Perhaps there are no chords on the recording because she wanted to dramatize
her feeling that she was a lone voice articulating an outsider's, subversive
position on what we are pleased to call the "Vietnam War."
Because I hear her as a bold experimentative creator, I don't find it
impossible to believe that she simply didn't hear anything but the melody in
her mind. She's tried a lot of other surprising inspirations; why not a
melody without chordal accompaniment?
The chords posted so far are the most consonant, obvious choices to accompany
the melody. That would not be what I expect from the JM I "know." I believe
that the fact that she sang without chords speaks for itself.
DAVID LAHM
