Phil Ochs - Outside A Small Circle Of Friends (1967)

This is the very late folk singer’s criticism and condemnation about social apathy. The central idea behind the song which appears in both the first and final verses was the murder of Kitty Genovese in March 1964, a case that was still taught about in sociology and psychology classes in college when I was taking both courses during the 1970’s. Genovese was stabbed to death on March 13, 1964, outside her home in Queens, New York, while dozens of her neighbors ignored her cries for help. Historical revisionists today try to deny this reaction from her neighbors was true and try to claim it was made up. But of course we know the dark political motivation behind these historical revisionists today, don’t we? Eventually Ochs added four other scenarios to the lyrics making five stories in all, with the Genoveve case repeated at the end. When Phil Ochs decided to make a song about it in 1966 it was still a very recent event: the recording came in 1967, and the song was released in October 1967