One Tin Soldier - Coven

"One Tin Soldier" was a hit by a group named Coven. It can be heard at the beginning and the end of the film "Billy Jack". That movie was never very good in the first place, and it is now extremely dated; like many of the films and songs of the '60's era it is a fossil trapped in amber. "One Tin Soldier" escapes that fate by being only indirectly and symbolically about the era. And that is one of the two best ways to capture part of that era's essence because the subject is too big. Saying that, the story told in the song works for any time. And it has a nice reversal or twist. Not to leave you hanging, it is my opinion that the other way to capture the essence of the '60's is to write only about a small detail of it, the smaller the better. Do that, and you might capture something universal that all can understand. As an example, there is this little (not in length) song about littering by Arlo Guthrie that still is fresh and funny. I will add it to this list at a later tim... Read more

Such a sad poignant tale, especially at the end when the invaders find out what the 'treasure' really was.