Dear friends, the pastor would say, 
You are gathered together to witness, 
He would continue, a ceromony of holy matrimony. 
What a beautiful dress 
Doesn`t he look nice 
Is she crying 
It`s just because she`s happy 
And what has this got do with Vietnam 
and what city is it this time? 
Khe San, Memphis, Hue, Panama 
No, it is San Francisco 
The Mission 
A slum 
And what are Protestants doing in this neighbourhood? 
No matter 
The Lord spoke unto Abraham and said 
ye shall have faith in my wisdom and ye shall 
do my bidding, ye shall convert the Indians and Niggers and Spics 
He always uses ye not you; he`s not talking to us 
Ye shall return to the spirit of the Sierra Maestra 
and ye shall be ascetics and make the world cry 
with electric music and sad and funny theatre 
for ye are the blessed children and carry the seed 
of the new, always new, hope and faith that this 
world shall be and it shall be and it shall be 
Boroch ataw adenoih elehanu meloch olum 
Yatta, yatta, yatta rabbi 
Cut all that shit and tell us why we are here 
You`re here because you`re invited except for the crashers 
and you have to sit through this part because if you 
want to eat the food and drink the booze you have 
to sit through this part. That`s the way it`s always been. 
There is a spector haunting the world 
And it`s not Phil 
and hammers and sickles castrated our parents, the good ones anyway 
Eisenhower and Krushscev buried together 
in Disneyland or Outer Space 
and we have come back to the heritage of Moses 
stuttering, stammering poor kike, diddled by 
Egyptian chicks, and fed with the affluence 
of slavery and one day like the good hippie 
he was he said Feh, which was the old way to say Fuck it 
and he said to his people let`s split and sure enough 
on the way to the rural commune some Ingmar Bergman character 
jumps out of a burning shrub of marijuana and says 
I`m God buddy and you listen to me 
And the sons of Moses listened and the prayed and 
by the large they were peaceful but their music 
got behind and they got righteous and full of pity for the Dead and 
they kill 
Arabs and burn villages just like Americans, 
just like Germans, just like Christians and Muslims 
But enough of foreign religeon 
Mah Fellah Americans, says the Great Potato, we are 
gathered here today for the purpose of national unity 
The bride and groom grow edgy, 
the audience murmers, 
What the fuck is he doing here 
He`s everywhere 
and we shall overcome for there`s an old American saying 
oh no 
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, 
Get him out of here, this is a church 
And just as our ancestors persevered in the past against 
our deadly enemies, the Injuns, the Mescans and the Nigrahs 
so too will we persevere against the comomists, the hippies 
the kikes and all the other great unbelievers who menace our 
prescious civilization 
And in our ears the Great Society responds with applause 
led by George Meany 
but George is alone 
the applause is canned 
the TV camera supers behind the face of the Great Potato 
and it reveals 
an electric razor and an oil well 
and a painter taking a photograph and pasting it on his canvas 
And there is a thin blue line of cops between the barbarians & Harlem 
There is a spector haunting us today 
And we don`t know what it is 
My children join hands 
At last say the parents 
By virtue of the power invested in me 
Who the hell would invest in him 
and by the laws of Moses and of Jesus and of The Buddah 
of the holy ghost and the millions of other ghosts who don`t give a damn 
In Hanoi it is one day later, in Cuba it is 6 o`clock 
and the workers come back from the cane field 
We don`t know it but they are looking at our ceremony 
They are saying 
Stay as you are Country Joe 
Stay as you are Robin 
Do not fall prey to the temptations of the Great Potato 
Stay with Moses, stay with Fidel, stay with Che 
And the ghost of Che lurks in the church and his 
death wail booms from the mighty Fenders 
Don`t forget me 
And the ghost of Malcolm stands guard against the blue eyed devils 
and the burning monk takes the uncollected garbage with him 
in a purification of the holy 
And it is we who are holy 
By the laws of all who were holy and who have invested this power 
in us to join and to cry and to make each hatred a deepening of love 
Under the Laws of Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and Ho Chi Minh 
Under the Laws of Ginsberg, O`Casey and Mayakovsky 
How about the laws of California 
How about the lynch law 
How about the Geneva convention 
How about Pacem en Terris 
How about kissing my ass, says the Great Potato 
Again he sneaks in 
and his friends hover over him, shaking giant Bar B cued ribs, 
clutching their genitals in their pistol pockets 
Begone says Moses 
Beat it says Jesus 
Que se vayan, says Fidel 
And the ghost of the Che and Malcolm and the burning monk 
surround them, and give them a powerful revolutionary hex 
and for a brief instant there was light and the spector 
hovered in the sky and became a rainbow 
and the guns were turned into plowshares in Israel 
and into electric guitars in the Great Society 
And they joined together in bodies and with the sound 
in their heads, like millions of fish in the great ocean 
and the audience pushed onto the stage and the stage became 
the tabernacle and the power was invested in all of them 
and it was all of them who shouted 
Country Joe, Robin, and all the friends in Vietnam and Cuba and 
Texas and the Mafia 
Lay down, and they all lay down, and the couple stood alone, still 
alone, but the friends were near, each time nearer 
They carried their burden, alone, together, and they took each others` 
hands, just as they would do in the unholy temples 
And the Most Reverand Bishop Mackeral said "May the Lord bless you 
by giving you children" and the audience didn`t laugh 
For the time had come when the laughter became serious, the moment, 
the instant at which the laws of God, of the Great Potato and the 
State of California were to come together for the most sacred of rituals 
which would be reported in tomorrow`s paper and would include 
details about where the bride bought her dress 
That Moment has come 
That Moment has gone 
Relax, said the minister, 
because we are where it is at. 
And Country Joe and Robin`s hands began to sweat as any hands 
held together would sweat 
and the Minister now told Country Joe that if he wanted 
he could kiss the bride 
and the audience peeked to see if they blushed 
and some thought they did and some said they didn`t 
And the Great Potato was frying in lard 
And Malcolm said these were good blue eyed devils 
and he would protect them when the time came 
and ghost of the Great Che shouted that They Would Triumph 
And the ceremony came to an end 
as the Minister pronounced the lovely couple 
He said I hereby pronounce you and he pronounced them Country Joe 
and Robin 
and ye shall remain Country Joe and Robin 
and today we feel your love and you must feel ours 
For you are know locked together in holiness, give or take the matrimony 
for as long as you want to be 
and May you groove with the great guru 
and may your children be Great Fish, and birds, and beautiful 
Country Folk 
And now the Great Ring bearer comes forth 
bearing the Ring of the Niebelomin, and 
the Carousel ring - and the ring of truth 
and the ring of love 
And the best man and the bride`s father 
fumbled and hands touched and another part of 
the ancient ritual is completed 
All that remains is the blood of Christ, 
dry for a thousand nine hundred odd years. 
And bottled by Mogen David. Drink he said 
and togeher they drank. And none else shall 
drink from that glass. 
(They stomp on the glass). 
Robin do you yattayatta take Joe, more or 
less the way he is, for more or less forever. 
And do you Country Joe yatta blah yatta 
take Robin the way she is. 
Yeah, said the groom. 
Go in peace. 

Source BAMN, edited by Peter Stansill and David Zane Mairowitz, published by Penguin