Had luck not been on our side

In the 1960s, there was a song titled "There But For Fortune” sung by the American pop singer Phil Ochs. The song gained even more fame when John Baez performed it. The song's lyrics list prisoners, beggars, and alcoholics in its three verses, concluding with the refrain, "There but for fortune go you or I." We often perceive such individuals as inferior and morally degraded, separate from us. Still, if luck had not been on our side, we could also have ended up as prisoners in jail, beggars sleeping in the rain on the streets, or alcoholics staggering through life. The song calls for us to put ourselves in their shoes and consider the "so many reasons why" that led them to such circumstances.

As the song progresses to its final fourth verse, it broadens its perspective. It urges us to imagine a nation at war, a country where bombs fall like rain and tall buildings crumble. If luck had not been on our side, you and I could have lived in such a nation, and if that were the case, you and I would have lived a hellish life. The song's inspiration was the ravaged Vietnam, decimated by the ruthless bombings of the United States. The song asks if one should continue to support the war. While the Vietnam War inspired the song, the ongoing war in other parts of the world makes it still as much relevant.

Ochs' song is an adaptation of the English expression‎ "There, but the grace of God, go I," attributed to John Bradford, a 16th-century Protestant minister imprisoned in the Tower of London due to religious persecution. One day, he looked at a condemned sinner being led to the gallows and said that if it weren't for God's grace, he would have suffered the same fate. He identified himself with the condemned prisoner, emphasizing that he could easily have become like them. Ochs transformed this confession into a song, clothing it in the language of music. The phrase “there but for fortune go you or I” is a reminder that we should not be arrogant in the face of life but remain infinitely humble.