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Vasili

from Into A Prism by David Rovics

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Vice Admiral Vasili Arkapov is a name everybody should know, but doesn't, unless you regularly read Noam Chomsky or the Guardian newspaper. Vasili Arkapov saved much of the world from nuclear annihilation on October 27th, 1962. Which is also a date everybody should know. This fact was only made public after a conference in Havana involving people from the US, Cuba and the former Soviet Union who were directly involved with what has gone down in history as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

lyrics

The Beach Boys were playing on the radio The Beatles were singing “Love Me Do”
Lolita was playing in the cinemas It was October 1962
Ken Kesey published One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest John Glenn orbited the Earth
Australia had just won the most gold medals At the Commonwealth Games in Perth
The boomers were just getting into high school Dylan first sang “Blowin' In the Wind”
The US Army had recently started their war To attempt to defeat the Viet Minh
On the day Vasili saved the world

“If I Had A Hammer” was in the Billboard charts An Air Force jet crashed into the sea
The first Black student had been admitted To Ole Miss University
Hewlett-Packard sold a Personal Computer But it wouldn't really take off for a while
Jackie O had just come back from a trip to India Plunging necklines were the latest summer style
Algeria had just won their independence Korea was rebuilding from the war
The Russian River had just flooded A couple of weeks before
On the day Vasili saved the world

The CIA was running Operation Mongoose Killing Cubans in their factories and streets
The US was making plans for an invasion Still smarting from the Bay of Pigs defeat
The Soviets had sent missiles to Havana To protect themselves and their Cuban friends
Then the US Navy blockaded Cuba's harbors And there was no telling how this thing would end
Khruschev got on TV to make it very clear Cuba is a sovereign state
And if our ships are attacked We will retaliate
On the day Vasili saved the world

Vice Admiral Vasili Arkhipov was standing at his post On a Soviet Navy submarine
They were on patrol in international waters One actor in a terrifying scene
They were out of radio contact, deep beneath the water When the sub began to shake and crack
The Captain said “arm the nuclear torpedoes We're under attack”
The Americans were bombing them, but in order to respond Three officers had to say “go”
Two were in agreement But for some reason the Vice Admiral said “no”
On the day Vasili saved the world

credits

from Into A Prism, released July 2, 2013

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David Rovics Portland, Oregon

Singer/songwriter, writer, podcaster (on Spotify, Substack & Patreon), anarchist, dad, lover of life.

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