ME AND MY UNCLES.

New release from the Council House Band

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The Council is pleased to present its latest number, “Me and My Uncles (John St. Evola Version).”

The song was inspired by our editor, John St. Evola, and two very different uncles.

One was his actual maternal uncle, an American combat engineer conscripted into a unit attached to the 1st Infantry Division. His wartime travels carried him from the initial landings in North Africa to Sicily, Salerno in Italy, and finally Normandy. During the Italian campaign he was awarded the Soldier’s Medal—the U.S. Army’s highest decoration for heroism outside direct combat with the enemy—for risking his own life to rescue Italian civilians. He also spoke candidly of the war’s darker side, recalling not only the hardships but instances of cruelty committed by some of his fellow American soldiers toward the enemy. Among the memories he passed down to John was one that never left him: standing on a distant hillside as Allied bombers reduced the ancient Monte Cassino Abbey to rubble. He spoke not of triumph, but of the overwhelming sense of awe inspired by watching one of Europe’s greatest monasteries disappear beneath smoke and falling stone. The irony was not lost on John. Less than a decade earlier, in 1935, the United States had joined twenty other nations in signing the Roerich Pact, inspired by the Russian artist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich. The treaty pledged to protect humanity’s great cultural and religious treasures during war whenever possible. At Monte Cassino, however, questionable military necessity and cultural conservation collided in one of the Second World War’s most enduring and controversial episodes.

Years later, John sometimes reflected that while one uncle had watched Europe’s stones fall, the other spent his life asking what had first held them together.

John’s other “uncle” was more distant in the family tree, but no less influential in imagination: the Italian philosopher Julius Evola. Although the two never met, John has long referred to him simply as “Uncle Julius,” borrowing him as a traveling companion in the same way folk songs often blur history, legend, and memory.

What follows is an imaginary ride through Europe where these two influences meet: the American GI who witnessed history with his own eyes, and the philosopher who searched the ruins of civilization for enduring principles. Like all good folk ballads, it mixes fact, family lore, and playful invention.

As always, the Council reminds listeners that this performance is offered between jest and earnest.

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ME AND MY UNCLE

(John St. Evola Version)

Me and my uncle went ramblin’ down,
Crossed old Europe from town to town.
Stopped one night where the old walls lay,
Halfway there at the close of day.
Lord, we were lookin’ for the Ancient Way.

Hung our coats by the tavern door,
Ordered coffee and then one more.
Three days with Plato, my poor eyes hurt;
Pulled off my coat, shook off the dirt.
Tried to wash off a century’s worth.

Modern scholars, they was all around,
Loaded with theories, titles, renown.
Soon after supper, it seemed a shame,
You know my uncle, he starts the game.
Tradition’s cards, and the winner takes the name.

My uncle start winnin’, the scholars got sore.
One called him names, and then two more.
Accused him of mystics—oh no, he couldn’t be.
I know my uncle—he’s as honest as me.
Lord, he’s as honest as an old oak tree can be.

One of them critics, he starts to draw
Postcards from Progress and the latest law.
I answered back, Lord, he never saw;
Shot down his slogan without a flaw.
The room got quiet, and they stood in awe.

My uncle laughed and gathered the gold:
Plato, Dante, and stories told.
Heraclitus, the Vedas too,
The Holy Empire came into view.
We hightailed it where the old winds blew.

Now I love those mountains, I love old stone.
Love my uncle, though he’s long since gone.
Taught me well, Lord, taught me all I know:
Ride with the timeless wherever you go.
Leave the passing fashions by the side of the road.

He showed me Rome beyond the brick,
The Grail beneath the politics.
Empire wasn’t maps alone;
First you’ve got to rule your own.
That’s the richest gold I’ve ever known.

Now me and my uncle still ramble on,
Though folks all say the old world’s gone.
When the campfire’s low and the whiskey’s poured,
We still ride for a forgotten ford.
Looking for a kingdom that can’t be bought or sold.

—John Phillips/Black Cloud/Suno/ChatGPT

—Adapted from the Grateful Dead version of Me And My Uncle which was composed by Papa John Phillips

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And now, for a little historical background:
Below is the original version of the song—a wonderfully crafted musical Western that manages to tell an entire frontier movie in just a few verses. We trust you’ll agree that the Council’s rendition is a modest improvement, if only because it replaces the original’s somewhat questionable endorsement of psychopathic family values with a healthier appreciation for civilization, philosophy, and the occasional horseback ride through history.

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