page 6
daily nebraskan
tuesday, february 3, 1981
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Feminist Near integrates beliefs with her music
By Beth Head rick
The Holly Near concert Sunday night made clear that
Lincoln has a unified women's community.
At a time when Nancy Reagan's wardrobe dominates
the evening news and Alexander Haig's steely blue eyes
stand behind militant words, those two hours of music
were a soul healer.
Near's lyrics are simple and at times could be corny if
not for her clear, strong voice and the sophisticated piano
style of Adrienne Torf. There's an earthy quality in Near's
looks and in how she expresses herself that's very appeal
ing. The woman has guts. She's political and she integrates
her art with her beliefs.
The music is not only feminist but also labor-oriented.
It's not confined to workers in this country but has a
world scope, as in "Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida" dedicat
ed to the martyr's of the Chilean revolution.
In the tradition of Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger, her
songs are about organizing, resistance and human rights,
issues reminiscent of the union songs from the 1930s.
Near's lyrics not only represent the labor-force's herit
age but also women's heritage. In a medley that Near de
scribed as "songs about confinement," she sang for the
many women who have been institutionalized for fighting
back and being different. She chastises herself for not
standing up for women in the past, but the repeating
chorus of "We're coming for you," imph'es that women
are standing up now after looking at history from a new
perspective.
The medley ended with "Fight Back," a song she said
she wrote in an hour for a rally in Los Angeles when the
women in that city were terrorized by the "L.A. Stranel
er." In a song co-written by Jeff Langley, Near does a turn
around in attitude that is part of any woman's awareness
process. The song is about getting to know an older
woman. At first the younger woman is condescending, but
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as they grow close, the young woman recognizes the
beauty and strength that lie in the painful history of
women.
In an interview, Near's positive attitude was evident.
She and two women started their own record company,
Redwood Records, in 1973. The requests for her music
came that year during her anti-war tour with Jane Fonda.
She said after awhile she felt stupid sending people
cassettes of her music. The company has grown from
printing 2,000 copies of her album, Ham in There, to
35,000 copies of her fifth album, wliich will be released in
March.
Near sings for the labor movement, for the oppressed,
against war and against nuclear power, but her music is
not trendy. She avoids the left's rhetoric. Her songs are
written about real events on a basic human level.
Her voice range can give one word power and the next
line a hushed poignancy. Susan Freundlich's sign language
interpretation was creative, in places, choreographed like
dance.
The room in the Nebraska Union was packed. The peo
ple in that room know each other or at least recognize one
another. Near sings about unifying for common causes,
and people left the auditorium looking throughtful.
Near prefaced one of her songs by saying that in-group
fighting is an easy out from fighting against the real
oppressors. In these times, Near warned, women can't
afford to do that.
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Photo courtesy of Redwood Records
Amtrak gives foreigners bargain
Commentary by Robert Bauer
If the university gave all out-of-state students a 50
percent reduction in tuition, but made all Nebraska
residents pay full tuition, there would probably be a lot of
irate Nebraskans, agreed? It makes sense that Nebraskans,
who support the institution, get a break, right? It all
seems reasonable, doesn't it?
departures
Well, let's take a quick look at Amtrak, the glorious
passenger rail service that the government took over in the
mid-70s, and has heavily subsidized with our tax dollars
ever since. To make matters worse, Amtrak, already
enjoying a chunk of your tax dollars, is giving better
cervice to foreign tourists who come to this country
than to the millions of Americans who support it. Ronald
Reagan should take a close look at this one.
The need for blood never stops.
Accidents and illness occur year 'round
Unfortunately, blood supplies are often at
critical lows during the summer months
because people are too busy having fun to
donate Please take some time and help
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Pass Hon
Give blood
IM-Anwnca Regional
Red Cross Blood Program
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A year or two ago Amtrak ended it's USA Railpass
fare. This was an unlimited use fare in which a customer
paid a set rate, perhaps $250, for 15 days of unlimited
travel. The fare is a real boon to students and in Europe is
about as common as Scotch tape, Coke, Gummy Bears,
and French bread. Amtrak, however, said that it couldn't
afford to offer this fare. The excuse was, as I recall, that
too many people were using it.
That in itself is real depressing news to anybody who
might have been planning on seeing the USA by rail.
What's worse is that Amtrak continues to offer that fare
to everyone except Americans. That's right. If you and a
Canadian walk up to an Amtrak ticket office the Canadian
will whip out his USA Railpass and go wherever he wants,
and you will fork over a tremendous amount of money
just to equal all the travel he can take advantage of with
his Railpass.
Of course, Amtrak's Railpasses aren't tremendous bar
gains when compared to those in the rest of the world. A
30-day pass for the Canadian will cost him $500 in this
country, while in his own country a similar VIA Canada
rail pass cost 30 percent less.
The point, of course, is that Amtrak has turned into a
real slap in the face. We support it with our tax dollars,
get service that the Europeans snicker at, and pay fares'
that are outrageous. Amtrak has been a sorry failure, the
noble experiment that didn't produce.
Amtrak officials will choke on all of this. They claim
ridership is up, their record is getting better, and (as the
commercials proclaim) "America is getting into training."
Of course, they don't tell you that when you call their
toll-free number to make a reservation that you have to
wiat five or 10 minutes, if you can get through at all. Nor
do they tell you that you can pay for a seat on Amtrak
but when the train pulls in (at 5 a.m., three hours late)
there isn't one for you.
With train systems like Amtrak around it's no wonder
the Germans are so proud of the Bundesbahn.
Educational network
airs 'Sandhills Album'
The life and lifestyles of Nebraska's common man dur
ing the past century are presented through the medium of
photography when "Wednesday Showcase" airs "Sandhills
Album," this Wednesday, at 9 pjn. on aU stations of the
Nebraska Educational Television Network. The locally
produced program will repeat Saturday at 2 pm.
The 60-minute program presents a collection of photo
graphic records of the Sandhills region and its people
through the eyes of six photographers. The photographs
capture the divergent life-styles of past and present Nebra
skans and dramatically emphasize the importance of
photography in the recording of culture and history.
"Sandhills Album" is produced and written by Joel
Geyer, and narrated by Regina Shonka, both of UNL
Television. Funding for the special program was provided
by the Nebraska Arts Council, the Nebraska Committee
for the Humanities, and Nebraskans for Public Television
Inc. '