"In the deadpan style of McDonald's hero, Woody Guthrie, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" was a mock celebration of war and early, senseless death, with a chorus concertgoers and others would learn by heart: And its 1, 2, 3 what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn, Next stop is Vietnam."
"At the time he wrote "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag," McDonald was co-leader of the newly formed Country Joe and the Fish and he added a special "F-I-S-H" chant before the song: "Give me an F, give me an I, give me an S, give me an H." By the time his group appeared at Woodstock in 1969, the Fish were on the verge of breaking up."
"McDonald was a longtime presence in the Bay Area music scene, where peers included the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane and his onetime girlfriend, Janis Joplin. He wrote or co-wrote hundreds of songs, from psychedelic jams to soul-influenced rockers, and released dozens of albums."
Country Joe McDonald, a prominent figure in 1960s counterculture music, passed away at age 84 from Parkinson's disease in Berkeley, California. He co-led Country Joe and the Fish and was a fixture in the Bay Area music scene alongside the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. McDonald composed hundreds of songs across various genres but achieved lasting fame for "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag," a satirical anti-war song completed in 1965 during the Vietnam War escalation. Written in the style of Woody Guthrie, the song featured a memorable chorus that became an anthem for war protesters. The track gained widespread recognition when Country Joe and the Fish performed at Woodstock in 1969, where McDonald's performance reached hundreds of thousands of concertgoers who sang along to the protest message.
#vietnam-war-protest-music #1960s-counterculture #woodstock-festival #country-joe-and-the-fish #anti-war-activism
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