Friday 14 November 2008

Behind the Songs: Outside of a Small Circle of Friends

"Look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed
They dragged her to the bushes, and now she's being stabbed
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody outside of a small circle of friends"
--Phil Ochs, "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" (1966)

Twisted Confessions: The True Story Behind the Kitty Genovese and Barbara Kralik Murder Trials

"It didn't seem possible. Kitty Genovese had been viciously stabbed to death in Kew Gardens on March 13, 1964, while her neighbors heard her screams from their apartment windows and looked on passively...Everyone from coast to coast, it seemed, including President Lyndon Johnson, was weighing in on the failure of Kitty's neighbors to respond to her screams for help. The incident opened up a whole new phenomenon for students of social psychology to explore and puzzle over: the Kitty Genovese syndrome."

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