Just A Form Of Music

It is a real pleasure to
Be here with you this
Afternoon i always count it
A priviledge whenever I
Have the opportunity to stand before
A group of students
In an assembly such as this you know
Most of you are at the point in
Life when you're making the decisions that
Are going to determine your philosophy and
Your attitude toward life it was
In the early teenage years
That unfortunately I
Made some wrong decisions i made
The decision to turn my back on
Everything that my church and
My parents had tried to teach me my idea was
I'm going to live life like I want to live
It and I don't care what anybody else thinks
Or anybody else says but it wasn't until I
Was nineteen that one evening in a small
Church I came to the conclusion that
If I was really going
To get what I wanted out of life I'd have to
Change that kind of an attitude
Today I am not here
To prove any one or any thing right or wrong
But I want to talk to you
About some ideas and attitudes
That have been communicated through the means
Of music and I hope
That together we can stop and
Think about some serious issues
That face you as the youth
Of America it's possible I
Could walk out on this stage
Today and deliver a
Speech mocking the flag or ridiculing some
Of the leaders of our
Government and I suppose there are
Some of you who might not say a word perhaps
I could stand here and
Curse God or use profanity without
Upsetting some of you
Or maybe I could take my draft card out of
My pocket, stand here and defiantly
Tear it up in pieces
And I suppose there'd be some
Of you who wouldn't
Say a thing but there's one thing of which
I am reasonably certain -if I
Were to walk out
Here today and just dare to say one
Word against The Beatles, Stones
Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, iron
Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, The Raiders
Or The doors, some of you would want to come
Up here and tear me limb from
Limb the question I'd like
To ask is this -I wonder
Would that really be right
Or perhaps would it illustrate that
This thing called Rock and
Roll is more than just a form of music?