On this day in 1957, U.S. Customs agents seized 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg’s poem, Howl being imported in the United States by a London printer on the grounds of obscenity on the basis of the line:
who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy
The confiscation resulted in an obscenity trail against Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poem’s new domestic publisher. Clayton Horn (a Sunday school teacher) was the judge for the case and had achieved notoriety earlier that year for sentencing five shoplifters to a screening of The Ten Commandments. The defense brought literary expert after literary expert (9 in total) to the stand to testify to the poems literary and social importance and on October 3 Judge Horn ruled the poem was of “redeeming social importance” and Ferlinghetti was cleared.
Today I thought I would post the audio of Mr. Ginsberg reading Howl as well as my three favorite Howl references in song. I hope y’all enjoy.
Dan Bern - Wasteland
They Might Be Giants - I Should Be Allowed To Think
Meg Lee Chin - Nutopia
Meg Lee Vs. Hanzel Und Grety - Nutopia (remix)
5 Responses to “ALLEN GINSBERG - HOWL”
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