'll kill you, though I do not hate you, you see I hate the Infidel too."

and the chorus of the song:

"If holy war you wish to wage, then holy war will rock the age, force your god on me some do, but I will not force mine on you"

Germino also performed a number of his older songs including: "Exalted Rose", "Rank & File", "Very Lucky Man", "Black Angel Cure", "Finest Brand of Southern Degeneracy" and the audience favorite "Rex Bob Lowenstein" (which was dedicated to KPFT DJ Larry Winters who was also in attendance).